A preliminary meeting, open to those who had registered an interest, began on 12 September 2013 at the Barbican Centre. Chaired by the Planning Inspectorate, this determined how the examination would be carried out, including consideration of more detailed hearings on site-specific matters, as well as project-wide issues. Once the Inspectorate concluded its examination of the application, a recommendation on whether or not to grant approval (by issuing a development consent order) would be submitted to Government ministers to make the final decision.