Public examination

Public examinations will be held to allow an independent Inspector to assess the soundness of Wakefield’s Core Strategy and Development Policies DPD. The inspector will consider any representations made when testing the soundness of the documents. The Inspector is appointed by the Secretary of State to conduct the examination.

The Core Strategy public examiantion hearings formally opened on Monday 4 August 2008 and lasted for two weeks.  Following these hearing sessions, four further sessions will be held on 8 December 2008, 9 December 2008, 11 December 2008 and 12 December 2008 respectively.  These additional hearing sessions are to allow further detailed discussions on the matters raised during the examination, the Council's proposed changes (see below), and to allow sufficient time for the Council to collect further evidence.

The Development Policies DPD examination will formally open on Thursday 21 August 2008 and is expected to last for one week.

Inspector

The Inspector who has been appointed by the Secretary of State to conduct the examination is Shelagh Bussey MA, Dip TP, Dip EM, PhD, MRTPI of the Planning Inspectorate. Her role is to consider all of the evidence and produce a report for the Council giving her recommendations for action.  The report produced is binding on the Council.

Programme Officer

The Programme Officer organising the administration of the examination is Kerry Trueman. Ms Trueman works independently of the Council and reports directly to the Inspector. Any correspondence or queries regarding the examination process should be directed to her:-

Ms Kerry Trueman
Programme Officer
Wakefield Council
County Hall
Wakefield
WF1 2QL

Tel: 01924 302370

If you wish to visit the Programme Office to view a document in the examination library or meet with the Programme Officer please phone the above number to make an appointment.

Minor Changes to the Core Strategy Submission Document

The Council is proposing to make some minor changes to the Submitted Core Strategy in response to matters raised during the Examination.  These changes are an attempt to provide extra clarity and in the Council's opinion do not alter the overall thrust or meaning of policies, or the substance or soundness of the document.  Comments on these changes are invited during a period of six weeks which will run from Thursday 21 August 2008 to Thursday 2 October 2008.  For further information and to view the changes and associated documents please follow the "Minor Changes to the Core Strategy Submission Document" page below.