Compulsory Purchase

(asked on 4th February 2015) - View Source

Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what the circumstances were of each occasion when his Department went against the advice of its independent inspector when approving a compulsory purchase order in the last four years.


Answered by
Brandon Lewis Portrait
Brandon Lewis
This question was answered on 23rd February 2015

Since the Department’s National Planning Casework Unit took over responsibility for issuing Compulsory Purchase Order decisions in May 2012, the Secretary of State has issued decisions on 76 opposed Compulsory Purchase Orders. 73 decisions went along with the Inspector’s recommendation, and 3 did not.

In the case of Liverpool City Council and Welsh Streets, the Secretary of State disagreed with the Inspector’s report that recommended confirming the Order. The reasoning is summarised in the Written Ministerial Statement of 16 January 2015, Official Report, Column 35WS.

In the case of the Northumberland Development Project the Inspector recommended that the Order should not be confirmed or that, in the event that the Secretary of State is minded to confirm the Order, he should confirm the Order with modifications subject to receipt of a satisfactory Section 106 agreement. Following receipt of the Inspector’s Report the Secretary of State deferred his decision on the Order and in accordance with the Inspector’s recommendation wrote to all parties seeking representations. The Secretary of State subsequently confirmed the Order with modifications on 11 July 2014.

In the case of the Shepherd’s Bush Market area the Inspector recommended that the Order should not be confirmed or, if the Secretary of State is minded to confirm the Order, it should be modified by deleting some of the Order lands. In confirming the Order the Secretary of State considered that the proposed purpose of the Order would significantly contribute to the wellbeing of the area and fitted in with the adopted planning framework for the area. He was satisfied that sufficient safeguards were in place to protect traders and shopkeepers and that the potential financial viability of the scheme had been demonstrated, and that no adequate alternatives existed in terms of achieving the purpose of the proposal, particularly in light of the urgent need to redevelop the Market. The Secretary of State confirmed the Order with modifications on 10 October 2014.

Each case is considered on its individual merits, with due process.

Copies of the Secretary of State’s decision letter and the Inspector’s Report in each case have been placed in the Library of the House.

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