The Environmental Impact Assessment (Agriculture) (Wales) Regulations 2007

Appeals against screening and consent decisions

31.—(1) The persons specified in paragraph (2) may appeal to the Welsh Ministers under this regulation against a decision, consent or notification (as the case may be) (a “relevant decision”).

(2) The persons referred to in paragraph (1) are—

(a) a person who has applied for a screening decision in respect of a project which the Welsh Ministers have decided is a significant project, or is deemed to have so decided, under regulation 7;

(b) a person who has applied for consent for a significant project in respect of which consent has been refused or has been granted subject to conditions, other than those specified in regulation 17(2); and

(c) a person who has been notified of a decision under paragraph 3 of Schedule 4.

(3) An appeal against a relevant decision must be brought within 3 months of the date the person was notified of the relevant decision.

(4) A notice of appeal must—

(a) describe the relevant decision;

(b) state the grounds of appeal; and

(c) state whether the appellant would like the appeal to be in the form of a hearing or local inquiry or to be disposed of on the basis of written representations.

(5) The Welsh Ministers must serve copies of the notice on the interested parties as soon as is reasonably practicable after receiving that information.

(6) A person who is served with a copy of the notice under paragraph (5) may only make representations in respect of the appeal if he or she notifies the Welsh Ministers of his or her wish to do so within 21 days of the date he or she receives the copy of the notice.

(7) The Welsh Ministers must decide—

(a) whether the appeal should be by hearing or by local inquiry; or

(b) whether the appeal should be conducted by written representations,

and the Welsh Ministers must notify their decision to the participants in the appeal.

(8) On determining the appeal, the Welsh Ministers may allow or dismiss the appeal, or reverse any part of the relevant decision, and may consider the appeal as though they were considering the decision at first instance.

(9) The Welsh Ministers may appoint a person to exercise on their behalf, with or without payment, their function of determining the appeal or any matter involved in the appeal, and Schedule 5 has effect in relation to such an appointment.

(10) Subsections (2) to (5) of section 250 of the Local Government Act 1972(1) (local inquiries, evidence and costs) apply in relation to hearings or local inquiries held in accordance with regulation 33 as they apply to local inquiries under that section, but as if the references to the Minister were references to the Welsh Ministers and with the omission of references to a local authority.

(11) Section 322A of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990(2) (orders as to costs where no hearing or inquiry takes place) applies in relation to a hearing or local inquiry under regulation 33 as it applies to a hearing or local inquiry referred to in that section.

(12) Except as otherwise provided by this regulation or by regulation 32 or 33, the Welsh Ministers must determine the procedure (which may include provisions for site visits) for deciding the appeal.

(13) Any representations, statement or other documents to be submitted to the Welsh Ministers under regulation 32 or 33 must be accompanied by so many copies as the Welsh Ministers may specify.

(14) In this regulation, “relevant decision” means —

(a) a decision referred to in paragraph (2)(a)

(b) a refusal of consent or a grant of consent subject to conditions referred to in paragraph (2)(b)

(c) a notification referred to in paragraph (2)(c).

(1)

1972 c. 70.

(2)

1990 c. 8. Section 332A was inserted by the Planning and Compensation Act 1991 (c. 34), section 30(1).