1. I had throughout the process been asking reasonable and relevant questions, most of which remained unanswered. On page 14 of the Guidance on Procedures for considering objections to Definitive Map and Public Path Orders, November 2008, it says under, “Procedure at the Inquiry, (3) ‘Paragraph (2) shall not preclude the addition in the course of the inquiry of other issues for consideration or preclude any person entitled or permitted to appear at the inquiry from referring to other issues which he considers to be relevant to the inquiry’.”

2. However, in my experience, the goalposts were almost always moved at Public Inquiries to focus narrowly on a claimed path itself. The rules and regulations such as the above, which permitted the consideration of the environment surrounding it or the history, were simply ignored by Hampshire County Council, Natural England, and the Planning Inspectorate; for example, at the 2009 PI, the Planning Inspector had ordered costs to be applied if anyone mentioned the word “common”!
   It was as if the law of the land no longer existed. So, on:

3. 14th February 2012, I wrote to Hampshire County Council’s Chief Executive. (See link.)
   2012 MC letter to HCC CEO 14th Feb. 201227012016

4. April 2012. I had also been waiting for a response from the Local Government Ombudsman which when it arrived did not seem of much help. In short, the matters were too long ago now, the LGO only considered matters within the preceding twelve months, or it was outside the Ombudsman’s jurisdiction.
   LGO FINAL DECISION, BROXHEAD

5. However, although it took nine months and the intervention of my MP, the LGO had helped to get a response to my letter. It came from Hampshire County Council’s Head of Information Compliance on behalf of the Chief Executive. Disappointingly only three of the thirteen questions were answered and as for the Chief Executive himself, he remained faceless and incommunicado.

Next time: The reply arrives on 31st October 2012.

All 'TCHCC' Parts so far

Click here for the list of all 'TCHCC' Parts so far