As part of our application for development consent, we have delivered an extensive and iterative programme of engagement, including four stages of pre-application consultation.
This engagement included consultation with prescribed consultees, the Marine Management Organisation, host and neighbouring local authorities, persons with an interest in land, communities and other organisations both in the vicinity of the Project and further afield.
Changes to the Project as a result of feedback received at each stage of consultation are listed below.
Further information from each stage of consultation, including supporting materials published at the time, can be found under the relevant consultation web pages. Please note, however, that the information included in these consultation web pages was accurate at the time of publishing. For up to date information regarding the Project, we would encourage you to visit our current status page and keep an eye on project updates.
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:
Feedback received during this consultation informed the following changes to our proposals:
More information on feedback received during this stage 1 (introductory) consultation and the Project’s response can be found in Table 4.3 of our Consultation Report, which is available here.
Further information on this stage of consultation can be found in the North Falls introductory consultation factsheet, which is available for download here.
The stage 1 (introductory) consultation web pages are available to view here.
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:
Feedback received during this consultation informed the following changes to our proposals:
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:
Feedback received during this consultation informed the following changes to our proposals
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.
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.
The Project has undertaken an extensive, iterative, multi-stage consultation process in accordance with all of the relevant legislation, regulation and guidance.
In total, nearly 875 individual pieces of feedback were received during the pre-application process.
The Project’s proposals have evolved in numerous ways as a direct result of the feedback received. Feedback has also informed the consultation process and the Project’s ongoing design development in many other ways.
A sample of the changes made as a result of feedback received can be found in Table 13.1 of our Consultation Report.