The Tribunal would still have a role in receiving the application, notifying the appropriate owners, checking that the application has been properly made and granting the appropriate order discharging the burden. It would not be competent to award compensation in such a case or to impose a substitute real burden. Although the Executive is attracted to the idea of a fast-track procedure for unopposed applications to the Lands Tribunal, it does have some concerns. If no representations are received by the Tribunal, rights to enforce possibly desirable amenity burdens would be discharged with no consideration of the merits of the application at all. This contrasts with planning applications where each application is considered by the planning authority in relation to the local planning scheme even if there are no objections.
Questions also arise in relation to the proposed timescale.
At present, a party wanting to object to an application usually has 21 days to do so. 21 days is a relatively short period of time, yet if no representations were received by the Tribunal, the application would be granted automatically. An owner of benefited property could easily be absent from his property on holiday for such a period. The Executive favours the proposed fast-track approach for unopposed applications to the Lands Tribunal. Grounds for disposal of applications 133.