Article 2 Interpretation

In these Rules, unless the context otherwise requires, references to sections and Parts are references to sections and Parts of the Acquisition of Land Act 1981^f1, and—

• “acquiring authority” means a local authority or any person (other than a Minister) who may be authorised to purchase land compulsorily and who has made and submitted an order to the Secretary of State for confirmation in accordance withPart II;

• “assessor” means a person appointed by the Secretary of State to sit with an inspector at an inquiry or re-opened inquiry to advise the inspector on such matters arising as the Secretary of State may specify;

• “clearance area order” means a compulsory purchase order made pursuant to section 290 of the Housing Act 1985^f2;

• “document” includes a photograph, map or plan;

• “inquiry” means a local inquiry in relation to which these Rules apply;

• “inspector” means a person appointed by the Secretary of State to hold an inquiry or a re-opened inquiry;

• “land” means the land to which the order relates or, where a right over land is proposed to be acquired, the land over which such a right would be exercised;

• “official body” means a Minister of the Crown or a government department;

• “official case” means a written statement by an official body setting out in detail its case in support of an order;

• “official representation” means a written representation made by an official body in support of an order;

• “order” means a compulsory purchase order as defined in section 7, or a compulsory rights order made pursuant to section 4 of the Opencast Coal Act 1958^f3;

• “outline statement” means a written statement of the principal submissions which a person proposes to put forward at an inquiry;

• “pre-inquiry meeting” means a meeting held before an inquiry to consider what may be done with a view to securing that the inquiry is conducted efficiently and expeditiously, and where two or more such meetings are held references to the conclusion of a pre-inquiry meeting are references to the conclusion of the final meeting;

• “relevant date” means the date of the Secretary of State’s notice to the acquiring authority under rule 4(a); and “relevant notice” means that notice;

• “statement of case” means a written statement containing full particulars of the case which a person proposes to put forward at the inquiry (including, where that person is the acquiring authority, the reasons for making the order), together with copies of any documents referred to in such statement, or the relevant extracts therefrom, and a list of any documents to which that person intends to refer or which he intends to put in evidence;

• “statement of matters” means a statement by the Secretary of State of the matters which appear to him to be likely to be relevant to his consideration of the order in question;

• “statutory objector” means any objector to whom the Secretary of State is obliged by virtue of section 13(2) to afford an opportunity to be heard; and

• “the 1976 Rules” means the Compulsory Purchase by Public Authorities (Inquiries Procedure) Rules 1976^f4.