IPC Holds First Compulsory Acquisition Hearing

This is entry number 255, published on 28 June 2011, of a blog on the Planning Act 2008 infrastructure planning and authorisation regime. Click here for a link to the whole blog. If you would like to be notified when the blog is updated, with links sent by email, click here.

Today's entry reports on the start of the first compulsory acquisition hearing to take place under the Planning Act regime.

The first application for a nationally significant infrastructure project is trundling its way through the six-month period for examination by the Infrastructure Planning Commission (IPC), clocking up a series of firsts as it goes. The latest 'first' is to hold a hearing into the compulsory acquisition of land for the project. The IPC is holding a series of three types of hearing into the first application it accepted, for an energy from waste project at Rookery South near Bedford, promoted by Covanta Energy. Yesterday was the first day of a potential five-day 'compulsory acquisition' hearing, one of the three types, where those whose land is proposed to be compulsorily acquired can argue their cases that no, or less, or different, land should be acquired. The first of the other two types of hearing is an 'issue specific' hearing - on a particular issue at the discretion of the IPC - which has now finished after five sitting days. The other is an 'open floor' hearing - a general chance to put any remaining points - which is taking place next week. I was unable to attend yesterday's hearing, but one of my colleagues did so, and so I pass on his comments on the hearing. The venue was the Forest Centre near Bedford, which is only being used for this hearing. It was pleasant and near the proposed project site but rather difficult to reach by public transport. History does not record the price of a cup of coffee (see blog entries passim), but there was a cafeteria open to the public that could be used. The proceedings were the nearest that the IPC will get to a...