The Infrastructure Planning (Examination Procedure) Rules 2010

Notification of hearings

13.—(1) In fixing, and causing persons to be informed of, a deadline under section 92(2) (compulsory acquisition hearing) or 93(1) (open-floor hearing), the Examining authority must ensure that the deadline is at least 21 days after the date on which notice of the deadline is given.

(2) The Examining authority may disregard any request for an open-floor hearing or for a compulsory acquisition hearing to be held which is received after the deadline.

(3) As soon as practicable after the expiry of the deadline the Examining authority must notify—

(a) all interested parties of the date, time and place fixed for any open-floor hearing or issue-specific hearing; and

(b) affected persons of the date, time and place fixed for a compulsory acquisition hearing,

and ensure that at least 21 days’ notice is given of any hearing.

(4) The Examining authority may vary the date, time and place fixed for any hearing and must give such notice of any variation as appears to it to be reasonable.

(5) The place at which a hearing is to be held shall be determined by the Examining authority in consultation with the applicant and, where the Examining authority is satisfied, having regard to the nature of the application, that it is reasonable to do so, the Examining authority may direct that different parts of a hearing shall be held at different locations.

(6) Unless the Examining authority otherwise directs, the applicant must not later than 21 days before the date fixed for the commencement of a hearing—

(a) post and maintain a notice of the hearing in a conspicuous place or (in the case of an application for an order making provision for land-based linear works more than 5 kilometres in length) at intervals of not more than 5 kilometres on, or as close as is reasonably practicable to, the land to which the application relates;

(b) post and maintain a notice of the hearing in one or more places where public notices are usually posted in the area to which the proposals contained in the application relate; and

(c) publish a notice of the hearing by local advertisement in the area in which the proposals contained in the application are to have effect.

(7) In this rule “by local advertisement” means—

(a) by publication of the notice in a newspaper circulating in the locality in which the land to which the application relates is situated; and

(b) where the Examining authority maintains a website for the purpose of advertisement of applications, by publication of the notice on the website.

(8) Where a direction has been given under paragraph (5), paragraph (6) shall have effect with the substitution—

(a) for references to the hearing, of references to the part of the hearing which is to be held at a place specified in the direction; and

(b) for references to the application, of references to that part of the application which is to be the subject of that part of the hearing.

(9) Any notice posted pursuant to paragraph (6)(a) or (b) must be readily visible to and legible by members of the public; but where, without any fault or intention of the applicant, the notice is removed, obscured or defaced before the commencement of the hearing, the applicant shall be treated as having complied with the requirements of those sub-paragraphs if the applicant has taken reasonable steps for the protection of the notice and, if need be, its replacement.

(10) A notice of a hearing posted or published pursuant to paragraph (6) must contain a statement of the date, time and place of the hearing, and of the section of the 2008 Act under which the application has been made, together with a description of the proposals contained in the application sufficient to identify the location of the proposed development with or without reference to a specified map, and details of a place where a copy of the application can be inspected.