Summary of consultation

Approach

This was a non-statutory consultation on the Project’s early proposals which took place between 25 October and 10 December 2021. It introduced the Project and gathered initial feedback on the following topics:

• The importance of renewable energy in tackling climate change
• The role of offshore wind in protecting the UK’s energy security
• Being a good neighbour to the local community
• The Development Consent Order (DCO) process
• The Project’s Scoping Report and the Planning Inspectorate’s Scoping Opinion
• The Project’s onshore and offshore infrastructure.
• Use of the coastal area between Clacton-on-Sea and Frinton-on-Sea
• Proposals to use horizontal directional drilling (HDD)
• Key issues for the local community including ecology, land use, water quality and flood risk

Results

Feedback received during this consultation informed the following changes to our proposals:

• Updates to the Project website to reflect issues raised and the Project’s response
• The inclusion of information and assessments on the beneficial economic impacts of the Project, including job creation, in the Preliminary Environmental Information Report (PEIR)
• Commitments to route and time construction traffic to avoid school drop off and pick up

Approach

This was a non-statutory consultation on the Project’s progress following its stage 1 (introductory) consultation and took place between 17 October and 9 December 2022. More information on this stage of consultation can be found in the North Falls non-statutory consultation brochure, which is available for download here.

Feedback received during this consultation addressed the following themes:

• Construction traffic
• Flooding
• Access to footpaths, bridleways and the coastal promenade during construction
• Water main north of Thorpe Road
• Land drainage
• Landscaping around substation
• Local ecology, birds and wildlife
• Use of HDD during construction
• Communication during construction
• Grid connection location
• Horsley Cross car book sale
• Residential gardens
• Offshore grid connection
• Cooperation with Five Estuaries
• Community support

Results

Feedback received during this consultation informed the following changes to our proposals:

• Reduction in the width of our offshore and onshore cable route
• Selection of more defined landfall and onshore substation locations
• Increased coordination with Five Estuaries Offshore Wind Farm and various aspects of the two projects were more closely aligned

Approach

This was a statutory consultation focused on the Project’s PEIR which took place between 16 May and 14 July 2023. Further information on this stage of consultation can be found in the North Falls statutory consultation brochure, which is available for download here.

The themes raised by stakeholders as part of this statutory consultation included:

• Visual impact of the turbines
• Size of the turbines
• The option for an offshore grid connection
• Number of export cable circuits required, both onshore and offshore
• Location of the landfall construction compound
• Width of the onshore cable corridor
• Aligning the onshore cable corridor with Five Estuaries
• Optionality of the cable route around Thorpe-le-Soken
• Possible increases in traffic as a result of construction
• How disruption will be managed during construction
• Possible impacts on private water supplies
• Possible impacts on onshore ecology
• Size of proposed onshore substation
• Community benefits
• Possible impacts on local health services

Result

Feedback received during this consultation informed the following changes to our proposals

• Removal of the Project’s northern offshore array area and reduction in the size of the remaining southern offshore array area, reducing the overall size of its offshore array area by approximately 55 square kilometres (km²)
• Increased distance from shore to the nearest point of the offshore array area by approximately 20km
• Reduction in the number of wind turbine generators (WTGs) by 15
• Reduction of the overall onshore cable route width at various locations from what was presented in our PEIR
• Reduction in the number of onshore export cables from four to two, reducing the amount of land required throughout the onshore cable route

Approach

This targeted consultation took place between 14 March and 22 April 2024 and focused on proposed localised changes to the Project’s onshore PEIR boundary (as presented at the stage 3 (statutory) consultation).

These proposed localised changes resulted in additional land being included in our Development Consent Order (DCO) boundary.

Results

Feedback received during this consultation was localised and concerned impacts on specific landowners.

This has informed ongoing discussions with land interests and will influence our design of proposed highways improvements.