Caller enquired regarding the Mynydd y Gwynt wind farm proposal, which has an anticipated submission date of 1 September on the IPC website. The caller expressed concerns regarding the level of consultation that the applicant has undertaken given the proximity of the anticipated submission date.

As you are aware, the applicant of this proposal, Renewable Energy Holdings (REH) has notified the IPC of its intention to submit an application to us in September 2010.
In your letter you raise concerns about the lack of community consultation and the limited information publicly available. To reassure you on this matter, the information below describes the statutory procedures an applicant must undertake before submitting a Development Consent Order (DCO) to the IPC:
? Before any community consultation takes place the applicant must produce a Statement of Community Consultation (SoCC). This document outlines how the applicant plans to consult the community about the proposal. To ensure the applicant?s consultation is adequate, Powys Council will be asked to comment upon the contents of the SoCC. Once the SoCC has been finalised, taking into account Powys comments, it must be published in a newspaper circulating in the vicinity of the land and be complied with throughout the consultation stages;
? The applicant has a statutory duty to, under section 47 of the Planning Act 2008 (?the Act?) consult the local community and, under section 48 of the Act, publicise information about the application in locally and nationally circulated newspapers. Applicants will be required to provide evidence of this when submitting their application.
? In addition, under section 49 of the Act, promoters have a duty to take into account the responses made from the consultation and publicity exercises.
Importantly, should an applicant fail to comply with these duties the IPC may refuse to accept and examine the application. We have been in contact with REH and have advised upon their role and statutory duties at the pre-application stage.
Subject to obtaining your consent we would wish to forward your letter to REH giving them the opportunity to respond to you directly and provide further detail regarding any forthcoming consultation events.