What happens next
A decision on the application for a Development Consent Order for Hinkley Point C Connection was taken on 19 January 2016 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 (77 items)

The documents referred to in Article 44 of The National Grid (Hinkley Point C Connection Project) Order 2016 as corrected by The National Grid (Hinkley Point C Connection Project) (Correction) Order 2017 and as certified by the Secretary of State in accordance with Article 44 of the Order have been published.

The Secretary of State has issued a Correction Order and Notice for the Hinkley Point Connection Project.

The Secretary of State has granted development consent for this application. Please refer to the following decision documentation:
Decision Documentation
Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change’s Decision Letter and Statement of Reasons
Development Consent Order as made by the Secretary of State
Habitat Regulations Assessment
Examining Authority’s Recommendation Report
Examining Authority’s Recommendation Report – Main Report
Examining Authority’s Recommendation Report – Appendix A
Examining Authority’s Recommendation Report – Appendix B
Examining Authority’s Recommendation Report – Appendix C
Examining Authority’s Recommendation Report – Appendix D
Examining Authority’s Recommendation Report – Appendix E
Other Documentation


A further response to the letter issued by the Secretary of State on 9 December 2015 has been published.

Responses to the letter issued by the Secretary of State on 9 December 2015 have been published.

The Secretary of State has sent a second letter, and invited responses to questions. Any responses must be received by 16 December 2015.

Responses to the letter issued by the Secretary of State on 11 November 2015 have been published

The Secretary of State has sent a letter, and invited responses to questions. Any responses must be received by 25 November 2015.


The following documents from National Grid have been accepted as additional submissions:
Letter enclosing Environmental Statement Errata
Environmental Statement Consolidated Errata and Changes Document
Environmental Statement Consolidated Errata and Changes – Annexes (Part 1)
Environmental Statement Consolidated Errata and Changes – Annexes (Part 2)

The following have been published:
A request for further information and variation to the examination timetable
Letter from National Grid
Statement of Common Ground between National Grid and the Joint Councils

The following have been published:
– The Examining authority’s notification of procedural decision
– Report on the Implications for European Sites
– Updated table of unaccompanied site inspections

The hearing action points from the second day of the second issue specific hearing on the draft DCO has been published.
A late Deadline 6 submission from the Joint Councils has also been published.

The audio from the issue specific hearing held on Wednesday 17 June 2015 at the Winter Gardens, Weston-super-Mare has been published:
part 1
part 2
part 3
Hearing Action Points list from the first day of the 2nd DCO issue specific hearing on 16 June 2015

The following has been published:
– Audio from the issue specific hearing held on Tuesday 16 June 2015 at the Winter Gardens, Weston-super-Mare (Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4 and Part 5)
– Two documents that were submitted by National Grid at the 2nd DCO issue specific hearing on 16 June (Requirement 7 and Proposed s106 agreement between National Grid and the Joint Councils)
– Hearing Action Points list from the resumed Portbury/Portishead Optional Connections Alignment issue specific hearing on 15 June 2015

The audio from the Issue Specific Hearing held Monday 15 June at the Winter Gardens (a resumption of the 22 May hearing), has now been published.

A letter from Network Rail has been submitted in lieu of attendance at the second issue specific hearing on the draft DCO.

A document of relevance to the adjourned (22 May ) Portbury/ Portishead Optional Connection Alignments issue specific hearing has now been published.

Three additional submissions from National Grid have been published:
Letter to the Planning Inspectorate
8.27.5 Portbury, Portishead matters – note providing information on piling works in Bristol Port

Documents of relevance to the second DCO issue specific hearing 16 June 2015, have now been published.

The documents for Deadline 5 and the agenda for the second DCO issue specific hearing have been published.

The following has been published:
– The action points list for the compulsory acquisition hearing
– The audio from the Portbury / Portishead optional connection alignments issue specific hearing (part 1, part 2 and part 3)

The issue specific hearing in relation to the Portbury/Portishead optional connection alignments did not conclude on 22 May and will therefore resume at 11.00am on Monday 15 June 2015 at the Winter Gardens, Weston-super-Mare. Registration will take place between 10.30am and 11.00am.

The audio from the compulsory acquisition hearing held Wednesday 20 May at the Grand Pier, and a document of relevance to the issue specific hearing 22 May 2015, have been published.

The audio from the issue specific hearing held Tuesday 19 May at the Grand Pier, and documents of relevance to the compulsory acquisition hearing 20 (21) May 2015, have been published.

Documents submitted prior to the issue specific hearing on 19 May 2015, the compulsory acquisition hearing on 20 – 21 May 2015 and the issue specific hearing on 22 May 2015 have been published.

The agenda for the issue specific hearing on 22 May 2015 and a speaking note submitted in advance of that hearing have now been published.

The following documents have been published:
Notification of the issue specific hearing to be held on 16 June 2015
the second written questions
The agenda for the compulsory acquisition hearing on 20-21 May 2015
documents from RWE Generation UK
documents from EDF Energy

The action points lists from the issue specific hearings held on 28 April, 29 April, 30 April and 1 May 2015 have been published.

The Audio from the Issue Specific Hearing held Friday 1 May, at the Grand Pier, is now available:

The audio from the Issue Specific Hearing held Thursday 30 April, at the Grand Pier, is now available.
The table of unaccompanied site inspections has been updated and the following documents have been published:
– The Examining authority’s record of the accompanied site inspection on 8 April 2015 at Eakring and viewpoints visited
– The plans used at the accompanied site inspection of the proposed route alignment on 15-17 April 2015 for Biddisham, Sandford, Moorland Park, Avonmouth and Royal Portbury Dock.

The Audio from the Issue Specific Hearings held Tuesday 28 and Wednesday 29 April 2015, at the Winter Gardens, are now available.
Tuesday 28 April
Wednesday 29 April
The action point lists from the issue specific hearings on 14 April , 21 April and 22 and 23 April 2015 have now been published.

Documents of relevance to the forthcoming issue specific hearings on 30 April and 1 May 2015, have now been published:
30 April – Letter regarding agenda item C1. living conditions during construction
1 May – Summary note on biodiversity and HRA

The audio files from the issue specific hearings held on 22 April 2015 and 23 April 2015 are now available.

The Audio from the Issue Specific Hearing held Tuesday 21 April 2015, at the Grand Pier, is now available.

A representation of relevance to the 22 April 2015 issue specific hearing has now been published on the website at the discretion of the ExA.

The agenda for the issue specific hearings to be held 28 April to 1 May 2015 has now been published.

The Audio from the Issue Specific Hearing held Tuesday 14 April 2015, at the Winter Gardens, is now available:

Representations of relevance to forthcoming issue specific hearings have now been published on the website at the discretion of the ExA.
The agenda for the issue specific hearings to be held 21-23 April 2015 has now been published.

Additional documents were submitted by the Applicant on 7 April 2015. The Examining Authority has exercised its discretion to accept them into the examination, and they have now been published on the website. (UPDATE – Please note since publication on 8 April 2015, the applicant has confirmed that Doc. 8.3.17 (Statement of Common Ground) did not include the DCO schedules. These have now been incorporated into a revised version of the document and republished 9 April 2015).

Additional documents were submitted by the Applicant on 7 April 2015. The Examining Authority has exercised its discretion to accept them into the examination, and they have now been published on the website.

The agenda for the DCO issue specific hearing on 14 April 2015 and itinerary for the accompanied site inspection of the proposed route alignment on 15 -17 April 2015 have now been published.

The table of unaccompanied site inspections has been updated and the documents for Deadline 3, 25 March 2015, have been published

The Audio from the Open Floor Hearings held Tuesday 17 and Wednesday 18 March are now available:

The notice of accompanied site inspections, issue specific and compulsory acquisition hearings and procedural decisions has been published:

The Examining authority’s table of unaccompanied site inspections has been updated and the agenda for the open floor hearings has been published

The notification of open floor hearings taking place on Tuesday 17 and Wednesday 18 March 2015 has been published.

The table of unaccompanied site inspections undertaken by the Examining authority was updated on 2 February 2015.

The Examining authority’s Rule 8 letter, first written questions and the note of the Preliminary Meeting have now been published.

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

Updated and new documents were submitted by the Applicant, National Grid, on 22 January 2015. They have been accepted into the examination by the Panel and have been published on the website.

The Audio from the Preliminary Meeting held Monday 19 January 2015 is now available.
A table of the unaccompanied site visits undertaken by the Examining Authority pre-examination, is available to view.
A list of updated and new documents notified by the Applicant at the preliminary meeting, 19 January 2015, for proposed submission, are available to view.

- Preliminary Meeting takes place
- Examination begins

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 applicant has submitted errata and supplementary information in response to advice that we gave them following the decision to accept the application for examination.
The applicant has also submitted information relating to a potential change to the application that they may request to make. This information is being made available at the earliest possible date, so that people can familiarise themselves with it. These documents have not been accepted as examination documents yet and we are not inviting submissions on them at this time. The Examining Authority, once appointed, will decide whether or not to accept these documents and whether or not submissions will be invited on them, either at or soon after the Preliminary Meeting.
Please note that the Relevant Representations have also now been published.


The published deadline for the submission of relevant representations has now passed.
The applicant has sent us a letter, explaining that some of the notifications that they sent about the opportunity to make relevant representations were returned undelivered.
The applicant has sent further notifications to those parties only, and has allowed more time for them to make their representations. All the relevant representations will be published after 6 October 2014, when this further deadline has passed.
If you have received a further notification and wish to make a representation, please contact us at [email protected]



