The scoping EIA is essentially the developer saying to the planning inspectorate (PINS) “this is what I intend to put in the EIA, is it sufficient?” PINS then consult with the statutory consultees, which includes the district, county and parish councils, but not the general public or community action groups.
The scoping EIA is highly technical, so it’s challenging for Parish Councils to read and respond. There’s some good advice for PCs on how to contribute to responding to a scoping EIA from Suffolk CC at https://www.salc.org.uk/national-strategic-infrastructure-projects-faqs. There are also some useful slides from a presentation about this.
For less easy to understand gov advice see
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/nationally-significant-infrastructure-projects-advice-note-seven-environmental-impact-assessment-process-preliminary-environmental-information-an
The key message for PCs is to leave the technical stuff to the County Council and District Council. Instead provide area specific knowledge, and community representation, giving a rural perspective (other contributors and PINS are likely to be more urban-thinking).
- PCs should not to try and mimic the activity of district and county councils, but rather to recognise that they can add value which non-departmental public bodies and principle authorities cannot.
- Don’t try to be exhaustive, rather, add value and information the other consultees cannot, giving effective voice to the locality.
- Start with a narrative overview. Describe the character and nature of your community. The applicant (Kingsway) and PINS won’t know this and the County Council and District Council will focus on technical issues.
- Only choose key issues for your parish or group of parishes. Use these headings for comments and see the slides that explain these headings.
- potential impact;
- potential opportunities;
- baseline information;
- methodology.
- Brevity and clarity are important.