Opportunities for you to have your say
IMPORTANT NOTE: This summary was produced by HORIZON in their January 2010 Community Update (download a copy)
There are three important points on which you can have your say as partof the new planning regime for projects like ours.
1. National Policy Statement - Stage completed
The Government is currently consulting on six draft energy NPSs which set out its policy on energy infrastructure for England and Wales. These include an overarching NPS on Energy (EN-1) and one specific to new nuclear power stations (EN-6).
Ten locations, including Oldbury, are identified in the draft nuclear NPS as strategically suitable sites for new nuclear power stations.
Anyone can respond to these consultations and full details can be found at: www.energynpsconsultation.decc.gov.uk. As part of its consultation on the draft nuclear NPS, the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) is holding a three day exhibition in Thornbury between Thursday 4th and Saturday 6th February.
Go to www.nuclear-nps-events.info for more details. The closing date for responses on the draft NPS is 22nd February 2010 and it is expected to be formally approved by Government later this year.
2. Pre-application community consultation
Horizon Nuclear Power’s Oldbury team is developing a Statement of Community Consultation (SOCC). This sets out our commitment on how we will consult communities on our proposals for new nuclear power at Oldbury.
Ahead of any pre-application consultation, we are required to consult relevant local authorities on the SOCC before publishing it in the media and on our website, which we hope to do around Easter 2010.
Two rounds of consultation are likely: the first on preliminary designs, issues and options; the second on our preferred proposals. These consultations will also include environmental information which will form part of the Environmental Statement – another key document which will accompany our planning application. We will then produce a Consultation Report on how community consultation was carried out, the responses received and, with relevant justification, how those responses influenced the development.
This report must be included as part of the application to the Infrastructure Planning Commission (IPC), the new body responsible for granting or declining planning applications such as ours. We hope to carry out our first pre-application consultation on the project (which will include cooling tower designs) in summer 2010. A secon stage of pre-application consultation is likely to begin around the end of this year or early 2011.
3. The IPC Examination Phase
Once a planning application has been submitted to the IPC there will be a period during which anyone can make their views known on it. Details of how and when to have a say will be well publicised by the IPC.
The IPC then sets the timetable for the examination process, which will include further opportunities for communities to get involved and have their say through written submissions and, where necessary, ‘open floor’ hearings.
A major element in the IPC’s consideration of the planning application will be the NPSs.
Other key elements include:
- The Consultation Report
- The Environmental Statement describing the project and including the findings of our environmental impact assessment
- The Local Impact Report (requested from and submitted by relevant local planning authorities to the IPC after a planning application has been received and accepted)
We expect to submit our planning application for Oldbury to the IPC in late 2011. It is anticipated that it will take around a year to decide on planning applications for a nuclear power station.
More information on the pre-application consultation process is available on the IPC’s web site infrastructure.independent.gov.uk.