CHIS Public Inquiry information
Maggie Shapland
We are still awaiting results of
the Suspension Bridge road scheme (a 3 day inquiry).
Report of Actions for the Inquiry
- We hired an expert witness for safety of the scheme
- We conducted our opposition ourselves without a barrister (we did not
have enough funds). This
worked well as the named opposers were able to put their own questions to
the developers and the Inspector helped us in protocol
- A small body of opposers held regular meetings before the Inquiry to
show progress, discuss
tactics and try to delegate tasks
- We held demonstrations and contacted the press and television, and
gave out fliers to inform everyone of the scheme. We also sent out
individualised
letters to known opposers
- We put together a Powerpoint show to help put forward some
of our arguments. Unfortunately the camera with the video that we
took, broke- which would also have helped demonstrate our case.
We also took many photographs - these should have descriptions on the back
to explain their purpose because they may have to be examined by people
unfamiliar with the setting
Advice about Public Inquiries
- Do not be frightened into withdrawing your opposition by the letter
from the Inspectorate stating that
you may be liable to costs. This is only to stop trivial objections
wasting everyones time
- We did not have to produce our proofs of evidence until the day. This
was because we had written so many letters to the Council putting forward
our evidence, that the Inspector was already aware of our objections. The
Council
produced their proofs about 2 weeks before the Inquiry so much of our
proofs were based on them (they also went back to the original plan
rather than the revised plan 3 days before the inquiry- which meant much
of our prepared proofs had to be revised with very little notice.
- Remember in your letters of opposition and proof of evidence to state
what qualification you have to complain- eg as resident, pedestrian, road
user, cyclist, disabled, mother with children etc
- When the campaigners present their case, try to make sure you have at
least one of each category: resident, pedestrian, road
user, cyclist, disabled, mother with children, visitor and find out what
they are going to say. This will avoid unecessary duplication.
Inevitably new campaigners will turn up on the day and wish to speak- this
is allowed so long as there is time. The proof of evidence must be on
paper so that the Inspector can take it away with him (plus an extra
copy for the campaign leader and developer)
- We had also obtained as
many responses from the
Council as we could, that had been sent to the opposers 2 months before
the inquiry asking them to withdraw their objections and outlining
the reasons. The Inspectorate had sent copies of the opposers letters to
all the opposers so we could work out what important points had been
ignored. In practise, only the letters from the leader of the campaigners
had been considered in the evidence, so we were able to ask about the
extra points at the Inquiry
- Make sure that you put questions to the developers rather than making
statements and write down as many as you can beforehand otherwise you will
forget. You can ask the same question to as many of the defense as
relevent.
- Ask if they have inspected the site properly (for example one
proposer had stated that he did not expect many mothers with prams would
be crossing the road- he hadnt realised there was a childrens
playground nearby)
- Check measurements given by the developers
- Check facts given by the developers
- Make sure that a site visit occurs so that you can show the inspector
what your concerns are
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