The Secretary of State appointed Ms Mary Travers BA(Hons) DipTP MRTPI and Mr David Hogger BA MSc MRTPI MCIHT, of the Planning Inspectorate, to conduct the Examination into the compliance and soundness of the DPDs.

Matters and Issues arising from examination

The matters and issues arising from the examination and the Council's responses can be viewed here.  

Schedule of Suggested Minor Changes

The Council suggested two sets of minor changes to the Site Allocations DPDs and invited the Inspectors to take these into account in writing their report.  The Council considered these changes to be minor and they did not alter the substance of the Site Allocations DPDs. These were endorsed by the Inspector's Report and have been incorporated into the Adopted DPDs.

Schedule of suggested minor changes, Appendix A, Appendix B   Supplement to schedule of suggested minor changes Annex 1 Annex 2 Annex 3

Examination Hearing Sessions
The hearing sessions of the Examination into the five Site Allocations DPDs commenced on Tuesday 2 November 2010 at 10am at South Hams District Council offices, Follaton House, Plymouth Road, Totnes, TQ9 5NE.  

Hearing Timetable (revised 26 October 2010).

Inspectors' Matters and Issues for the Examination  (revised 27 October 2010)

South Hams opening statement

South Hams closing statement

Examination Hearing Statements

The Council and hearing participants provided statements for the hearing sessions which can be viewed here.  Further written representations can be viewed here.

Consideration of Alternative Sites

Concern was expressed at the Publication Stage regarding the consideration by the Inspectors of what were described as ‘alternative sites’.  These are sites which were not supported by the Council but were promoted by other parties.

The Inspectors made provision in the hearings programme for those who asked to put their case with regard to development sites that were not allocated by the Council.  Only where a hearing had been requested was an alternative site included in the programme.

Pre-Hearing Meeting

A Pre-Hearing Meeting (PHM) took place on Tuesday 21 September 2010 at Totnes Pavillions, Borough Park, Totnes, TQ9 5XW.

The purpose of the PHM was to explain and discuss procedural and administrative matters relating to the management of the Examination, including the programme for the hearings, the matters to be examined and related questions, the running order and participants, the methods of dealing with representations, the timetable for submitting statements, and any other relevant matters.

Agenda

Note of the pre hearing meeting.

Please note that the meeting was to explain how the Examination process would proceed - the content and merits of the DPDs and the representations were not discussed at the meeting.

Inspectors’ Advance Notes for guidance.

Information about compliance and soundness and the examination process in general can be downloaded from the Planning Inspectorate website

http://www.planning-inspectorate.gov.uk/pins/appeals/local_dev/index.htm

A brief guide to examining development plan documents

http://www.planning-inspectorate.gov.uk/pins/appeals/local_dev/dpd/brief_guide_examining_dpd.pdf

Examining Development Plans Documents: Soundness Guidance

http://www.planning-inspectorate.gov.uk/pins/appeals/local_dev/dpd_procedure_guide_aug09.pdf

Examination Documents

Core Documents List (updated 2 November 2010)