No right to be heard

The examination will be led by the Reporter, and neither the objector nor the planning authority have a right to be heard at a public local inquiry;

Recent changes to the Planning Act require planning authorities to prepare local development plans for their area. These are to replace the previous local plans.

If representations have been made to the planning authority about the plan and any matters of dispute have not been resolved, the planning authority must submit the plan to the Scottish Ministers for examination.

Ministers will appoint a person, or persons (normally Scottish Government Reporters), to carry out the examination.

The arrangements for the examination will be made by the Directorate for Planning and Environmental Appeals.

The main features of the new process are:

• The planning authority will be expected to submit, at the outset, all the material necessary for the examination, including a summary of the unresolved issues arising from the unwithdrawn objections;

• The Reporter will decide how to conduct the examination and, for each issue, whether s/he requires further information;

• The examination will be led by the Reporter, and neither the objector nor the planning authority have a right to be heard at a public local inquiry;

• For most issues, no further information should be required, but if it is, the Reporter will decide who will be asked to provide it;

• A written submission setting out the information requested should usually be sufficient;

• The Reporter may decide to hold a hearing if that is needed to explore the information further, and will decide who to invite to participate in the discussion at the hearing;Only exceptionally will an inquiry session be necessary to test the information through cross-examination;

• The Reporter will submit a report of the examination to the planning authority, containing his or her conclusions and recommendations on each issue; and

• Any modifications to the plan which are recommended by the Reporter will generally be binding on the planning authority.

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