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This is entry number 184, first published on 8 November
2010, of a blog on the implementation of the Planning Act 2008.
Click
here for a link to the whole blog. If you would like to be
notified when the blog is updated, with links sent by email, click
here.
Today's entry is an update on the status of projects coming
before the Infrastructure Planning Commission.
The Infrastructure Planning Commission (IPC) now has 54 projects
on its books, although four of these are listed as
'withdrawn'. Here is the latest news about those and
others.
Rookery South Energy from Waste plant
This is the first and so far only application to have been
accepted by the IPC. The deadline for making representations
on it is 19 November.
As with any large infrastructure project, this 'resource
recovery facility' is not universally popular. On
Thursday Nadine Dorries, Conservative MP for Mid Bedfordshire,
asked the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural
Affairs during question time to halt the registration process for
this project, being promoted by Covanta Energy in her
constituency. Here is a link to the Hansard extract.
Her question referred to potential objectors having to read a
'7000 page document' and that there are irregularities in
the online registration process. No further details are
provided. Needless to say, the Minister (Richard Benyon) gave
a neutral reply, albeit referring to the 19 November deadline, so
he had done his homework.
Maesgwyn power line
This was the first application to be made to the IPC, but they
refused to accept it at the beginning of September.
It appears that promoter Western Power Distribution is gearing
up to resubmit its application, if the IPC Register of
Advice is anything to go by. The correspondence between
promoter Western Power Distribution, their lawyers Osborne Clarke,
and the IPC suggests that adjustments are being made to the
application documentation. The IPC still seems unhappy with
the proposed development consent order, however, and also has an
issue with the land and works plans being inconsistent.
Hull biomass project
This is one of only five other projects to have started their
formal pre-application process, but DONG Energy (that's Danish
Oil and Natural Gas, before you ask) has decided to withdraw the
proposal. It was to have been for a biomass power station to
generate just under 300MW of electricity (chosen presumably to
avoid 'carbon capture readiness' obligations).
DONG has decided to concentrate on its core business of gas-fired
power stations and offshore windfarms.
A21 highway upgrade
This project in Kent is marked as withdrawn, and is the only
direct casualty of the comprehensive spending review amongst IPC
projects.
Cheeseman's Green highway works
This project near Ashford in Kent was at one time going to be
the first application to be made to the IPC. Those were the
days. It disappeared for a while but has recently reappeared,
marked as 'withdrawn'. The project consisted of works
to a trunk road to facilitate a housing development, which did not
go ahead. If the policy is now to list all projects that have
ever appeared, we need to see the Waterloo offshore wind farm
too.
Bryn Llywelyn onshore windfarm
This is the fourth and final forthcoming application that is
listed as withdrawn. The reason is that the applicant RES has
decided to apply for a scheme that is less than the IPC threshold
of 50MW of electricity generation, and hence is applying to the
local authority instead, so the project is still in fact carrying
on.
Other pre-application consultations
Four other projects have started their pre-application
consultation: EDF's Hinkley Point nuclear power station,
another Covanta Energy energy from waste plant near Merthyr Tydfil
in Wales, Scottish and Southern Energy's wind farm at Nant y
Moch in Wales and Lafarge Aggregates' railway diversion at
Whitwell in Derbyshire.
I maintain an up-to-date list of live applications and all other
current Planning Act links at blog entry number 127. Bookmark it now!
(ctrl+B)
Other scoping opinions
One area where the IPC has been particularly active is the
production of scoping opinions. Scoping opinions are advice
from the IPC on what the promoter's Environmental Statement
(ES) should contain. No fewer than 24 of the projects on
the IPC's list have now been supplied with scoping opinions,
just under half of the total (only one being for an
application now withdrawn).
In every case the applicant has supplied the IPC with a
'scoping report' of what it is planning to put in its ES,
to give the IPC a head start, although this is technically
optional. Here is a link to the scoping reports and
scoping opinions.
Expect a blog entry soon when they hit 25, analysing the
consultation exercises that were undertaken.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general
guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought
about your specific circumstances.
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