Further to articles published on this Site on 7th and 14th December, we publish below the answer to the question put to SCC by Cllr. Caroline Nichols on behalf of LOSRA. The answer has been written with great care and does not commit Surrey Council's Planning and Regulatory Committee to re-consider the application; merely that officers will re-examine the matter in the light of new factors which might be regarded as material considerations. Needless to say we would contend that the findings of the Advertising Standards Authority, published since SCC approved the application, are unquestionably material considerations and would amply justify re-consideration by the P & R Committee. We await developments.

Dear Councillor Nichols,

I am writing to answer the question you put to the County Council on 13th December about the Eco Park planning application.

You asked whether the planning application would be reconsidered following the ASA’s ruling on SITA’s consultation material. I can assure you that there will be a re-examination of the application.

It is the County Council's standard practice for all committee planning decisions to be re-examined by officers where there has been a delay in issuing the decision notice following a committee resolution. This is done to assess whether any new factors have arisen since the committee decision which might rationally be regarded as a material consideration, and which might require the committee to consider the application again. This process was established by a protocol that was agreed by the Planning and Regulatory Committee in 2003.

We have sent you a copy of the protocol and committee report under separate cover. The process is known as the Kides review, as it followed a Court of Appeal judgement on the case of Kides vs Cambridgeshire District Council. This process is the one being followed for the Eco Park.

So far officers have carried out an extensive consultation exercise to assess whether any new factors have emerged since the resolution to grant. We have written to around thirty organisations and individuals including yourself, the Environment Agency and the Health and Safety Executive. Some respondents have drawn our attention to new factors which they state are material considerations and this information will be examined carefully by officers including Legal Services.

Clearly I cannot speculate on the outcome of this process at present. The results are expected in the next month and will be made public. However, there is no specific timescale governing the Kides review. We will aim to complete the process as soon as possible in order to reduce public uncertainty about the application and I will write to you if for any reason there is a delay.

Thank you for your questions.

With best wishes,

Marisa

County Cllr Marisa Heath, Chairman of the Planning and Regulatory Committee