The Works on Common Land, etc. (Procedure) (England) Regulations 2007

Management of application

6.—(1) As soon as practicable after receiving an application, the determining authority must send an acknowledgement of receipt to the applicant, which must include—

(a) the reference number allocated to the application; and

(b) a postal address and an e-mail address to which written communications to the determining authority about the application may be sent.

(2) The determining authority must, either when it receives the application or as soon as practicable after the expiry of the period allowed for making representations under regulation 9, decide whether the application will be dealt with—

(a) on the basis of written representations,

(b) at a hearing, or

(c) at a public inquiry,

and notify the applicant of that decision.

(3) If the determining authority is the Secretary of State, and he decides that the application is to be dealt with at a hearing or a public inquiry, he must appoint an inspector to conduct any hearing or inquiry and provide a report and recommendation to the Secretary of State.

(4) The determining authority may, either when it acknowledges receipt of the application or at any time subsequently, direct the applicant to—

(a) provide any information or documents omitted from the application;

(b) provide any further information or documents necessary to enable the application to be determined; or

(c) send a notice of application to persons specified in the direction, or post a notice of application in places specified in the direction, in addition to the requirements in regulation 7(1).

(5) The determining authority may specify a time for complying with any directions given under this regulation.

(6) If the applicant fails to comply with regulation 7 or 8, or with any directions given under this regulation, the determining authority may—

(a) treat the application as withdrawn;

(b) give directions to the applicant to remedy the non-compliance (and, if appropriate, extend the period allowed for making representations); or

(c) waive the non-compliance, if he is satisfied that it would be unreasonable to require compliance and no-one is likely to be prejudiced by the non-compliance.