The Council’s decision to refuse application 2016/28492 was appealed by Satnam Millennium Ltd and considered at a public inquiry held between April – July 2018. The appeal was recovered by the Secretary of State for decision, therefore the Inspector submitted his recommendations in a report to the Secretary of State. 

The Secretary of State’s decision to dismiss the appeal was challenged through the High Court by Satnam Millennium Ltd. The legal challenge was allowed by the High Court in Oct 2019 and the Court has ordered that the appeal be re-determined with a different inspector.

This does not necessarily mean that the Secretary of State will reach a different overall decision.

Planning appeals are managed and determined by the Planning Inspectorate. The Planning Inspectorate is an executive agency sponsored by the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government.

The Planning Inspectorate deals with planning appeals, national infrastructure planning applications, examinations of local plans and other planning-related and specialist casework in England and Wales. The Planning Inspectorate's job is to make decisions and provide recommendations and advice on a range of land use planning-related issues across England and Wales.

The appeal process lets the Planning Inspectorate consider all the material planning considerations that are relevant to the case, and from all parties, including from the local planning authority, the applicant and from those who might have made representations on the application.

There is a strict process and timeframe for the submission and processing of appeals. In this instance the appeal has been recovered by the Secretary of State.

Planning appeals can also be ‘recovered’ for decision by ministers. A recovered appeal is one where instead of an inspector making the decision, he or she will write a report that will make a recommendation on how the appeal should be determined. This will then be passed to the Secretary of State to make the decision, taking into account the inspector’s recommendation.

The Inquiry re-opened on Monday 14 September. It was adjourned on 22 September until 9 March 2021. It was agreed that this should continue as a virtual event. It is to be hoped that the allocated time will be sufficient to complete the inquiry.

As was explained by the Inspector, the adjournment was necessary to allow further runs of the VISSIM model to be carried out in order to correct the flaws that were discovered in its operation.

The main parties will have the opportunity to submit further highway evidence as appropriate to take into account the outcome of the Appellant’s further VISSIM work.

Satnam Millennium Ltd have submitted an Environmental Impact Assessment addendum 2 and a revised Transport Assessment. This is available on the Council website dedicated EIA development page or on the Planning application search page for application ref 2016/28492.

The description of development has been amended to remove the proposed employment uses from the scheme, and an updated parameter plan has been submitted to reflect this.

The Council is a main party in the appeal and will present evidence to the inquiry.

On 1 July 2020, Development Management Committee (DMC) considered a report regarding the council’s case in defending the appeal and preparing evidence for the inquiry in light of the new information submitted by the appellant and accepted for consideration by the Planning Inspectorate.

DMC resolved to continue to robustly defend the appeal on highway grounds.

Rule 6 status under The Town and Country Planning (Inquiries Procedure) (England) Rules 2000 has been granted to the Peel Hall Campaign Group and they will therefore have an active part in the inquiry as one of the main parties alongside the Council and the appellant.

Any comments you may have made at application stage or when the appeal was first determined will be considered by the different Inspector and Secretary of State.

The deadline for making additional comments to the Planning Inspectorate was 25 June. However, additional comments may still be accepted. It will be at the discretion of the Planning Inspectorate whether or not they accept any comments received after 25 June.

Comments should be sent to:

The Planning Inspectorate, Temple Quay House, 2 The Square, Temple Quay, Bristol, BS1 6PN

Or by E-mail to HELEN.SKINNER@planninginspectorate.gov.uk

All representations must quote the appeal reference APP/M0655/W/17/3178530.

The adjourned Inquiry will resume on 9 March 2021 when it will commence at 9.30am. A further eight days have been reserved (9-12 and 16-20 March).

The Planning Inspectorate advised on 2 June 2020 that a conventional face-to-face inquiry is not possible under current social distancing restrictions and it seems likely that this situation will not change for a considerable period of time. The Council has written to the Planning Inspectorate, setting out its opposition to the Inquiry being held in a virtual format. Ensuring the safety and wellbeing of all inquiry participants is of paramount importance to the Planning Inspectorate. The Government’s Ministerial Statement (13/5/20) (WMS) makes clear that the Government expects everyone involved in the planning process to engage proactively and that virtual inquiries are now the default position other than in exceptional circumstances.

The Rule 6 Party, Save Peel Hall Campaign Group, have also expressed serious  concerns regarding a virtual inquiry and that a physical inquiry is the preferred option.

On 7 July 2020, the Inspector confirmed that she is satisfied that virtual inquiries can be run successfully and would meet all legal obligations.

In the letter, it is stated that the Inspector is aware that this is a controversial proposal that has a long planning history. She understands that there are many local people opposed to the scheme. However, she does not agree that a virtual event would not allow people to participate either by giving their views to the Inspector, asking questions of the appellant’s witnesses or observing the event.

The Inspector goes on to state that people can participate in a number of ways, including by telephone. They do not need to be digitally accomplished and there is much less risk of excluding interested people. The Minister has pointed out that it will actually enable people to participate more easily because they can do so from their own homes. She states that although things are having to be done differently in response to changed circumstances, there is no reason why members of the public should be disadvantaged or why the process should not be open, transparent and fair.

The Council has again written to the Planning Inspectorate, expressing its concern that the public will be disadvantaged by holding the enquiry in a virtual format.

Despite the Council’s assertions regarding the need for a physical inquiry, the decision was taken by the Planning Inspectorate for the inquiry to be fully virtual.

The Planning Inspectorate is using Microsoft Teams as the platform that will enable people to participate remotely. It can be accessed by a link in an email invitation through a laptop, tablet, computer or smartphone or by dialling in via a given phone number. The Inquiry will be subject to the same Rules and Regulations as conventional face-to-face inquiries.

To further assist the Inspector will be arranging a test event for the main parties (including witnesses) in the week before the inquiry. This will allow them to try out the access arrangements using the technology and hopefully iron out any issues that might arise.

Anyone wishing to attend the inquiry must make that interest known to the Planning Inspectorate Case Officer Helen Skinner (Tel: 0303 444 5531.  Email: helen.skinner@planninginspectorate.gov.uk) as soon as possible prior to the Inquiry, either by email or telephone after reading the Inquiry Attendance Information set out below.  When contacting the Case Officer, it would be helpful if you could confirm whether you want to take an active part in the proceedings or anticipate attending just as an observer (see below).   

Inquiry Attendance Information  

Before deciding whether to take an active part in the Inquiry, you need to think carefully about the points you wish to make. All written submissions from application and appeal stage will be taken into account by the Inspector and re-stating the same points won’t add any additional weight to them.

If you feel that taking part in the Inquiry is right for you in whatever capacity, you can participate in a number of ways:

To join via the internet on a computer or smartphone, please follow this link https://event.planninginspectorate.gov.uk/3178530resumption

Alternatively, if you are joining via telephone, please dial 020 3321 5208, entering the phone conference ID 739 906 258# when prompted, using your telephone keypad. IMPORTANT NOTE: If you wish to hide your telephone number from the other participants, please dial 141 before dialling the number above (other methods may apply on certain mobile carriers/telephones).

You should also note that joining by telephone to the 020 number that will be used will incur charges. You should check actual rates with your provider https://www.gov.uk/call-charges

If you just wish to observe the event, you can do so on YouTube. Sessions will be livestreamed so that those who wish to observe (but not participate) can do so by these means. The livestream will be available via the following link: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQqDetL1R5aRgbNm8PDViNw

If you wish to take an active part in the proceedings, please make clear in your response whether you wish only to appear at the Inquiry and make a statement, or whether you would also wish to ask questions on particular topics. If you want to take an active part but feel unable to for any reason, and/or the points you want to make are not covered in the evidence of others, consider whether someone else could raise them on your behalf.

Registered participants in whatever capacity will receive individual joining instructions, providing details of any requirements, guidance and support, whether joining by Teams or telephone. You should note that the event will be recorded by the Planning Inspectorate for internal training and quality assurance purposes.

Planning Inspectorate Reference:

APP/M0655/W/17/3178530

Case Officer contact at the Planning Inspectorate:

Helen Skinner - Tel: 0303 444 5531; Email: helen.skinner@planninginspectorate.gov.uk

The Inspector will make an unaccompanied visit to the site and surrounding area in advance of the inquiry and, if necessary, after its close. The main parties have been asked to provide an itinerary (with a map) to indicate particular places that they would like her to visit.

The Inspector agreed with the main parties the following timetable:

14 December 2020 – the final date by which the Appellant must submit its VISSIM evidence. There will be no extension to this date and best efforts should be made to submit it earlier.

9 February 2021 – all proofs of evidence on VISSIM related matters shall be submitted.

23 February 2021 – rebuttal proofs (if necessary) on VISSIM related matters shall be submitted.

23 February 2021 – Statement of Common Ground on VISSIM related matters shall be submitted.

The resumed inquiry will sit between 9^th March and 26^th March 2021 on the following days (starting at 9.30am):

• Tuesday 9^th, Wednesday 10^h, Thursday 11^th and Friday 12^th March
• Tuesday 16^th, Wednesday 17^th, Thursday 18^th, Friday 19^th March  
• Thursday 25^th, Friday 26^th March (these are reserved days if required).

The resumed Inquiry will only be considering evidence on highways and planning policy/ planning balance. It will not be an opportunity to revisit the topics that have already been discussed in evidence or to hear further local representations.

If there is a relevant material change that occurs in the interim period it may need to be dealt with. However, that is considered to be exceptional and will be for the Inspector to decide.

It is expected that a draft time table will be available nearer to the 9^th March. However, the inspector has confirmed that the inquiry will be conducted on a topic basis as follows:

• Highways evidence first
• Possible healthcare round table session (if matters are not resolved via Statement of Common Ground)
• Planning policy and planning balance
• Round table session on conditions and the Planning Obligation
• A suitable break will be provided before closing submissions