POS Response on Procedures for Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects

Consultation question 1: Do you agree with the list of statutory consultees? Are there any others which you feel should be included?

In the view of POS the list of statutory consultees is very extensive. POS would express some concern based on experience that a number of these organisations ranging from Fire Authorities, Health Authorities to the LGA, are not currently equipped in terms of staffing and expertise to handle responses to a significant no of applications, and the associated pre-application negotiations, in the required timescale. This can be a significant cause of delay. In POS view it would be better to have a smaller list of core statutory consultees integral to the planning process and a supplementary list setting out additional bodies the applicant may wish to consult depending on the nature of the project and whether the relevant authority expresses a wish to be consulted.

To read the POS response in full click here

Any comments on the response shoudl be sent to the author Richard.Burgess@uwe.ac.uk. He has been the POS rep on the working party dealing with the IPC,