Register of advice

The list below is a record of advice the Planning Inspectorate has provided in respect of the Planning Act 2008 process.

There is a statutory duty under section 51 of the Planning Act 2008 to record the advice that is given in relation to an application or a potential application and to make this publicly available. Advice we have provided is recorded below together with the name of the person or organisation who asked for the advice and the project it relates to. The privacy of any other personal information will be protected in accordance with our Information Charter which you should view before sending information to the Planning Inspectorate.

Note that after a project page has been created for a particular application, any advice provided that relates to it will also be published under the ‘s51 advice’ tab on the relevant project page.

Advice given between between 1 October 2009 and 14 April 2015 has been archived. View the archived advice.

Enquiry received via email

The Sizewell C Project View all advice for this project

05 May 2020
J Wilson

Enquiry

Dear Sir/Madam I wrote to the planning Inspectorate on 12 March 2020 regarding my dissatisfaction of EDF/CGN Sizewell C four stages of consultation. I am now concerned that EDF/CGN despite being made aware by various Parish Councillors and residents that it would be inappropriate to submit the DCO application during this time of national emergency are planning to do so before the end of April 2020. Surely this cannot be allowed to happen when people are struggling with all the horrors that the Covid 19 virus is and will be inflicting for an unidentifiable period of time. The Sizewell C forum meeting about the EDF Sizewell C Application has been cancelled, libraries are closed and many like myself in rural locations frequently have no or an interrupted internet service, so to proceed before the emergency is officially declared to be over would be undemocratic. I have looked at pins website and it appears that everything is geared towards the developer even down to the fact that the developer dictates the timing-surely this can’t be fair? Sizewell C was first mooted in 2008 so for many has been a constant worry and concern for many years. Quite frankly how it has got to the DCO stage is unbelievable. There is currently no siting criteria for new nuclear as EN6 is out of date. The overall energy policy EN1 is out of date. The public where supposed to have an opportunity to comment on the ongoing need for new nuclear as part of the consultation on the draft new national policy statement for nuclear-this has not happened. I am aware that the Environment Agency, Natural England and other statutory bodies have stated that a wide range of issues have not yet been addressed in any detail making the consultation exercises inadequate and meaningless. There are many site issues:- It is too small for the planned development It is in flood zone 2 and 3 There are many Environmental issues:- Climate change is happening faster than previously predicted meaning that the safety of the nuclear reactor and storing of radioactive waste for 150yrs+ is at risk from coastal erosion, flooding, sea level rise, storm surges and extreme weather events. Sizewell is predicated to become a nuclear island in 100 years! The lack of an Environmental Impact Assessment particularly as it is in Suffolk Coast and Heaths Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and will destroy Sizewell Marsh SSSI impact one the UK’s most important wildlife reserves RSPB Minsmere a Ramsar site, SPA, SAC and a marine conservation area. New roads, road widening, roundabouts, park and ride, rail, caravans & accommodation blocks for 3000/4000 workers. Thousands of HGV, buses and car movements a day. Destruction of woodland and encroachment on vulnerable and sensitive coastal areas. Destroying all flora and fauna in its path many of which are rare or endangered species. The heritage coast is known and loved for its peace, tranquility and rural environment supporting a thriving tourist trade EDF’s SizewellC development will transform the area into an industrial environment irrevocably damaging the tourist industry and all the businesses that supports. EDF EPR has many problems:- EDF’s other EPR projects at Olkiluoto Finland and Flamanville France are at least three times over budget and at least 10 years late to date neither operational. Here in UK Hinkley C was supposed to be up and running by 2017 now not likely to be operational before 2025 budget increased vastly I believe latest estimate around £23 billion French government owned EDF are broke so it needs British taxpayers to pay upfront and take the risk for the construction of Sizewell C and EDF are desperate for UK government to announce a nuclear RAB for new nuclear projects in order to prop up their failing nuclear industry in France. For all the above reasons I urge you to reject EDF’s Sizewell C DCO when it is submitted. Yours sincerely Ms J Wilson

Advice given

Dear Ms Wilson, Thank you for your email of 21 April 2020. The process for applying for a Development Consent Order (DCO) is set out in the Planning Act 2008. As you note, the timing of the application is at the discretion of the Applicant. With regard to site location and suitability please note that the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) has responsibility for reviewing and designating National Policy Statements, including EN-6. The link below provides the latest information about the designation of the new National Policy Statement for Energy for nuclear power generation including the siting criteria (NPS EN-6): attachment 1 Page 6 provides details of the timeline towards designating the new NPS. 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 2;ipcadvice=f89bb4795f It is important to note that when an Applicant submits an application for development consent to the Planning Inspectorate that 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. As you have concerns about the Applicant’s pre-application consultation you should contact the Applicant in the first instance to enable them to address the issues. If you are not satisfied that the Applicant has, or will, take account of your comments you can make your comments to the relevant local authority. The local authorities can consider your comments as part of their Adequacy of Consultation Representation submission to the Planning Inspectorate (on behalf of the Secretary of State) at the Application Stage of the process. The Planning Inspectorate will consider any adequacy of consultation representations received from the relevant local authorities when deciding whether or not to accept the application, as required under section 55(4)(b) of the Planning Act 2008 (as amended). It is therefore important to ensure the local authorities are informed of your concerns. 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. The Planning 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. Finally, with regard to the current Coronavirus (COVID-19) situation, please refer to the Planning Inspectorate’s published guidance which will be updated as the situation develops. attachment 5 I hope you find the above information helpful. Kind regards, Liam


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