We use cookies to give you the best online experience. By using our website you agree to our use of cookies in accordance with our cookie policy. Learn more here.Close Me
Today's entry reports on the approval of the applications to
build and operate the Heysham to M6 Link Road in Lancashire and the
Hinkley Point C nuclear power station in Somerset.
Hinkley Point C
Today, Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change Ed Davey
MP made a statement to the House of Commons to say that he had
approved the application made by EDF Energy for the Hinkley Point C
nuclear power station. Today was the last day of the three
month period given to the government to make a decision. The
statement can be found here.
This is the first nuclear power station to be approved in the UK
since Secretary of State for Energy Peter Walker MP (no relation)
approved the
application for Sizewell B in Suffolk on 12 March 1987, almost
exactly 26 years ago, and less than a year after the Chernobyl
accident on 26 April 1986. Trivia question: what do 1987 and
2013 have in common that no year in between has?
The decision is the seventh to be made under the infrastructure
planning and consenting regime introduced by the Planning Act 2008,
and by far the largest project to date.
The statutory time limits under the Planning Act have meant that
this application has been decided relatively quickly. The
application was made on 31 October 2011, 505 days ago, or one year
and four and a half months. Compare that with Sizewell B, the
application for which was made on 30 January 1981, 2232 days or
more than six years before the decision.
There is an even greater contrast when it comes to public
hearings on the two applications. The Sizewell B inquiry sat
for 340 days, whereas the Hinkley Point C examination involved just
13 days of hearings between 9 May and 6 September last year.
This is because another feature of the Planning Act is that it
places great emphasis on written material rather than oral
examination. The application attracted just under 1200
representations from interested parties, and a further 1100
documents were produced as part of the application and during its
examination, published for all to see on the Planning
Inspectorate website.
The power station is authorised by means of a 'Development
Consent Order' or DCO, which can be found here. As well
as giving permission to build the power station, it also contains
all the planning conditions circumscribing the permission, which
under the Planning Act regime are known as
'requirements'. These can be found at Schedule 2 of
the DCO. In its final proposed draft of the DCO, EDF Energy
included 237 requirements. The government has decided to impose
239, so hasn't increased the burden by much at all.
Actually I've spotted an error - paragraph 2 of Schedule 2
refers to requirements PW1 to PW36, but the list only goes up to
PW24. Did they leave 12 out?
Five inspectors considered the application over a six month
period and produced a report three months later (but only published
today), which can be found here. The government then considered this
and has produced a decision document today that can be found here.
The government said it took some late representations into
account, one of which, somewhat surprisingly, was from the
Austrian Government, which decided to have its own consultation on
the application. The application was approved despite opposition
from the Province of Lower Austria, amongst others.
I can also report that Tim Norwood, Planning Manager at EDF
Energy responsible for the application won the sweepstake on when
the decision would be issued, taking the 1-2 p.m. slot today.
Congratulations! A tip to other project promoters: time your
application so that the decision is the day before the Budget, to
maximise your chances of success.
Heysham to M6 Link Road
The Hinkley Point decision wasn't the first one to be made
under the Planning Act today, however. About two hours
earlier the Secretary of State for Transport, Patrick McLoughlin
MP, granted consent for a new 4.8km dual carriageway in Lancashire,
that will complete a connection from Heysham (site of another
nuclear power station) to the M6 at an upgraded junction 34.
This is the first highway application to be decided, and the
first where the promoter is a local authority. It also means
we're the first law firm to have acted for the promoters of two
successful Planning Act applications.
The Secretary of State's decision letter can be found here (with
DCO appended) and the (single) Inspector's recommendation can
be found here.
That completes the current run of decisions, the Brechfa Forest
West onshore wind farm having been approved last week. The
next decision is due by (for which read 'on') 22 April, for
the Preesall gas storage project, also in Lancashire.
*trivia answer - no repeated digits
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.
To print this article, all you need is to be registered on Mondaq.com.
Click to Login as an existing user or Register so you can print this article.
In Dawnus Construction Holdings Ltd v Marsh Life Ltd [2017] EWHC 1066 (TCC), the Claimant (Contractor) brought enforcement proceedings against the Employer (Defendant), in relation to an adjudication...
A recent Court of Session decision has rejected a contractor's claim for damages against a third party, where that third party had affected progress of the works.
A recent decision on restrictive covenants surprisingly saw the court award in favour of a developer who had already built a social housing development in breach of a restrictive covenant
The NEC3 form had the (widely publicised) aim of encouraging cooperation, collaborative working and a fair allocation of risk between the parties to the contract
It is well established that a landlord can oppose renewal of a business lease if he demonstrates settled intention to demolish, reconstruct or carry out substantial construction works to the premises or a substantial part ...
Register for Access and our Free Biweekly Alert for
This service is completely free. Access 250,000 archived articles from 100+ countries and get a personalised email twice a week covering developments (and yes, our lawyers like to think you’ve read our Disclaimer).
Planning TV: Designing Liveable Cities (Video)
