There are two 18th July deadlines for the Lower Thames Crossing DCO Examination. One is for Procedural Deadline D(PDD), the other is Deadline 1(D1). These are both important deadlines in the DCO examination, so we thought we’d share a bit more info so you know what you can and should try to do by this deadline if you’re registered as an Interested Party.
This is your main opportunity to let the Examiners know your concerns about the proposed LTC, whether it be requesting to be heard at a future hearing, or submitting a Written Representation. Please take advantage of the opportunity, it’s now or never! Together we are stronger!
What you can do by 18th July
Here’s a quick outline of what the 18th July deadlines cover, more details of how to do it a further down the page!
For a number of the possible options below you may find it helpful to view some of the recordings of hearings that have taken place to date.
It is important to note that whilst the Examination Timetable has been confirmed, blocks of dates have been reserved for certain aspects and further confirmation will be provided in due course, once PINS know how many people have requested to be heard or participate etc. If you request to be heard or participate and can no longer attend or need to request a change in your participation that will be fine, but please do let the PINS LTC Case Team know asap, as it is important and helpful for all for the examination to run as smoothly as possible. Delays and issues don’t help when there is so much that needs to be considered in the strict 6 month examination period.
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- Request to be heard at a future Open Floor Hearing – this is where individuals get 5 minutes to speak directly to the Examiners about issues and concerns relating to the proposed LTC. If members of the same family wish to speak together you will be given 7 minutes. If you represent a larger group you will be given up to 10 minutes, as we were for TCAG to make oral representation.
- Request to be heard at a Compulsory Acquisition Hearing – this is strictly for those who are official Affected Persons, those whose land and/or property would be directly impacted by the proposed LTC if it goes ahead.
- Request to attend any Accompanied Site Inspections – the Examiners will make Accompanied Site Inspections of certain locations to assist them in better understanding what is being proposed. You can request to join these Accompanied Site Inspections.
- Make a Written Representation – this is where you can put into writing to the Examiners your concerns about the proposed LTC. Similar to what you would have done when you registered as an Interested Party with your Relevant Representation, but this is the time you can provide more detail and evidence about the issues and concerns.
- Comment on examination hearings that have taken place so far – if you wish to comment on anything that has been raised in the examination hearings so far.
- Comment on Relevant Representations and Additional Submissions since the application was accepted – if you want to comment on any of the Relevant Representations or Additional Submissions that have been made since the application was accepted.
It is important to note that both oral and written representations carry the same weight and are considered equally. So it doesn’t matter which way you make your representation, the important thing is that you make the representation!
How you can do it
To be clear, it’s probably a lot easier and often quicker than you think to take part. The Examiners want to hear from us, and we hope this update helps you to get involved and have your say!
Open Floor Hearings are your chance to get 5 minutes in front of the Examiners to let them know about issues and concerns you have about the proposed LTC.
These meetings can take place at a physical venue where you turn up and speak and/or as a virtual hearing online where you log in and speak via Microsoft Teams.
Dates have been reserved in Sept, Oct, and Nov for possible Open Floor Hearings to take place depending on how many people request to be heard, and where and when they are requesting to be heard.
If there is even the slightest chance you may wish to speak at an Open Floor Hearing please do request to be heard. If when it comes down to it you are unable to make it, or need to ask to speak at a different date etc you can simply email the LTC PINS case team who will do their best to help as and how they can.
You need to have registered as an Interested Party, as you will need your Interested Party Number to request to be heard. This is the Unique Reference Number that can be found on the confirmation email you received when you registered as an Interested Party, and/or official correspondence you may receive from PINS as an Affected Person.
You need to complete the following '
Request to be heard MS Form', by Tues 18th July 2023 Procedural Deadline D (PDD).
If you are considered an official Affected Person (ie someone whose land and/or property would be impacted directly by the proposed LTC project) you can request to be heard at the Compulsory Acquisition Hearing.
If you are unsure if you are an official Affected Person you can check the '
Book of Reference'. In general if you've been getting written notification from NH/LTC throughout the consultation process, and then written notifications from PINS during the DCO process then you are most likely an Affected Person. If you are still unsure please contact the PINS LTC case team either via
email or phone 0303 444 5000 asap.
You need to complete the following '
Request to be heard MS Form', by Tues 18th July 2023 Procedural Deadline D (PDD)
You will need your Interested Party Number to request to be heard. This should appear on the correspondence you have received from PINS in regard to your position as an Affected Person, and may be referred to as your Unique Reference Number .
Only Affected Persons can request to be heard in a Compulsory Acquisition Hearing.
The Examiners make a number of different Site Inspections throughout the DCO process.
The ones that they have done so far and Unaccompanied as they are ones that fall within areas that can be accessed publicly so there is no need for anyone to need permission to view and inspect such areas.
However, when it comes to accessing privately owned land permission needs to be arranged, and these fall within Accompanied Site Inspections.
Interested Parties can request to attend these Accompanied Site Inspections with the Examiners.
You need to complete the following '
Request to be heard MS Form', by Tues 18th July 2023 Procedural Deadline D (PDD).
Written Representations are your chance to put in writing to the Examiners any issues and concerns you have about the proposed LTC, including evidence to show why it should not be granted permission.
Any Written Representations (and any further written submissions requested during the Examination) that exceed 1500 words should also be accompanied by a summary which should not exceed 10% of the original text. The summary should set out the key facts of the written submission and must be representative of the submission made.
Representations must not include links to documents/evidence hosted on third party websites. Please see the Planning Inspectorate’s
Advice Note 8.4: The Examination for further information about Written Representations.
All Written Representations need to be submitted using the '
Make a submission' tab on the project webpage on or before the 18th July 2023 (Deadline 1).
You need to have registered as an Interested Party or be an Affected Person, as you will need your Interested Party Number to make the submission. This is the Unique Reference Number that can be found on the confirmation email you received when you registered as an Interested Party, and/or official correspondence you may receive from PINS as an Affected Person.
A number of LTC DCO examinations have already taken place. Recordings are available of the hearings to
watch again.
If you have any written post event submissions, including written submission or oral comments made at hearings between 20th June and 6th July 2023 they need to be submitted using the '
Make a submission' tab on the project webpage on or before the 18th July 2023 (Deadline 1).
Relevant Representations were the short statements that everyone had to make when they registered as an Interested Party. These can be found on
the PINS LTC webpages here.
Any comments you wish to make on Relevant Representations need to be submitted using the '
Make a submission' tab on the project webpage on or before the 18th July 2023 (Deadline 1).
Additional Submissions that have been made since the application was accepted can also be commented on.
Again, any comments you wish to make on these need to be submitted using the '
Make a submission' tab on the project webpage on or before the 18th July 2023 (Deadline 1).
You may find our ‘Taking part in the LTC DCO Examination‘ and/or ‘Taking part in an online DCO examination Meeting/Hearing‘ update helpful if you are looking to participate. You can also view some of the submissions TCAG have submitted to date by clicking on the relevant links on our LTC DCO Updates Index to see how we’ve presented our evidence so far.
Need further help?
We’ve done our best to outline the facts about the 18th July deadlines (Deadline 1 and Procedural Deadline D), but if you still have any questions on how to participate please contact the PINS LTC Case Team via email or phone 0303 444 5000 asap, and they will do their best to assist you.
This is your chance to have your say in the LTC DCO Examination, please do take advantage of the opportunities to take part, and register and submit by 18th July 2023. Together we are stronger!
Related
LTC DCO Examination Timetable – click here
LTC DCO Updates Index – click here
