Minerals development control policies examination

Welcome to the information page for the independent examination of the draft Wiltshire and Swindon Minerals Development Control Policies document and supporting documents.

This page provides details of the examination arrangements, key dates and links to all the relevant documents that should be read in conjunction with the examination procedure.

The Inspector's Report

The Inspector's Report on the Public Examination on the Minerals Development Control Policies DPD, which was published in May 2009, is available to download below.

The Inspector

A Government Planning Inspector, Graham Cundale (BA (Hons) MSc MRTPI MIEEM), was appointed to undertake an independent examination into the soundness of the Minerals Development Control Policies. The role of the Inspector is to consider whether the draft Wiltshire and Swindon Minerals Development Control Policies document meets the requirements of the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004 and associated Regulations.

The Inspector will also determine whether it satisfies the tests of soundness as set out in the relevant national policy statement (PPS12). It is important to note that the draft Minerals Development Control Policies will be examined against the provisions of the 2008 version of PPS12. Following the closure of the Examination, the Inspector will prepare a report with precise recommendations that will be binding for the Councils.

The Inspector will take into account the representations submitted on the Minerals Development Control Policies Document and further representations invited on the list of Main Matters for the Examination.

Hearing Sessions

The Inspector identified the need to hold a series of informal, ‘round table’ hearing sessions to assist his consideration of the submitted Minerals Development Control Policies Document. The hearing sessions were held on 27 January 2009 and provided an opportunity for people to present their case in front of the Inspector on issues of soundness. Arrangements were made for the hearing sessions to be held in Trowbridge on the prescribed dates.

The Examination hearing sessions were held in the Chapman’s Building at County Hall (Library & Heritage HQ) in Trowbridge.

Proposed Changes

Prior to the hearing sessions in January, the Councils submitted a series of ‘Proposed Changes’ to the submitted Minerals Development Control Policies DPD. As a result of dialogue at the hearing sessions, the Councils have elected to presented additional changes.

The Councils consider the Proposed Changes do not materially alter the orginal intent of the policies and proposals set out in the submitted DPD but merely clarify certain key matters. As a result the Councils consider the changes to be sound. However, the Inspector does not necessarily share that view and hence the Councils elected to publish the Schedule of Proposed Changes for a six-week period that ran from 9 February until 23 March 2009. Further details of these matters can be found below.

Should it have been necessary to consider any duly-made comments in respect of the Schedule of Proposed Changes, provision was made to hold an additional session on Monday 30 March 2009 in the Chapman’s Building at County Hall.

Details of how to find the Chapman’s Building can be found through the link below.

  • Location of the Chapman's Building.

The Programme Officer

The Programme Officer, Mr Ian Kemp, was not a County or Borough Council employee and acted independently on behalf of the Inspector to organise and manage the administrative and procedural matters of the examination process.

The Programme Officer acted as the contact point for any person who made representations at the submission stage of the Minerals Development Control Policies DPD and acted as a liaison between the Councils, examination participants and the Inspector. He was the first point of contact for any questions relating to timetabling or procedural matters and all statements were submitted through him. Any matters that anyone wished to raise with the Inspector should have been raised via the Programme Officer.

In the build up to, and during, the examination period The Programme Officer was contactable at:

Address:

36 Campbell Street
New Bilton
Rugby
Warwickshire
CV21 2HY

Telephone: 01788 562864

Mobile: 07723 009166

Email: idkemp@ntlworld.com

Immediately prior to and during the examination period, Mr Ian Kemp was based in the Development Control Policies Document Examination Programme Room in the Chapman’s Building at County Hall in Trowbridge.

The Pre-examination Meeting (PEM)

The main purpose of the Pre-Examination Meeting (PEM) was to explain and discuss the procedure for the hearing sessions and how they will be managed. The PEM provided an opportunity for any other procedural queries to be raised with the Inspector.

The Minerals Development Control Policies Document PEM was held on Wednesday 3rd December 2008 in Wiltshire County Council’s Committee Room 5, Bythesea Road, Trowbridge, Wiltshire, BA14 8JN, commencing at 10.30am.

Key Dates in the Examination Process:

3rd December 2008 10.30am - PEM

7th January 2009 - Deadline for hearing statements

7th January 2009 - Date for submission of Written Representations on the List of Main Matters / Original representations

27th January 2009 - Examination Hearing Sessions commence

9 February 2009 to Noon 23 March 2009 - Consultation on the Councils Schedule of Proposed Changes

30 March 2009 - Additional hearing session (if required)

Supporting Guidance Publications

The following publications give guidance and advice on the new development plan system:

Core Documents Library

To assist with the process of examining the submitted Minerals Development Control Policies Document, the Councils drew up a list of the documents relied upon during the preparatory phases of work - the Core Documents Library. This list was kept under review as Statements of Evidence were prepared for the hearing sessions in December 2008.

Once the hearing sessions started, the library was set up in the Programme Office and anyone wishing to obtain copies of documents was able to do so by contacting the Programme Officer - Ian Kemp.

Contact Details

Email: mineralsandwastepolicy@wiltshire.gov.uk
Telephone: 01225 713429
Postal Address:
Spatial Planning Team
Wiltshire Council
County Hall
Bythesea Road
Trowbridge
Wiltshire
BA14 8JN

Last updated: 21 September 2009