Advice to John Whiffen
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- From
- John Whiffen
- Date advice given
- 3 May 2013
- Enquiry type
- Post
Please see attachment
Advice given
Dear Mr Whiffen
Thank you for your letter received on 29 April 2013 setting out your concerns regarding the Navitus Bay Offshore Wind Farm proposal. In your letter you state you were advised to send your letter of objection to the Planning Inspectorate, for our information may we enquire as to who might have suggested this to you?
As no formal application has yet been made to the Planning Inspectorate by the developer, the Navitus Bay Offshore Wind Farm scheme is at its 'Pre-Application' stage. Please note that the developer is expected to submit its application in Quarter 1 of 2014.
Until the application is submitted, your first point of contact should be the developer. Taking part by commenting at this stage does not prejudice your ability to make comments to the Planning Inspectorate on the scheme later in the process. Therefore you should inform the developer about your concerns as soon as possible and allow time for a response. As such, I recommend that you refer to the developer's website for information about how to contact them with feedback (link to developer's website: http://www.navitusbaywindpark.co.uk/).
Should the application be formally submitted, the Planning Inspectorate on behalf of the Secretary of State has a 28 day period to determine whether to accept the application to progress to Examination. If the application progresses to Examination, this is the stage where the process then asks people to register as an ?Interested Party? with the Planning Inspectorate by sending us a 'Relevant Representation' about the proposal. This Representation can contain any concerns you may have and will be considered by the appointed Examining Authority during the Examination period.
Although the Planning Inspectorate is unable to take into account your objections at this stage, your query relating to the decommissioning of the onshore and offshore infrastructure has been taken into consideration. The Planning Inspectorate are however unable to provide a definitive answer as the developer has yet to submit a proposal, what we are able to advise is that infrastructure decommissioning is usually a ?requirement? within the ?Development Consent Order?. In previous case examples, offshore decommissioning has consisted of a written decommissioning programme that must be submitted to and agreed by the Secretary of State prior to commencement of any authorised development. Onshore decommissioning has previously consisted of a scheme for the demolition and removal of infrastructure which is submitted to the relevant planning authority for approval. Any decommissioning that takes place is usually completed at the expense of the developer.
The Planning Inspectorate has produced several advice notes to help provide an overview of the Planning Act 2008 process and the opportunities to get involved. These are available at the following link: http://infrastructure.planningportal.gov.uk/legislation-and-advice/advice-notes/. In this instance I recommend the advice note eight series - 'How to get involved in the planning process'.