Section 17 — Procedure for determining applications and effect of grant of consentSchedule 6 — Proceedings under Part 2
70.Section 17, with Schedule 6, regulates the procedure for determining applications and granting scheduled monument consent.
71.Subsection (2) provides that, before determining an application for scheduled monument consent, the Welsh Ministers may:
cause a local inquiry to be held;
appoint a person to hold a hearing;
appoint a person to receive written representations; or
employ any combination of these proceedings.
72.At the time of writing these notes, the Welsh Ministers would appoint an inspector from Planning and Environment Decisions Wales to conduct such proceedings.
73.In practice, various informal actions are taken before the Welsh Ministers might exercise their power under subsection (2). In the majority of cases, Cadw will provide pre-application advice to the prospective applicant. This might be of particular importance where there is likely to be a requirement to engage archaeological expertise. Following receipt of an application, normally Cadw (acting on behalf of the Welsh Ministers) will issue an interim decision letter, which includes details of any proposed conditions or the reasons for any proposed refusal. This provides the applicant with the opportunity to make representations, which may include providing additional information relevant to the application. A Cadw officer will receive and consider these representations. It is at that point, if there are unresolved issues, that the Welsh Ministers may exercise their power under subsection (2).
74.Subsection (5) establishes that, unless its terms make some other contrary provision, a scheduled monument consent has effect for the benefit of the monument and all persons for the time being with an interest in it. If, for example, the ownership of a scheduled monument were to change while consented works were underway, the new owner would not need to apply for a new scheduled monument consent in order to continue the works (provided there were no provision to the contrary in the terms of the consent).
75.Schedule 6 makes provision for summonses to require evidence or attendance at local inquiries and about the recovery or payment of costs incurred during inquiries or hearings.
