Planning Inquiries Andrew Bennett To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will list public planning inquiries in each of the last five years which took evidence for more than five weeks; how soon after the inquiry the inspector made his report to the Secretary of State in each case; and how long it took the Secretary of State to reach a decision in each case. [112356] Mr. McNulty The following table lists called-in planning applications and recovered appeals inquiries which began and sat for 20 or more days (equivalent to five weeks as inquiries do not normally sit on Mondays) in the period from 1 April 1998 to 31 March 2003 (it therefore does not include Heathrow Terminal 5). The cases, with the exception of Thameslink 2000, do not include Transport and Works Act cases (some of which include linked planning cases) as these are the responsibility of my right hon. Friend the Member for Edinburgh Central.The rules for planning appeals, which came into effect in August 2000, introduced the requirement for the appellant and local planning authority to prepare jointly a statement of common ground. The purpose of this document is to set out the agreed factual information about the proposal in advance of the inquiry, and so reduce the time taken on this when the inquiry opens. --------------------------------------------------- |Site | --------------------------------------------------- |Shellhaven, Thurrock1 | --------------------------------------------------- |Withdean Stadium, Brighton1 | --------------------------------------------------- |MSAs M3,M4,M251 | --------------------------------------------------- |MS As Ml, Leeds, Harrogate, Selby1 | --------------------------------------------------- |Alconbury Airfield, Huntingdon | --------------------------------------------------- |Castlegate, York | --------------------------------------------------- |Finningley Airport, Doncaster | --------------------------------------------------- |Cable Street, Liverpool2 | --------------------------------------------------- |MTL site Liveipool2 | --------------------------------------------------- |Adj M5, Tewkesbury | --------------------------------------------------- |Heron Tower, Bishopsgate, London EC3 | --------------------------------------------------- |Thingwall Hall, Knowsley | --------------------------------------------------- |Fulcrum and former Castle Donington Power Station| --------------------------------------------------- |MSAs M42, Solihull3 | --------------------------------------------------- |Roaring Meg Retail Park, Stevenage | --------------------------------------------------- |Flowers Brewery site, Cheltenham | --------------------------------------------------- |Xanadu development, Wigan | --------------------------------------------------- |Waterside Park, Tameside | --------------------------------------------------- |Lamberhurst Farm, Faversham | --------------------------------------------------- |Otterburn Training Camp | --------------------------------------------------- |Aldbough, East Riding | --------------------------------------------------- |TWA Thameslink 20004 | ---------------------------------------------------