Dear Sir or Madam I am writing to you as a very concerned member of the public. I believe that EdF are about to or may have already submitted a Development Consent Order (DCO) in respect of Sizewell C to the Planning Inspectorate. During this Covid pandemic lockdown how are the general public going to access , read and respond to the documents when the library’s are not open.? How are the Planning Inspectors going to be able to make sight visits ? I consider it very important that we the public are fully informed about this application which will severely impact our precious Suffolk coast and rural communities. Yours sincerely Virginia Storey

Dear Ms Storey, Thank you for your email expressing concern about the submission of the Sizewell C New Nuclear Power Station application for development consent. The process for applying for a Development Consent Order (DCO) is set out in the Planning Act 2008. The timing of the application is at the discretion of the Applicant. The project page of the National Infrastructure Planning website will be updated when the application is received and when the decision on whether or not to accept the application for Examination is made. attachment 1 The Planning Inspectorate (the Inspectorate) is mindful of the need to ensure both openness and fairness throughout all stages of the DCO process and will continue to highlight this in discussions with the Applicant. Please see a note of the meeting between the Inspectorate and the Applicant held on the 17 April 2020 for more information. With regard to the current Coronavirus (COVID-19) situation and the arrangements for members of the public to access and view documents relating to the DCO application, please note the contents of the Government’s Written Ministerial Statement (WMS) of 13 May 2020 which provides updated guidelines regarding digital documentation. The WMS explains that online inspection of documents should be the default position and, recognising that there are sections of the community that may have limited or no access to the internet, Applicants should take reasonable steps to ensure all members of the public are able to be involved. The Planning Inspectorate’s published guidance has been updated and will continue to be updated as the situation develops: attachment 2 When an Applicant submits an application for development consent to the Planning Inspectorate there then follows a period of up to 28 days for the Planning Inspectorate, on behalf of the Secretary of State, to decide whether or not the application meets the standards required to be accepted for Examination. The standards are set out in Section 55 of the Planning Act 2008 (as amended) and Regulations 5 and 6 of the Infrastructure Planning (Applications: Prescribed Forms and Procedure) Regulations 2009. All parties are encouraged to sign up for Email Updates using the button on the project page or via the link below: attachment 3;email= Email Updates will enable parties to observe what’s happening on the application after it has been submitted to the Planning Inspectorate. Should the application be accepted for Examination, it is important to note that if parties then wish to participate in the Examination they would need to register as an Interested Party at the appropriate time during the Pre-examination stage. If parties have signed up for the Email Updates they will receive a prompt when the registration period opens (the Relevant Representation period). For further information about registering as an Interested Party please see ‘Advice Note 8.2: How to register to participate in an Examination’: attachment 4 The Advice Note explains that if the Planning Inspectorate decides to accept an application for Examination, it will then be the Applicant’s duty to advertise the Relevant Representation period and provide details about how to register to become an Interested Party. The Applicant has indicated that it will extend this registration period beyond the statutory minimum of thirty days, if the application is accepted, to allow all parties more time to review the application documents and register their interest before the start of the six month Examination stage. I hope you find the above information helpful.