National Infrastructure Planning

The Secretary of State has issued an Approval Letter (PDF, 107 KB) on 27 September 2022 for the Plans of Work for the Kittiwake Steering Group, the Lesser-Black Backed Gull Steering Group, and the Benthic Steering Group, pursuant to Schedule 19, Parts 1 to 3 of the Norfolk Boreas Offshore Wind Farm Order 2021.

A Decision Letter (PDF, 180 KB) and Amendment Order (PDF, 82 KB) have been issued by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy to make a change that is not material to the Norfolk Boreas Offshore Wind Farm Order 2021.

Representations received in response to the application for a non-material change to the Norfolk Boreas Offshore Wind Farm Development Consent Order have been published.
A Correction Order (PDF, 96 KB) and a Correction Notice (PDF, 138 KB) for the Norfolk Boreas Offshore Wind Farm Order 2021 have been published. The Correction Order came into force on 12 August 2022

Representations received in response to the application for a non-material change to the Norfolk Boreas Offshore Wind Farm Development Consent Order have been published.

An application for a non-material change to Norfolk Boreas Offshore Wind Farm has been made by Norfolk Boreas Limited and Norfolk Vanguard East Limited. If you wish to make a representation, this should be emailed to [email protected].

The deadline for receipt of representations is Monday 10 June 2022.

The Secretary of State has today granted development consent for this application. For further information please refer to the following decision documentation:

Planning Inspectorate Notification of Decision Letter (PDF, 114 KB)
Secretary of State Decision Letter (PDF, 731 KB)
Development Consent Order as made by the Secretary of State (PDF, 4 MB)
Examining Authority’s Recommendation Report (PDF, 5 MB)
Post-Examination Submissions (PDF, 2 MB)
Regulation 31 Notice (PDF, 76 KB)
The Habitats Regulations Assessment (PDF, 1 MB)

Responses to the Secretary of States letter of 22 September 2021 have been published.

The Secretary of State has issued a letter clarifying his consultation letter of 22 September 2021 (PDF, 149 KB)

This clarification does not affect the timing of the consultation. Responses are requested by 23.59 on 21 October 2021

The Secretary of State has invited comments (PDF, 181kb) from the Applicant and Interested Parties on the responses received to the Secretary of State’s consultation letter of 9 July 2021 (PDF, 180 KB). The Secretary of State also requests further information from the Applicant. The deadline for any response is 23.59 on 21 October 2021.

The Secretary of State has received responses from the Applicant and other Interested Parties to his letter of 9 July 2021 requesting further information and is reviewing these responses.

Responses to the Secretary of State letter of 28 April 2021 have been published.

A letter from the Secretary of State (PDF, 166 KB) inviting comments on those responses and requesting further information from the Applicant has been published.

The deadline for responses is 23.59 on Friday 20 August 2021.

The Secretary of State has requested additional information from Norfolk Vanguard Limited following the responses received to the Secretary of State’s letter inviting comments from all Interested Parties.

The deadline for the Applicant to comment is 23.59 on 2 August 2021.

In response to a request from an Interested Party, the Secretary of State has agreed to extend the date for comments to 23.59 on Friday 25 June 2021.

Following the High Court’s decision to quash the Norfolk Vanguard Offshore Wind Farm Order 2020, a letter inviting comments (PDF, 207 KB) from all Interested Parties to the Norfolk Vanguard and Norfolk Boreas Examinations has been published. The deadline for comments is 23.59 on 20 May 2021.

The Secretary of State has decided to re-set the statutory deadline for this application to 10 December 2021. A statement confirming a new deadline for a decision has been made to the House of Commons and House of Lords in accordance with section 107(7) of the Planning Act 2008.

The Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy has requested information from Norfolk Boreas Limited, National Grid plc, Network Rail Infrastructure Limited, the Environment Agency and all Interested Parties (PDF, 281 kb).  The deadline for responses is 23.59 on Friday 28 May 2021.

Following the High Court’s decision to quash the Norfolk Vanguard Offshore Wind Farm Order 2020, a letter inviting comments (PDF, 207 KB) from all Interested Parties to the Norfolk Vanguard and Norfolk Boreas Examinations has been published. The deadline for comments is 23.59 on 20 May 2021.

The Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy has requested information from Norfolk Boreas Limited, National Grid plc, Network Rail Infrastructure Limited, the Environment Agency and all Interested Parties (PDF, 281 kb).  The deadline for responses is 23.59 on Friday 28 May 2021.

Following the High Court’s decision to quash the Norfolk Vanguard Offshore Wind Farm Order 2020, a letter inviting comments (PDF, 207 KB) from all Interested Parties to the Norfolk Vanguard and Norfolk Boreas Examinations has been published. The deadline for comments is 23.59 on 20 May 2021.

The Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy has requested information from Norfolk Boreas Limited, National Grid plc, Network Rail Infrastructure Limited, the Environment Agency and all Interested Parties (PDF, 281 kb).  The deadline for responses is 23.59 on Friday 28 May 2021.

The Secretary of State will be setting a new deadline for a decision. A statement confirming the new deadline for a decision will be made to the House of Commons and House of Lords in accordance with section 107(7) of the Planning Act 2008 in due course.

The Examination closed at 23.59 on 12 October 2020. Notification of completion of the Examination (s99) (PDF, 97 KB) has been issued.

The Submissions for Deadline 18 have now been published.

The Submissions for Deadline 17 have now been published.

The Submissions for Deadline 16 have now been published.

The Examining Authority has issued a request for information to the parties named in the letter of 10 September 2020 (PDF 181kb).

The Applicant’s Comments on Deadline 14 Submissions (PDF 675kb) and Comments on Deadline 15 Submissions (PDF 866kb) have been accepted by the Examining Authority.

The Examining Authority has issued a letter amending the Examination Timetable (PDF, 116kb).

The Submissions for Deadline 15 have now been published.

The Submissions for Deadline 14 have now been published.

The Examining Authority’s Fifth Round of Written Questions (PDF 383kb) were published on 11 August 2020.

The submissions for Deadline 13 have been published.

The recordings of Issue Specific Hearing 5 on the draft Development Consent Order and other matters and hearing action points have been published.

The Examining Authority is amending the approach to the virtual Issue Specific Hearing – ISH5.

The first three sessions due to take place on 21-23 July will now be replaced by a Rule 17 request for further information from those parties that were registered to attend.

The fourth hearing session on 24 July on the draft Development Consent Order remains unchanged and will continue as programmed that day. An updated agenda has been published

The Rule 17 request will be published on 17 July.  Responses are to be submitted by Deadline 13, 29 July.

The agenda for Issue Specific Hearing 5 taking place 21 – 24 July 2020 has been published.

The agenda for Open Floor Hearing 3 taking place on 14 – 17 July 2020 has been published.

Please also see our updated Frequently Asked Questions.

The agenda for the Open Floor Hearing taking place on 2 July 2020 has been published.

A notification of virtual hearings to take place 2 July, 14-17 July and 21-24 July has been published.

The deadline for the close of the Examination has been extended to 12 October 2020.

The Examining Authority has issued an updated Examination timetable a FAQ document and a request for further information from all Interested Parties, in the form of a questionnaire.

Responses to this questionnaire are requested by Deadline 12, Tuesday 26 May 2020.

The Submissions for Deadline 11 have now been published.

The Secretary of State has issued a letter extending the Examination from 12 May to 12 October 2020.

The submissions for Deadline 10 have been published.

The Submissions for Deadline 9 have been published.

The updated timetable, published on 28 April, has been amended to correct minor errors at bullet point 4 of Deadline 9 and bullet point 6 of Deadline 10

A letter issuing a fourth round of written questions (ExQ4) and notifying a change to the Examination timetable has been published.

The Submissions for Deadline 8 have now been published.

The Report on the Implications for European Sites (RIES) has been published.

The Submissions for Deadline 7 have now been published.

IMPORTANT: As a result of ongoing Government guidance relating to COVID-19 the Planning Inspectorate is seeking to ensure that all Parties are notified of key developments on projects, in a timely manner. In order to help achieve this, and to minimise any delays which could arise if the postal service is affected, it would be extremely helpful if registered Parties that have not already done so could supply us with a contact e-mail address as soon as possible (details in the contact information heading of the project page).

Please be assured that this information will be managed in line with our Privacy Notice.

The Examining Authority’s third round of Written Questions was published on 23 March 2020.

The Examining Authority have published a letter revising the Examination Timetable which now includes a third round of written questions

Please note that the hearings on 17 and 18 March and the Accompanied Site Inspection on 19 March have been postponed in light of the current public health situation surrounding coronavirus (COVID-19).

The hearings scheduled for April have also been postponed.

Updates to the Examination timetable will be announced in due course.

We have published the itinerary for the Accompanied Site Inspection, taking place on 19 March 2020.

IMPORTANT: In the light of the current public health situation surrounding coronavirus (COVID-19), if you are planning to attend the hearings and ASI on 17-19 March 2020 please check this website and that of the venue (the Kings Centre) regularly and before travelling to the event. If there are any changes or cancellations required to the hearings and ASI this page will be updated as soon as possible. Advice is available and you are requested to please take careful note of it.

We have published the agendas for the Issue Specific Hearing on onshore and offshore effects and the draft DCO and the Compulsory Acquisition Hearing, which are being held on 17 and 18 March 2020.

IMPORTANT: In the light of the current public health situation surrounding coronavirus (COVID-19), if you are planning to attend the hearings and ASI on 17-19 March 2020 please check this website and that of the venue (the Kings Centre) regularly and before travelling to the event. If there are any changes or cancellations required to the hearings and ASI this page will be updated as soon as possible. Advice is available and you are requested to please take careful note of it.

The Submissions for Deadline 6 have been published.

The Submission for Deadline 5 have now been published.

A request for further information has been sent to the Applicant.

A notification of Hearings and Accompanied Site Inspection, to take place 17- 19 March 2020, has been published.

The Examining Authority’s Further Written Questions and Requests for information (ExQ2) has now been published.

The Submissions for Deadline 4 have now been published.

The audio recordings of Issue Specific Hearings 3 and 4, have now been published.

The Action Points arising from Issue Specific Hearing 3 on Onshore effects including the draft Development Consent Order and Issue Specific Hearing 4 on Offshore effects including the draft Development Consent Order have been published.

The itinerary for the Accompanied Site Inspection, taking place on Thursday 23 January 2020, has been published.

The Agendas for Issue Specific Hearings 3 and 4 have now been published.

The Submissions for Deadline 3 have been published.

A Notification for Hearings and an Accompanied Site Inspection has been published.

The submissions for Deadline 2 have now been published.

The Deadline 1 submissions have now been published.

The Action Points arising from Issue Specific Hearing 1 on the draft Development Consent Order have been published.

There is an Open Floor Hearing at 7pm tonight (Wednesday 13 November 2019) at
The King’s Centre, King Street, Norwich, NR1 1PH

The agenda for the Issue Specific Hearing 2: Environmental Matters including HRA (Thursday 14 November 2019) has been published.

Responses to the Examining Authority’s Rule 6 Letter of 11 October 2019 have been published.

The agenda for Issue Specific Hearing 1: The draft Development Consent Order (Wednesday 13 November 2019) has been published.

The Examining Authority has accepted documents from the Applicant submitted in response to Section 51 Advice as Additional Submissions.