Handling environmental appeals through hearings or local inquiries: code of practice

Cases where no pre-examination meeting is required

17. Where no pre-examination meeting is required, the reporter will write to parties setting out his or her provisional views on (a) the issues requiring no further procedure; and (b) the issues requiring further information or evidence and the reporter's proposed procedures for dealing with them. The reporter will invite comments and will consider the representations that parties make on the selection of issues and of the proposed procedures and seek a consensus on the most effective way of handling the appeal, in particular, which issues require to be dealt with at a hearing or inquiry session. The reporter will provide written confirmation of which matters are to be dealt with by written submissions and which are to be covered at a hearing or inquiry session.