At a meeting on 4 May, the developer advised that it intends to begin formal consultation shortly.

As a follow up point in response to a newspaper article stating that formal consultation had begun, the IPC sought clarification from the promoter about the status of its consultation and volunteered the following advice under section 51 of the Planning Act:
Before the promoter undertakes formal consultation with statutory consultees under section 42 of the Planning Act 2008, the IPC needs to receive notification from the promoter that it is either requesting the IPC's opinion on whether an Environmental Assessment is needed (Screening opinion under section 6 of the Infrastructure Planning (Environmental Imapct Assessment) regulations 2009) or notifiying us that it proposes to submit an Environmental Statement with an application.
The IPC also advised that this regulation does not apply to consultation with the local community under section 47 of the Planning Act.