A303 Sparkford to Ilchester Dualling

What happens next

A decision on the application for a Development Consent Order for A303 Sparkford to Ilchester Dualling was taken on 29 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 (54 items)

The Secretary of State has made a Correction Order (PDF, 145 KB) affecting the A303 Sparkford to Ilchester Dualling Development Consent Order 2021.

A Correction Notice (PDF, 45 KB) was issued on 20 May 2021. The corrections to the Order are applied following a request from the Applicant dated 10 February 2021 (PDF, 133 KB).

21 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, 130KB)
Secretary of State Decision Letter (PDF, 487KB)
Development Consent Order as made by the Secretary of State (PDF, 2MB)
Examining Authority’s Recommendation Report (PDF, 5MB)
Post-Examination Submission Log (PDF, 4MB)
Regulation 31 Notice (PDF, 83KB)

29 January 2021
Decision made by the Secretary of State
29 January 2021
14 December 2020

The Secretary of State for Transport has invited comments from the Applicant and Defence Infrastructure Organisation in relation to the issue of bird strike. The deadline of 11th December 2020 has been given for any response.

To allow time for the parties to submit further information by 11th December 2020, the Secretary of State has set a new deadline of 29 January 2021 for his decision on this application. The Secretary of State has asked the Planning Inspectorate to facilitate the consultation process via the project page of the National Infrastructure Planning website.

12 November 2020

The responses to the Secretary of State’s letter dated 19 August 2020 requesting comments from all Interested Parties have now been published.

17 September 2020

The responses to the Secretary of State’s consultation of 21 July 2020 have now been published.

The Secretary of State for Transport has invited comments from all Interested Parties on the Applicant’s response (PDF 125kb) by 16 September 2020.

19 August 2020

The Secretary of State for Transport is minded to refuse this application subject to further information or evidence from the Applicant on a number of specific issues. Published alongside this letter is a copy of the Examining Authority’s Recommendation Report and the Post-Examination Submissions received between 13 June 2019 to 21 July 2020.

To allow time for the Applicant to submit further information by 18 August 2020 and to allow for consultation on the further information with Interested Parties, the Secretary of State has set a new deadline of 20 November 2020 for his decision on this application. The Secretary of State has asked the Planning Inspectorate to facilitate the consultation process via the project page of the National Infrastructure Planning website.”

21 July 2020

The A303 Sparkford to Ilchester Dualling Development Consent application remains with the Secretary of State for consideration.

17 July 2020

A Statement has been laid in Parliament setting a new deadline of 17 July 2020 to enable further work to be carried out before the application is determined by the Secretary of State.

29 April 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
16 December 2019

In light of the general election, the original decision date of 12 December 2019 for the A303 Sparkford to Ilchester Dualling Development Consent Order application will now be postponed until a new Government is appointed. A Statement to Parliament setting a new deadline for a decision will be made once Parliament is in session.

The Examining Authority issued a Recommendation Report to the Secretary of State on 12 September 2019. The decision letter and Recommendation Report will be published on this project page once a decision has been made

15 November 2019
Recommendations given by the Planning Inspectorate
12 September 2019

The Examination closes at 23:59 on Wednesday 12 June 2019.

12 June 2019

The Submissions for Deadline 8 have now been published

The Examining Authority has issued a Rule 17 – Request for further information from the Applicant following receipt of the Deadline 8 submission.

11 June 2019

The Submissions for Deadline 7 have now been published.

04 June 2019
24 May 2019

The Action Points from Issue Specific Hearings 5 and 6 have been published.

Please note that Issue Specific Hearing 6 will continue on the afternoon of Thursday 23 May 2019, recommencing at 13:30 hours.

17 May 2019

Agendas for the hearings on 23 May 2019 have been published. Please note that Issue Specific Hearing 6 will continue on the afternoon of Thursday 23 May 2019, recommencing at 13:30 hours.

16 May 2019

The Agendas for ISH5, ISH6 and OFH3 have been published along with the Submissions for Deadline 6a.

08 May 2019

The Submissions for Deadline 6 have now been published.

02 May 2019
29 April 2019

The Examining Authority has issued a procedural decision in relation to the Additional Land Application which includes notification of hearings taking place on 23 May and amendments to the Examination time table.

24 April 2019

The Notification of Hearings being held in May 2019 and the Report on the Implications for European Sites (RIES) have now been published.

16 April 2019

The Submissions for Deadline 5 have now been published.

09 April 2019

The Examination Authority’s Further Written Questions have been published and responses are required by 5 April 2019.

A Procedural Decision has been issued relating to the Applicant’s Non-Material Change request.

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 Monday 22 April 2019. Any comments must be made on the Registration and Relevant Representation Form and must relate to the Applicant’s application for Additional Land only.

22 March 2019

A Procedural Decision has been issued relating to the Applicant’s Non-Material Change request.

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 Monday 22 April 2019. Any comments must be made on the Registration and Relevant Representation Form and must relate to the Applicant’s application for Additional Land only.

15 March 2019

The Deadline 4 Submissions have been published.

The Examining Authority has issued a request for further information and a request for clarification on the further information submitted.

The Examining Authority has issued a notification letter about their procedural decision to accept the proposed provision for the compulsory acquisition of additional land and the proposed design changes.

13 March 2019
08 March 2019

An Unaccompanied Site Inspection Note has now been published.

The Applicant, Highways England, submitted a letter on 18 February 2019 requesting a change to the accepted application.

Interested parties are asked to continue to provide written representations on the original application, accepted on 23 August 2018, in line with the Examination Timetable. If the requested change is accepted into the Examination by the Examining Authority it will be the subject of separate consultation with a separate deadline for representations.

25 February 2019

The Deadline 3 Submissions and ASI Itinerary have been published.

13 February 2019

The notification of hearings being held from the 26 February 2019 – 1 March 2019 have now been published.

29 January 2019

Deadline 2 Submissions have been published.

28 January 2019

Deadline 1 Submissions have been published.

14 January 2019

Read the letter

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

Procedural decision following Preliminary Meeting

21 December 2018

The Recordings of the Preliminary Meeting and Open Floor Hearing, along with an Unaccompanied Site Inspection Note have now been published.

14 December 2018
  • Preliminary Meeting takes place
  • Examination begins
12 December 2018

Procedural Decision by the Examining Authority has been published.

19 November 2018

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.

14 November 2018
Relevant representations published on the website
23 October 2018
Registration of interested parties closes
19 October 2018
Registration of interested parties begins
13 September 2018
Read the letter

The application has been accepted for examination

23 August 2018
Decision on whether or not to accept the application for examination
23 August 2018
Application received by the Planning Inspectorate
27 July 2018