A1 Birtley to Coal House Improvement Scheme

What happens next

A decision on the application for a Development Consent Order for A1 Birtley to Coal House Improvement Scheme was taken on 19 January 2021 and has now been issued.

The period for legal challenge is defined in s118 of the Planning Act 2008. Further information about legal challenge can be found in the letter sent to all Interested Parties accompanying the Secretary of State’s decision and statement of reasons.

If you have any queries about the process please email the Planning Inspectorate at [email protected] or telephone the helpline on 0303 444 5000.

Timeline (57 items)

The Secretary of State has made a Correction Order (PDF, 50 KB) affecting the A1 Birtley to Coal House development. A Correction Notice (PDF, 137 KB) was issued on 30 April 2021. The Correction was made following a request from The Applicant’s solicitor DLA Piper Scotland Ltd on 19 February 2021 (PDF, 52 KB).

11 May 2021

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

Planning Inspectorate Notification of Decision Letter (PDF, 93KB)
Secretary of State Decision Letter (PDF, 689 KB)
Development Consent Order as Made by the Secretary of State (PDF, 1MB)
Examining Authority’s Recommendation Report (PDF, 3MB)
Post-examination Submissions (PDF, 2MB)
Regulation 31 Notice (PDF, 55KB)

19 January 2021
Decision made by the Secretary of State
19 January 2021
07 December 2020
Recommendations given by the Planning Inspectorate
21 October 2020
22 July 2020
22 July 2020

The Examination closed at 23:59 on Tuesday 21 July 2020.

21 July 2020

The Deadline 10 Submissions have been published.

The recordings and Action Points of the Hearings held on 14 July 2020 have been published.

15 July 2020

Please note that the Open Floor Hearing scheduled to start today, Monday 13 July 2020 at 10.00am (Arrangements Conference at 9.30am), notified in our letter of 22 June 2020, has been cancelled.

13 July 2020

The Deadline 9 Submissions have been published.

10 July 2020
06 July 2020

Please note that the following reserve Hearing dates that were notified in our letter of 22 May 2020 are no longer required and have now been cancelled:

Tuesday 30 June 2020 – Open Floor Hearings 3 and 4
Wednesday 1 July 2020 – Issue Specific Hearing 6
Thursday 2 July 2020 – Issue Specific Hearing 7 (dDCO)
Friday 3 July 2020 – Compulsory Acquisition Hearing 2

26 June 2020

The notification letter for the Hearings taking place between 13 and 14 July, including the procedural decisions relating to the additional land and to amend the timetable has been published.

The recordings and Action Points of the Hearings held w/c 22 June 2020 have been published.

A Procedural Decision by the Examining Authority regarding the arrangements for a site inspection has been published.

24 June 2020

The notification letter for the Hearings taking place between 13 and 14 July, including the procedural decisions relating to the additional land and to amend the timetable has been published.

22 June 2020

Comments on the Applicant’s application for Additional Land requested by 18 June 2020 have now been published on the Relevant Representations page. They can also be viewed on the updated Examination Library under references RR-025 to RR-031.

19 June 2020

Agendas for the Hearings taking place between 22 and 26 June have been published.

Examining Authority’s Proposed Schedule of Changes to the draft Development Consent Order  has been published.
A letter to all participants of the virtual Hearings has been published.
An updated version of the FAQ has been published.

Please note that the Examining Authority has decided not to issue a Report on the Implications for European Sites (RIES).

16 June 2020

The  Deadline 8 Submissions have been published.

Following the Examining Authority’s decision to accept the Additional Land Application for examination, comments are now invited on the Applicant’s proposed provision before Thursday 18 June 2020. Any comments must be made on the Registration and Relevant Representation Form and must relate to the Applicant’s application for Additional Land only.

11 June 2020

The  Deadline 7 Submissions have been published.

Following the Examining Authority’s decision to accept the Additional Land Application for examination, comments are now invited on the Applicant’s proposed provision before Thursday 18 June 2020. Any comments must be made on the Registration and Relevant Representation Form and must relate to the Applicant’s application for Additional Land only.

03 June 2020
28 May 2020

The Examining Authority’s third Written Questions (ExQ3) have now been published.

Following the Examining Authority’s decision to accept the Additional Land Application for examination, comments are now invited on the Applicant’s proposed provision before Thursday 18 June 2020. Any comments must be made on the Registration and Relevant Representation Form and must relate to the Applicant’s application for Additional Land only.

26 May 2020

The  Deadline 6 Submissions have been published.

Following the Examining Authority’s decision to accept the Additional Land Application for examination, comments are now invited on the Applicant’s proposed provision before Thursday 18 June 2020. Any comments must be made on the Registration and Relevant Representation Form and must relate to the Applicant’s application for Additional Land only.

21 May 2020

Following the Examining Authority’s decision to accept the Additional Land Application for examination, comments are now invited on the Applicant’s proposed provision before Thursday 18 June 2020. Any comments must be made on the Registration and Relevant Representation Form and must relate to the Applicant’s application for Additional Land only.

The Examining Authority has issued a Procedural Decision to amend the Examination Timetable and request representations regarding potential Hearings.

Representations should be submitted via the Questionnaire, by Deadline 6 on 19 May 2020.

Representations Questionnaire

 

A Frequently Asked Questions (version 1.0) document has also now been published.

14 May 2020

The Examination Authority has issued a procedural decision to accept the proposed provision for the compulsory acquisition of additional land as part of the application and The Examining Authority has issued a procedural decision regarding the Applicant’s proposed changes to the original application

06 May 2020

The  Deadline 5 Submissions have been published.

05 May 2020

Late Deadline 4 submissions accepted at the discretion of the Examining Authority and a request to the Applicant for further information have been published.

29 April 2020

The Examining Authority’s further  Written Questions (ExQ2) have now been published.

As well as responding to the further Written Questions, Interested Parties are also invited to make any written submission at Deadline 4 which they otherwise would have intended to make at the postponed Open Floor Hearing, Compulsory Acquisition Hearing or Issue Specific Hearings.

06 April 2020

IMPORTANT: Please note the Accompanied Site Inspection and Hearings due to be held w/c 30 March 2020 have been postponed in light of the current public health situation surrounding coronavirus (COVID-19)

The Examining Authority has consequently issued a Procedural Decision making an amendment to the Examination Timetable including notice of an additional set of Written Questions and an opportunity for further written submissions in lieu of the Hearings

25 March 2020

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.

25 March 2020

IMPORTANT: Please note the Accompanied Site Inspection and Hearings due to be held w/c 30 March 2020 have been postponed in light of the current public health situation surrounding coronavirus (COVID-19).

We are not yet in a position to identify a revised timetable as this will depend on the ongoing situation.

Advice is available and you are requested to please take careful note of it.

18 March 2020

The  Deadline 3a Submissions have been published.

IMPORTANT: In the light of the current public health situation surrounding coronavirus (COVID-19), if you are planning to attend the Accompanied Site Inspection and/or the Hearings w/c 30 March 2020 please check this website regularly and before travelling to the event.

If there are any changes or cancellations required to the Accompanied Site Inspection and/or the Hearings this page will be updated as soon as possible. Advice is available and you are requested to please take careful note of it.

18 March 2020

IMPORTANT: In the light of the current public health situation surrounding coronavirus (COVID-19), if you are planning to attend the Accompanied Site Inspection and/or the Hearings w/c 30 March 2020 please check this website regularly and before travelling to the event.

If there are any changes or cancellations required to the Accompanied Site Inspection and/or the Hearings this page will be updated as soon as possible. Advice is available and you are requested to please take careful note of it.

13 March 2020

The Deadline 3 Submissions have been published.

11 March 2020

The Deadline 2a Submissions have been published.

09 March 2020

The Hearing Notification letter has now been published.

03 March 2020

The Deadline 2 Submissions have now been published.

28 February 2020

Read the letter

The Examination Timetable (Rule 8 letter) has been sent to Interested Parties

Procedural decision following Preliminary Meeting

28 January 2020
  • Preliminary Meeting takes place
  • Examination begins
21 January 2020

The following documents have been published in advance of the Preliminary Meeting : Applicant’s responses to the post-acceptance s51 advice and the Applicants document providing details of changes to be requested to the Application.

16 January 2020

The agenda for the Issue Specific Hearing on 21 January 2020 has been published.

15 January 2020

The Examining Authority carried out Unaccompanied Site Inspections on the 27th and 28th of November. A note of the inspection has been published and added to the examination library.

17 December 2019

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.

10 December 2019

The Relevant Representations and Additional Submissions accepted at the discretion of the Examining Authority, including updated application documents, have been published.

27 November 2019
Relevant representations published on the website
22 November 2019
Registration of interested parties closes
14 November 2019
Registration of interested parties begins
03 October 2019
Read the letter

The application has been accepted for examination

10 September 2019
Decision on whether or not to accept the application for examination
10 September 2019
  • Application expected from applicant
  • Application received by the Planning Inspectorate
14 August 2019