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London Plan Crossrail Alterations EiP (2009)

London Plan Further Alterations EiP (2007)

London Plan Early Alterations EiP (2006)

Draft London Plan EiP (2003)

What is an Examination in Public (EiP)?

Origins of the EiP process

The EiP process was introduced in 1972 to replace public local inquiries as a means of reviewing the structure plan proposals of county councils. The review of the process was due in no small part to problems experienced at the inquiry into the Greater London Development Plan in the late 1960s resulting from the length of the inquiry and the way in which it had become "bogged down" in detail. The EiP represented a new procedure that could focus properly on strategic issues. To achieve this the right of objectors to be "heard" by an inspector, which is the basis of an inquiry, was removed. In the late 1990s the format of the EiP was also applied when 'Public Examinations' were introduced to discuss and test issues arising in Regional Planning Guidance (RPG) prepared by Regional Planning Bodies.

As structure plans did not apply to Greater London and the current RPG for London was approved before the introduction of Public Examinations, London experienced its first EiP in 2003. The Greater London Authority Act 1999 ('the Act') requires that, before publishing or altering his Spatial Development Strategy (the London Plan), the Mayor of London must, unless the Secretary of State directs otherwise, cause an EiP to be held.

The 2003 EiP was part of the process of the Mayor producing the London Plan. The Report of the EiP Panel into the draft London Plan was published in July 2003.

The 2006 EiP considered the Mayor's draft 'Early Alterations' to the London Plan, on housing provision targets and waste and minerals. The EiP Panel Report on the London Plan Early Alterations was published in September 2006.

The 2007 EiP considered the Mayor's draft 'Further Alterations' to the London Plan. The EiP Panel Report on the London Plan Further Alterations was published in October 2007.

The 2009 EiP considered the Mayor’s London Plan Crossrail Alterations. The EiP Panel Report on the London Plan Crossrail Alterations was published in February 2010.