What happens next
12/04/2021 - Deadline for Secretary of State to make decision
The Examining Authority issued a Recommendation Report to the Secretary of State on 12 January 2021. The Secretary of State has three months in which to issue a decision. The decision letter and Recommendation Report will be published on this project page once a decision has been made.
Timeline (63 items)


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

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

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.

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

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.

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.

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 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 Examination Timetable (Rule 8 letter) has been sent to Interested Parties
Procedural decision following Preliminary Meeting

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

- Preliminary Meeting takes place
- Examination begins

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 notification of Preliminary Meeting (Rule 6 letter) has been sent Read the letter
The letter also includes the draft Examination Timetable and Initial Assessment of Principal Issues.

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




