Interpretation2.

In these Rules—

“applicant” in the case of an appeal, means the appellant;

“assessor” means a person appointed by the Secretary of State to sit with an inspector at an inquiry or re-opened inquiry to advise the inspector on such matters arising as the Secretary of State may specify;

“the Commission” means the Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission for England;

“conservation area consent” has the meaning given in section 74(1) of the Listed Buildings Act;

“development order” has the meaning given in section 59 of the Planning Act;

“document” includes a photograph, map or plan;

“inquiry” means a local inquiry in relation to which these Rules apply;

“inspector” means a person appointed by the Secretary of State to hold an inquiry or a re-opened inquiry;

“land” means the land or building to which an inquiry relates;

“the Listed Buildings Act” means the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 19902;

“listed building consent” has the meaning given in section 8(7) of the Listed Buildings Act;

“local planning authority” means in relation to—

  1. (i)

    a referred application, the body who would otherwise have dealt with the application;

  2. (ii)

    an appeal, the body who were responsible for dealing with the application occasioning the appeal;

“outline statement” means a written statement of the principal submissions which a person proposes to put forward at an inquiry;

“the Planning Act” means the Town and Country Planning Act 19903;

“pre-inquiry meeting” means a meeting held before an inquiry to consider what may be done with a view to securing that the inquiry is conducted efficiently and expeditiously, and where two or more such meetings are held references to the conclusion of a pre-inquiry meeting are references to the conclusion of the final meeting;

“questionnaire” means a document in the form supplied by the Secretary of State to local planning authorities for the purpose of proceedings under these Rules;

“referred application” means an application of any description mentioned in rule 3(1) which is referred to the Secretary of State for determination;

“relevant notice” means the Secretary of State’s written notice informing the applicant and the local planning authority that an inquiry is to be held;

“the 1992 Rules” means the Town and Country Planning (Inquiries Procedure) Rules 19924;

“starting date” means the date of the—

(a)

Secretary of State’s written notice to the applicant and the local planning authority that he has received all the documents required to enable him to entertain the application or appeal; or

(b)

relevant notice,

whichever is the later;

“statement of case” means, and is comprised of, a written statement which contains full particulars of the case which a person proposes to put forward at an inquiry and a list of any documents which that person intends to refer to or put in evidence;

“statement of common ground” means a written statement prepared jointly by the local planning authority and the applicant, which contains agreed factual information about the proposal, which is the subject of the application or appeal;

“statutory party” means—

(a)

a person mentioned in paragraph (1)(b)(i) of article 19 of the Town and Country Planning (General Development Procedure) Order 19955 whose representations the Secretary of State is required by paragraph (3) of that article to take into account in determining the referred application or appeal to which an inquiry relates; and, in the case of an appeal, such a person whose representations the local planning authority were required by paragraph (1) of that article to take into account in determining the application occasioning the appeal; and

(b)

a person whose representations the Secretary of State is required by paragraphs (3)(b) and (5) of regulation 6 of the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Regulations 19906 to take into account in determining the referred application or appeal to which an inquiry relates; and, in the case of an appeal, a person whose representations the local planning authority were required by paragraph (3)(b) of that regulation to take into account in determining the application occasioning the appeal.