What happens next
The Preliminary Meeting will be held on Wednesday 22 March 2023. Invitations to this meeting have been sent to Interested Parties.
The Procedural Decision made after the Preliminary Meeting will be published on our website and will also be available on request from [email protected] and our helpline: 0303 444 5000. Importantly, this Procedural Decision will set the timetable for the Examination. The Examination Timetable will, amongst other things, set deadlines for receipt of detailed Written Representations and for comments on the Relevant Representations made by other Interested Parties.
If you are an Interested Party, either because you are one of the specific bodies cited in s102 of the Planning Act 2008 or have submitted a Relevant Representation, you will receive notifications about the Examination and a copy of the Secretary of State’s decision on the application once that is made.
If you have a legal interest in land affected by a Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project and:
- have not been identified by the Applicant; and
- did not register to become an Interested Party;
then you can make a request to the Examining Authority to become an Interested Party under s102A of the Planning Act 2008.
Timeline (16 items)

The following have now been published:
- Recording and transcript of the Preliminary Meeting
- Recording and transcript of the OFH1
- Action points for Open Floor Hearing 1 (OFH1) (PDF, 109 KB)
- Action points for Issue Specific Hearing 1 (ISH1) (PDF, 131 KB)
Recordings and transcripts for Issue Specific Hearing 1 will be published as soon as possible.
The Planning Inspectorate has also published s51 advice to the Applicant, in response to new environmental information received on 16 March 2023.

Instructions have been sent to those who have registered to participate in the Preliminary Meeting (PM) (PDF, 578 KB), Open Floor Hearing 1 (OFH1) (PDF, 127 KB) and Issue Specific Hearing 1 (ISH1) (PDF, 167 KB), which take place on the 22 and 23 March 2023.
Anyone wishing to attend the hearing who has not yet registered to attend should contact the Case Team by emailing [email protected]
Anyone who wishes to observe the PM in real time should use the livestream link. Please note that the event will start broadcasting LIVE when opened by the Examining Authority. If the Livestream does not initially work it may be resolved by refreshing the webpage.
A Notification of an amendment to the appointment of the Examining Authority (PDF, 186 KB) has been published and the Examination Library (PDF, 281 KB) has been updated.

- Preliminary Meeting takes place
- Examination begins

Instructions have been sent to those who have registered to participate in the Preliminary Meeting (PM) (PDF, 578 KB), Open Floor Hearing 1 (OFH1) (PDF, 127 KB) and Issue Specific Hearing 1 (ISH1) (PDF, 167 KB), which take place on the 22 and 23 March 2023.
Anyone wishing to attend the hearing who has not yet registered to attend should contact the Case Team by emailing [email protected]
Anyone who wishes to observe the PM in real time should use the livestream link. Please note that the event will start broadcasting LIVE when opened by the Examining Authority. If the Livestream does not initially work it may be resolved by refreshing the webpage.
A Notification of an amendment to the appointment of the Examining Authority (PDF, 186 KB) has been published and the Examination Library (PDF, 281 KB) has been updated.

The following documents have now been published:
- Procedural Deadline A submissions
- The Examining Authority’s Agenda for Open Floor Hearing 1 (OFH1) on Wednesday 22 March 2023 (PDF, 127 KB)
Anyone wishing to attend the hearing should contact the Case Team by emailing [email protected]

The Examining Authority’s Agenda for Issue Specific Hearing 1 (ISH1) on the Scope of the Proposed Development and draft Development Consent Order (PDF, 167 KB) has been published.
The Agenda includes a list of the documents that may be referred to during the hearing. Parties should confirm attendance by Procedural Deadline A, Wednesday 8 March 2023.
The Examination Library (PDF, 235 KB) has been updated.

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 a number of Additional Submissions from the Applicant, some of which are in response to s51 advice (PDF, 143KB) issued post-Acceptance.

The note of the Examining Authority’s Unaccompanied Site Inspection on 7 and 8 February 2023 (PDF, 133 KB) has been published.
The Examination Library (PDF, 215 KB) has been updated.


You can now register as an Interested Party
If you are unable to complete a registration form online and would like to register your interest, please call the helpline on: 0303 444 5000 to request a paper form.
The Applicant has informed the Planning Inspectorate that some persons with a legal interest in the land affected by the Proposed Development had not received the notification of the accepted application, due to various reasons, and were therefore not made aware of the period within which they could make a Relevant Representation. The Applicant has now notified the omitted persons who have been allowed further time to make Relevant Representations. If you are a person that has received the Applicant’s notification dated 17 January 2023 (PDF, 3699 KB) and need assistance making a Relevant Representation, please contact us at [email protected] or 0303 444 5000.
For further advice please see Advice Note 8.2: How to register to participate in an Examination.
You can check our step by step guide to find out more about having your say about a national infrastructure project


