As of 22 August 2024, North Falls Offshore Wind Farm has been accepted by the Planning Inspectorate and is now in the Pre-examination stage.
Please see here for a copy of the Project’s notice of acceptance of an application under section 56 of the Planning Act 2008. The Project’s application documents, including the Environmental Statement, Non-Technical Summary of the Environmental Statement, a Guide to the Application and draft Development Consent Order (DCO), can be viewed electronically and downloaded free of charge on the Planning Inspectorate’s website under the documents tab.
The subsequent stages will be Examination, Recommendation and Decision, and Post-decision. See below for more information on each stage.
Image: North Falls Offshore Wind Farm Location Plan (Offshore). See here for Location Plan (Offshore) (Document Reference: 5.1), as submitted as part of the DCO application.
The Pre-examination stage of the National Infrastructure consenting process commences following the acceptance of a Development Consent Order (DCO) application by the Planning Inspectorate, and includes the following activities:
· Receipt of Relevant Representations by the Planning Inspectorate;
· Identification of Interested Parties and affected persons;
· Appointment of the Examining Authority;
· Initial assessment of principal issues by the Examining Authority; and
· The holding of a Preliminary Meeting.
Although there is no statutory timescale or this stage of the process, it usually takes approximately three months from the Applicant’s formal notification and publicity of an accepted application.
Soon, you will be able to register with the Planning Inspectorate to become an Interested Party by making a Relevant Representation. A Relevant Representation is a summary of a person’s views on an application, made in writing, and is a crucial element of the consenting process for Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects (NSIPs) for two reasons:
Please make sure to quote the Application’s Planning Inspectorate reference in your submission: EN010119.
You can also register by post by requesting a paper copy of the Registration and Relevant Representation Forms from the Planning Inspectorate on 0303 444 5000 and returning your completed form to The Planning Inspectorate, National Infrastructure Directorate, Temple Quay House, Temple Quay, Bristol BS1 6PN.
Advice on how to register as an Interested Party and submit a Relevant Representation can be found on the Planning Inspectorate’s website.
Your Relevant Representation will then be published on the Planning Inspectorate’s website and be subject to their privacy policy, which can be viewed here.
The deadline for Relevant Representations to be received by the Planning Inspectorate is: 11:59pm on 18 October 2024.
Please allow enough time for delivery if submitting by post.
Inspectors assigned by the Planning Inspectorate (known as the Examining Authority or ‘ExA’) will then hold a Preliminary Meeting and set the timetable for Examination. The Pre-examination stage ends on the day before the first day of the Preliminary Meeting. We expect examination to begin early 2025.
Image: North Falls Offshore Wind Farm Location Plan (Onshore). See here for Location Plan (Onshore) (Document Reference: 5.2), as submitted as part of the DCO application.
Once the timetable for Examination has been set, the Project moves into the Examination phase of the DCO process. The Examining Authority, which will be either a single appointed person or a panel of up to five inspectors, will examine the Project’s application with input from Interested Parties and statutory consultees. At this point you will be able to provide comments in writing or request to speak at a public hearing. The Examination stage commences on the first day of the Preliminary Meeting. The Planning Inspectorate has six months to carry out the Examination.
The overriding aim of an Examination is to ensure that issues are proportionately, and reasonably, considered. The first task of the Examining Authority is to prepare its initial assessment of principal issues, which identifies the critical matters upon which the Examination should focus.
The examination of applications is principally on the basis of written submissions, supplemented where necessary by hearings held in public, either in-person, virtually, or a blend of the two.
Following the close of examination, the Planning Inspectorate has three months to prepare a report and make a recommendation to the Secretary of State, who then has three months to make a decision.
Once a decision has been issued the relevant Secretary of State, there is a six-week period in which the decision may be challenged in the High Court. This process of legal challenge is known as Judicial Review.
If granted development consent, we currently anticipate phased construction taking a maximum of five years, beginning with pre-construction works expected to take place from 2027.
North Falls is aiming to be operational by the end of the decade.
