Inspectors Response Re Proofs

THE TESCO/EVERTON PUBLIC INQUIRY Ms Yvonne Parker, Telephone 0151 443 4209 The Programme Officer, c/o Municipal Buildings, 4305 Cherryfield Drive Kirkby, L32 1TX [email protected]

Mobile: 0781 333

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To all interested parties of the above Inquiry The Inspector has considered the responses which have been received to the proposals set out in the PIM notes for sitting dates for the Inquiry before and after Christmas and for the later submission of proofs from interested parties. She notes that Knowsley Council and the interested parties have indicated their acceptance of the proposal, but that the agents for the applicants have asked that interested parties submit proofs by the 14 November so that they may be considered before the appellant gives evidence and so that the Inquiry may finish before Christmas. At the PIM the Inspector asked for indications of the time which the main parties might require for their cases and possible cross examination. On the understanding that, in the absence of any list of witnesses or knowledge of the contents of proofs, the parties could not accurately estimate time for cross examination, the applicants and Knowsley Council indicated they would need about 14 days, and Liverpool and the other local authorities indicated that they would need 5-7 days. This takes the length of the inquiry to between 19 -21 days before there is any certainty as to time for cross examination, and before any of the other interested parties have participated. In these circumstances the Inspector considers that there is no reasonable possibility that the Inquiry could be completed in the 16 sitting days to the 12 December. The Inspector is not then available for the following weeks up to Christmas, so there is no alternative but to programme the resumption of the inquiry for the 6 January as set out in the PIM note. Since the first four weeks of the Inquiry will be taken up with evidence from the main parties, the Inspector remains of the view that it would be acceptable to receive the evidence for those parties to be heard in January on the 18 December. The Inspector notes the comments on behalf of the applicants that the late submission of evidence by the interested parties will disadvantage the applicant. However, there has been consultation on the planning application and responses have been received from interested parties which outline their main concerns. Clearly in the event that the interested parties raise new points in their evidence that have not previously been raised in correspondence on the planning application, the Inspector will provide the applicants with the opportunity through supplementary proofs and recall of witnesses to rebut those points.

Furthermore the Inspector is concerned at the delay which is occurring in making sets of documents available to the interested parties. Having regard to the large volume of documents which were submitted with the planning application, she considers that it would in these circumstances be inequitable to expect unrepresented parties to produce their responses in evidence before the start of the inquiry. The Inspector expects the following parties to adhere to the dates for submission of R6 statements with proofs of evidence by 28 October: Knowsley Council The applicants Liverpool CC Sefton MBC West Lancs DC St Helens Council Lancs County Council Grosvenor Ltd Other unrepresented parties who will appear after Christmas have until the 18 December to submit their proofs. The Inspector is aware of the importance of the scheme to the applicants and the Council, and of the need to minimise the period of uncertainty as to the outcome of the inquiry. Together with the assistant Inspectors, she will undertake to ensure the smooth running of the inquiry and the early delivery of the report to the SoS.

Kind regards

Yvonne Parker Programme Officer 2 October 2008