HARTY's SHOW SENSATION

[Jim D]

What happens if the planning inspector identifies Sheepcote as the best location and, after the Election, Prescott gets moved elsewhere. Does that mean we're snookered - as the new Secretary of State can invoke the transport problems?

Just a thought.

 

[Lord Bracknell]

What happens if the planning inspector identifies Sheepcote as the best location and, after the Election, Prescott gets moved elsewhere. Does that mean we're snookered - as the new Secretary of State can invoke the transport problems?

Just a thought.

In practice, what happens is that the Inspector's Report gets submitted to the Planning Directorate, the group of civil servants who deal with all planning matters for the government.

They study the Report in great detail before it gets anywhere near the Secretary of State. Only when the Planning Directorate have finished their work, will they advise the Secretary of State on the decision that he should make.

In the case of particularly sensitive planning applications, there is another stage, which will involve the government's political advisors taking a look at the possible political implications of a decision - but that usually comes very late in the process.

The Secretary of State may even delegate the decision to a junior minister - although the final decision letter may well suggest that the Secretary of State himself has made that decision.

The individuals who hold these political positions might change, but the process rolls forward regardless. If - as Jim D suggests - the "transport problems" are going to be invoked, that would almost certainly be something that would arise at the stage when the Planning Directorate were still dealing with the Report. The political advisors may also get involved, if there is a danger that a decision (one way or the other) might have implications for other planning applications.

All of these issues tend to slow down the decision making process, of course. It can be very frustrating, but our experience last year is that the delays, combined with the campaigning, eventually led to Prescott rejecting the Inspector's Report and keeping alive our hopes of getting to Falmer.

The simple answer to Jim D's question is ... don't worry.