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 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.

Previous London Plan EiPs

The 2003 EiP was part of the process of the Mayor producing the London Plan. There have since been EiPs on three sets of 'Alterations', and  in 2010 and EiP of the Replacement London Plan. 

More information about these EiPs, including access to the Panel Reports, is available via the Previous EiPs link on the left.