The Environmental Impact Assessment (Uncultivated Land and Semi-Natural Areas) (Wales) Regulations 2002

Determination of appeals by hearing or local inquiry

17.—(1) This regulation shall apply to an appeal which is to be determined by hearing or by local inquiry.

(2) Within 42 days from the date of service on the appellant of notice that the appeal is to be determined by hearing or by local inquiry, the appellant must serve on the National Assembly a statement which contains full particulars of the appellant’s case and copies of any documents to which he or she wishes to refer at the hearing or local inquiry and the National Assembly must send copies of the statement and documents to the interested parties.

(3) The National Assembly must give the appellant and the interested parties at least 42 days notice of the date, time and place fixed for the hearing or local inquiry and of the name of the person appointed to conduct the hearing or local inquiry (and, as applicable, to determine the appeal) and must give, not less than 21 days before the date fixed for the hearing or local inquiry, such notice to the public as it may think fit.

(4) The National Assembly may vary the time or place for the holding of the hearing or local inquiry and must give such notice of any such variation as it may think fit.

(5) Any of the interested parties who wish to be heard at the hearing or local inquiry must, within 28 days of service on them of the appellant’s statement pursuant to paragraph (2) above, notify the National Assembly that they wish to appear and the National Assembly may require any person who has so notified it to serve upon it a statement containing the particulars of their case together with copies of any documents to which they wish to refer at the hearing or local inquiry (other than those to which the appellant has expressed a wish to refer) within 28 days of being so required and the National Assembly must send copies of such statements to the appellant and to the other interested parties.

(6) The National Assembly may by notice require the appellant or any other person who has provided a statement in accordance with paragraph (5) above to provide it with such further information about the matters contained in the statement as it may specify and must send a copy of such information to the interested parties or to the appellant and the other interested parties as the case may be.

(7) Before a hearing or local inquiry takes place the National Assembly must make all of the documents submitted by the appellant and the interested parties in respect of the hearing or local inquiry available for inspection by any person who so requests.

(8) The persons entitled to be heard at a hearing or local inquiry are—

(a) the appellant;

(b) the interested parties; and

(c) any other person whom the person appointed to conduct the hearing shall permit to be heard.

(9) A person entitled to appear at a local inquiry who proposes to give evidence at the inquiry by reading a proof of evidence must send a copy of the proof of evidence to the National Assembly together with a written summary not less than 21 days before the date fixed for the local inquiry and the National Assembly must send copies of the proof and summary to the interested parties or to the appellant and the other interested parties as the case may be.

(10) After the conclusion of the hearing or local inquiry, the person appointed to conduct the hearing or local inquiry must, unless they have been appointed to determine the appeal, make a report to the National Assembly which must include their conclusions and recommendations or their reasons for not making any recommendations.

(11) If the National Assembly differs from the person making the report in accordance with paragraph (10) above on any matter of fact mentioned in, or appearing to the National Assembly to be material to, a conclusion reached by that person, or takes into consideration any new evidence or new matter of fact and is for that reason disposed to disagree with a recommendation made in the report, it must not come to a decision without first affording to any persons who appeared at the hearing or local inquiry the opportunity of making representations to the National Assembly within such reasonable time as it shall specify.

(12) The National Assembly or the person appointed to determine the appeal, as the case may be, must notify the decision and the reasons for it, and send a copy of any report made in accordance with paragraph (10) above, to the appellant, to the interested parties and to any other persons who appeared at the hearing or local inquiry and who asked to be notified of the decision.