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All project updates

2 May 2024

An application for a non-material change to the Hornsea Project Four Offshore Wind Farm Development Consent Order 2023 has been made by Orsted Hornsea Project Four Limited.

The deadline for receipt of representations is 23:59 on 10 June 2024.

If you wish to make a representation, this should be emailed to hornseaprojectfour@planninginspectorate.gov.uk or posted to:

National Infrastructure

The Planning Inspectorate

Temple Quay House

2 The Square

Bristol BS1 6PN

11 March 2024

31 January 2024

On 30 January 2024 the Secretary of State issued a Correction Notice (PDF, 172 KB) and Correction Order (PDF, 130 KB) to make corrections to the Hornsea Four Offshore Wind Farm Order 2023.

12 July 2023

Decision made by the Secretary of State

22 June 2023

A submission from the Applicant (PDF, 140KB) has been published.

23 May 2023

The Secretary of State has accepted a late submission from the Environment Agency (PDF, 29KB)

22 May 2023

Responses (PDF, 147KB)  to the Secretary of State’s consultation letter dated 20 April 2023 (PDF, 140KB)  have been published.

18 May 2023

The Secretary of State has issued a consultation letter (PDF, 137 KB) requesting comments from all Interested Parties and Natural England. The deadline for response is 23:59 on 16 June 2023.

Please contact the case team if you have any questions regarding the process: HornseaProjectFour@planninginspectorate.gov.uk

18 May 2023

The Responses to the Secretary of State's consultation letters dated 5 April 2023 (PDF, 333 KB) have been published.

The Responses to the Secretary of State's consultation letter dated 27 April 2023 (PDF, 346 KB) have been published.

27 April 2023

The Secretary of State has today issued a letter to the Applicant and Harbour Energy (PDF, 346 KB) requesting information. The deadline for response is 23:59 on 16 May 2023.

20 April 2023

Interested Parties are invited to comment on the responses to the Secretary of State's letters (PDF, 140 KB) of 16 December 2022, 9 February 2023, 3 March 2023 and 20 March 2023. The deadline for response is 23:59 on 18 May 2023

13 April 2023

The Secretary of State received a request from the Applicant to extend the period to respond to his letter of 5 April 2023.

The Secretary of State has decided to extend the deadline for this response to 23:59 on 16 May 2023.

6 April 2023

The Secretary of State has issued a letter to the Applicant only requesting information (PDF, 333KB). The deadline for response is the 18 April 2023, 11:59pm.

20 March 2023

3 March 2023

The Secretary of State has today issued a letter requesting information from the Applicant and other specified parties (PDF, 131KB). The deadline for response 23:59 on 31 March 2023.

9 February 2023

The statutory deadline for this application has been extended to 12 July 2023. A statement confirming the new deadline for the decision has been made to the House of Commons and House of Lords, in accordance with section 107(7) of the Planning Act 2008.

The Secretary of State has today issued a letter requesting information from the Applicant and Natural England (PDF, 131 KB). The deadline for response is 23.59 on 9 March 2023.

16 December 2022

The Secretary of State has today issued a letter (PDF, 151 KB) requesting information from the Applicant and other specified parties. The deadline for response 23:59 on 13 January 2023.

22 November 2022

Recommendations given by the Planning Inspectorate

31 August 2022

The Examination closed at 23.59 on 22 August 2022. Notification of completion of the Examination (s99) (PDF, 131 KB) has been issued.

24 August 2022

The Examining Authority (ExA) has used its discretion to accept a late submission from the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) (PDF, 238 KB). The document was submitted after Deadline 8 but before the close of the Examination.  Due to a technical issue, it was not apparent that the document had been received and as such it was not published on the website before the close of the Examination.

Whilst the Examination is now closed, and the ExA cannot accept or see any further representations including any responses to this document, any submissions received following the close of the Examination and before the deadline for the submission of the report (22 November 2022) will be forwarded to the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy along with the report.

23 August 2022

The Examining Authority has used its discretion to accept Additional Submissions received before the close of Examination from Harbour Energy, the Applicant, National Grid Electricity Transmission Plc (NGET) and National Grid Gas Plc (NGG).

The Examination closed at 23.59 on 22 August 2022. Notification of completion of the Examination (s99) (PDF, 131 KB) has been issued.

22 August 2022

The Examination closes at 23:59 on 22 August 2022.

18 August 2022

Deadline 8 submissions have now been published. The Examining Authority has also used its discretion to accept late Deadline 8 submissions from Natural England.

Deadline 8 is the last deadline in the Examination Timetable and the acceptance of any documents submitted after this would be at the discretion of the Examining Authority (ExA). Anything submitted after the close of the Examination, which is 23:59 on Monday 22 August 2022, would not be provided to the ExA and would not be considered in the recommendation report.

12 August 2022

Deadline 7 submissions have now been published.

11 August 2022

The Examining Authority has issued a Rule 17 Request for Information (PDF, 13MB)  from The Applicant, Natural England and the Maritime and Coastguard Agency. The deadline for responses is Deadline 8, Thursday 18 August at midday.

Please note that due to the short time frame between Deadline 7 (D7) and the issuing of the Rule 17 Request the documents submitted at D7 may not currently be available to view on the project page of the Planning Inspectorate's website. In order to maximise the time available for responses a copy of the Marine Management Organisations D7 submission referred to in the Rule 17 Request has been attached as an annex to the Rule 17 Request.

29 July 2022

The Examining Authority has used its discretion to accept a late Deadline 6 submission from East Riding of Yorkshire Council (PDF, 105KB)

The Exam Library (PDF, 772kb) has been updated.

29 July 2022

Deadline 6 submissions have now been published.

The Examining Authority (ExA) has issued a Rule 17 letter (PDF, 151 KB) requesting further information from the Applicant.

The Report on the Implications for European Sites (RIES) (PDF, 701 KB) and the Schedule of ExA’s recommended amendments to the Applicant’s draft Development Consent Order (DCO) (PDF, 183 KB) have also been published.

28 July 2022

The Examining Authority (ExA) has issued a Rule 17 letter (PDF, 151 KB) requesting further information from the Applicant.

The Report on the Implications for European Sites (RIES) (PDF, 701 KB) and the Schedule of ExA’s recommended amendments to the Applicant’s draft Development Consent Order (DCO) (PDF, 183 KB) have also been published.

25 July 2022

The Examining Authority has issued a Rule 17 letter (PDF, 203 KB). It requests updates in relation to Compulsory Acquisition (CA) and Temporary Possession (TP). It also lists the action points from the Issue Specific Hearings held during the week commencing 18 July 2022 which require a response from Organisations who did not attend.

The deadlines for responses can be found in the letter.

22 July 2022

The action points, recordings and transcripts for Issue Specific Hearing 12 (ISH12) have been published.

The exam library will be updated shortly.

21 July 2022

The Examining Authority has used its discretion to accept an Additional Submission from Natural England (PDF, 2MB).

The Livestream for the Hearings taking place during the week of 18 July 2022 is available for those wishing to observe in real time. Joining instructions have been issued to those parties who requested to attend. Please see the relevant agenda:

To participate in this hearing, you need to register using this form.

The following have also been published:

20 July 2022

The Examining Authority has used its discretion to accept an Additional Submission from Natural England (PDF, 2MB).

The Livestream for the Hearings taking place during the week of 18 July 2022 is available for those wishing to observe in real time. Joining instructions have been issued to those parties who requested to attend. Please see the relevant agendas:

To participate in any of these hearings, you need to register using this form.

The following have also been published:

The recordings and transcripts for ISH10 will be published as soon as practicable.

20 July 2022

The Examining Authority has used its discretion to accept an Additional Submission from Natural England (PDF, 2MB).

The Livestream for the Hearings taking place during the week of 18 July 2022 is available for those wishing to observe in real time. Joining instructions have been issued to those parties who requested to attend. Please see the relevant agendas:

To participate in any of these hearings, you need to register using this form.

The following have also been published:
The Action Points, recording and transcripts for Issue Specific Hearing 8 (ISH8)
The Action Points for Issue Specific Hearing 7 (ISH7) (PDF, 133KB)

The recordings and transcripts for ISH7 will be published as soon as practicable.

 

19 July 2022

The Livestream for the Hearings taking place during the week of 18 July 2022 is available for those wishing to observe in real time. Joining instructions have been issued to those parties who requested to attend. Please see the relevant agendas:

To participate in any of these hearings, you need to register using this form.

The following have also been published:
The Action Points, recording and transcripts for Issue Specific Hearing 8 (ISH8)
The Action Points for Issue Specific Hearing 7 (ISH7) (PDF, 133KB)

The recordings and transcripts for ISH7 will be published as soon as practicable.

18 July 2022

The Examining Authority has used its discretion to accept Additional Submissions from The Applicant, Harbour Energy and Viking Link.

The Action Points for Issue Specific Hearing 7 (ISH) (PDF, 133KB) have also been published. The recordings and transcripts will be published as soon as practicable.

The Livestream for the Hearings taking place during the week of 18 July 2022 is available for those wishing to observe in real time. Joining instructions have been issued to those parties who requested to attend. Please see the relevant agendas:

To participate in any of these hearings, you need to register using this form.

18 July 2022

The Examining Authority has used its discretion to accept an Additional Submission from Perenco UK Limited (PDF, 84 KB)

The Livestream for the Hearings taking place during the week of 18 July 2022 is available for those wishing to observe in real time. Joining instructions have been issued to those parties who requested to attend. Please see the relevant agendas:

To participate in any of these hearings, you need to register using this form.

15 July 2022

The Examining Authority has used its discretion to accept Additional Submissions from the Applicant, Historic England, Natural England, Marine Management Organisation (MMO) and the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB).

The Livestream for the Hearings taking place during the week of 18 July 2022 is available for those wishing to observe in real time. Joining instructions have been issued to those parties who requested to attend. Please see the relevant agendas:

To participate in any of these hearings, you need to register using this form.

12 July 2022

The Examining Authority has used its discretion to accept an Additional Submission from the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (PDF, 244 KB)

As there have been no requests to be heard the Examining Authority (ExA) considers that the matters that were due to have been discussed at Compulsory Acquisition Hearing 2 (CAH2) can be dealt with in writing. Consequently CAH2 which was scheduled for Monday 18 July 2022 (pm) is cancelled. The ExA intend to issue a Rule 17 letter following the completion of the remaining Issue Specific Hearings (ISH) to deal with the matters that would have been discussed at CAH2 and any other matter that may arise as a result of the ISH.

The agendas for the remaining ISH, taking place during the week of 18 July 2022, have been published:

To participate in any of these hearings, you need to register using this form before 23:59 on 14 July 2022.

11 July 2022

As there have been no requests to be heard the Examining Authority (ExA) considers that the matters that were due to have been discussed at Compulsory Acquisition Hearing 2 (CAH2) can be dealt with in writing. Consequently CAH2 which was scheduled for Monday 18 July 2022 (pm) is cancelled. The ExA intend to issue a Rule 17 letter following the completion of the remaining Issue Specific Hearings (ISH) to deal with the matters that would have been discussed at CAH2 and any other matter that may arise as a result of the ISH.

The agendas for the remaining ISH, taking place during the week of 18 July 2022, have been published:

To participate in any of these hearings, you need to register using this form before 23:59 on 14 July 2022.

The Examining Authority has used its discretion to accept an Additional Submission from the Applicant (PDF, 268KB).

5 July 2022

The Deadline 5a submissions have been published.

The Applicant’s notice of Hearings scheduled for the week of 18 July 2022 (PDF, 103KB) has been published. To participate in any of these hearings, you need to register using this form before 23:59 on 14 July 2022.

28 June 2022

The Examining Authority has used its discretion to accept an Additional Submission from the Applicant (PDF, 186 KB).

The Applicant's notice of Hearings scheduled for the week of 18 July 2022 (PDF, 103KB) has been published. To participate in any of these hearings, you need to register using this form before 23:59 on 14 July 2022.

22 June 2022

The Applicants notice of Hearings scheduled for the week of 18 July 2022 (PDF, 103KB) has been published. To participate in any of these hearings, you need to register using this form before 23:59 on 14 July 2022.

The Deadline 5 submissions have been published. The Exam Library has been updated.

21 June 2022

The Deadline 5 submissions have been published.

To participate in any of the hearings during the week of 18 July 2022, you need to register using this form before 23:59 on 14 July 2022.

20 June 2022

The Examining Authority has issued a Rule 13 letter (PDF,141KB) which provides Notification of Hearings during the week of 18 July 2022.

To participate in any of the above hearings, you need to register using this form before 23:59 on 14 July 2022.

13 June 2022

The Examining Authority has used its discretion to accept an Additional Submission from the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (PDF,179KB)

30 May 2022

The Examining Authority has issued its Further Written Questions (ExQ2) (PDF, 358KB) and a Rule 8(3) letter (PDF, 182KB) which revises the Examination Timetable.

26 May 2022

The Deadline 4a submissions have been published.

20 May 2022

The Examining Authority has used its discretion to accept late Deadline 4 submissions from East Riding of Yorkshire Council.

19 May 2022

The Examining Authority has issued a Rule 8(3), 9 and 17 letter.(PDF,178KB)  It requests further information from the Applicant and revises the Examination Timetable.

A response has been requested by Deadline 4a, Wednesday 25 May 2022.

11 May 2022

The Deadline 4 submissions have been published.

3 May 2022

The Examining Authority has issued a Rule 17 letter, requesting further information from Natural England and the Marine Management Organisation (PDF, 193KB). Responses have been requested by Deadline 4, Tuesday 10 May 2022.

The recordings and transcripts for Issue Specific Hearing 6 (ISH6) have now been published.

29 April 2022

The recordings of the livestream hearings during the week of 25 April 2022 have been published:  ISH5 - Marine and Coastal Ornithology

The following have also been published:  Action Points for Issue Specific Hearing 6 (PDF, 125KB)

The reserved date for the Issue Specific Hearing 7 (ISH7) on 4 May 2022 has been cancelled.

28 April 2022

The Livestream for the Hearings taking place during the week of 25 April 2022 is available for those wishing to observe in real time. Joining instructions have been issued to those parties who requested to attend. Please see the relevant agendas: ISH6 – Habitats Regulations Assessment (PDF, 171KB)

The recordings of the livestream hearings during the week of 25 April 2022 have been published:  ISH4- Marine Environment, excluding ornithology

The following have also been published:  Action Points for Issue Specific Hearing 5 (PDF, 111KB)

The reserved date for the Issue Specific Hearing 8 (ISH8) on 5 May 2022 has been cancelled.

27 April 2022

The Livestream for the Hearings taking place during the week of 25 April 2022 is available for those wishing to observe in real time. Joining instructions have been issued to those parties who requested to attend. Please see the relevant agendas:

The recordings of the livestream hearings during the week of 25 April 2022 have been published:

The following have also been published:  Action Points for Issue Specific Hearing 4 (PDF, 111KB)

26 April 2022

The Livestream for the Hearings taking place during the week of 25 April 2022 is available for those wishing to observe in real time. Joining instructions have been issued to those parties who requested to attend. Please see the relevant agendas:

The following have also been published:

Action Points for Issue Specific Hearing 2 (PDF,115KB)
Action Points for Issue Specific Hearing 3 (PDF,102KB)
Additional Submission from Network Rail Infrastructure Limited [AS-033] (PDF,159KB), accepted at the discretion of the Examining Authority

25 April 2022

The Examining Authority has used its discretion to accept Additional Submission AS-032 from the Marine Management Organisation (PDF, 159KB)

The Livestream for the Hearings taking place during the week of 25 April 2022 is available for those wishing to observe in real time. Joining instructions have been issued to those parties who requested to attend.

The agendas for the following Issue Specific Hearings (ISH), taking place during the week of 25 April 2022, have been published:

To take part in the hearings, please register by using this form.

The Deadline 3 submissions have been published.

22 April 2022

The Livestream for the Hearings taking place during the week of 25 April 2022 is available for those wishing to observe in real time. Joining instructions have been issued to those parties who requested to attend.

The agendas for the following Issue Specific Hearings (ISH), taking place during the week of 25 April 2022, have been published:

To take part in the hearings, please register by using this form.

The Deadline 3 submissions have been published

14 April 2022

11 April 2022

The Examining Authority has used its discretion to accept Additional Submission AS-030 from the Environment Agency (PDF, 6KB) and Additional Submission AS-031 from the Marine Management Organisation (PDF, 196KB).

The Livestream for the Hearings taking place during the week of 11 April 2022 is available for those wishing to observe in real time. Joining instructions have been issued to those parties who requested to attend.

Please refer to the agendas for Open Floor Hearing 1 (OFH1) (PDF, 141KB), Issue Specific Hearing 1 (ISH1) (PDF, 175KB) and Compulsory Acquisition Hearing 1 (CAH1) (PDF, 170KB) for further information.

To take part in the hearings, please register by using this form.

11 April 2022

The Examining Authority has used its discretion to accept Additional Submission AS-030 from the Environment Agency (PDF, 6KB).

The Livestream for the Hearings taking place during the week of 11 April 2022 is available for those wishing to observe in real time. Joining instructions have been issued to those parties who requested to attend.

Please refer to the agendas for Open Floor Hearing 1 (OFH1) (PDF, 141KB), Issue Specific Hearing 1 (ISH1) (PDF, 175KB) and Compulsory Acquisition Hearing 1 (CAH1) (PDF, 170KB) for further information.

To take part in the hearings, please register by using this form.

8 April 2022

The Livestream for the Hearings taking place during the week of 11 April 2022 is available for those wishing to observe in real time. Joining instructions have been issued to those parties who requested to attend.

Please refer to the agendas for Open Floor Hearing 1 (OFH1) (PDF, 141KB), Issue Specific Hearing 1 (ISH1) (PDF, 175KB) and Compulsory Acquisition Hearing 1 (CAH1) (PDF, 170KB) for further information.

To take part in the hearings, please register by using this form.

7 April 2022

Following a request from BP and the Applicant regarding examination of matters in relation to the Overlap Area and the Protective Provisions proposed by both parties, the ExA has revised the agenda for Issue Specific Hearing 1 (ISH1) (PDF, 172KB)  so that these matters will be considered at the end of the agenda and will include examination of background/ technical evidence to provide the context for the Protective Provisions.

The agendas for Open Floor Hearing 1 (OFH1) (PDF, 141KB), Issue Specific Hearing 1 (ISH1) (PDF, 175KB) and Compulsory Acquisition Hearing 1 (CAH1) (PDF, 170KB) have been published.

To partake in the hearings, please register by using this form.

6 April 2022

The Examining Authority has used their discretion to accept Additional Submissions AS-028 (PDF, 324KB)  and AS-029 (PDF, 326KB) from Natural England, to replace REP2-082.

The agendas for Open Floor Hearing 1 (OFH1) (PDF, 141KB), Issue Specific Hearing 1 (ISH1) (PDF, 175KB) and Compulsory Acquisition Hearing 1 (CAH1) (PDF, 170KB) have been published.

To partake in the hearings, please register by using this form.

4 April 2022

The Examining Authority has used their discretion to accept an Additional Submission from the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) (PDF, 306KB)

The agendas for Open Floor Hearing 1 (OFH1) (PDF, 141KB), Issue Specific Hearing 1 (ISH1) (PDF, 175KB) and Compulsory Acquisition Hearing 1 (CAH1) (PDF, 170KB) have been published.

To partake in the hearings, please register by using this form before 4 April 2022

31 March 2022

The submissions for Deadline 2 have been published.

The agendas for Open Floor Hearing 1 (OFH1) (PDF, 141KB), Issue Specific Hearing 1 (ISH1) (PDF, 175KB) and Compulsory Acquisition Hearing 1 (CAH1) (PDF, 170KB) have been published.

To partake in the hearings, please register by using this form before 4 April 2022

23 March 2022

The agendas for Open Floor Hearing 1 (OFH1)(PDF, 141KB), Issue Specific Hearing 1 (ISH1) (PDF, 175KB) and Compulsory Acquisition Hearing 1 (CAH1) (PDF, 170KB) have been published.

To partake in the hearings, please register by using this form before 4 April 2022

The Examination Library (PDF, 342KB) has been updated.

18 March 2022

The Applicants notice of Hearings scheduled for April 2022 (PDF, 107KB) has been published.

To partake in the hearings, please register by using this form before 4 April 2022

The Examination Library (PDF, 342KB) has been updated.

10 March 2022

The submissions for Deadline 1 have been published.

28 February 2022

The Examining Authority’s first round of written questions (ExQ1) (PDF, 1MB) has been published.

28 February 2022

The Examination Timetable (Rule 8 letter) has been sent to Interested Parties.

Procedural decision following Preliminary Meeting.

24 February 2022

The recording of the Preliminary Meeting has been published, along with the transcript of the meeting (PDF, 254KB)

A note of the PM (PDF, 531KB) has also been published.

22 February 2022

The Livestream for the Preliminary Meeting on Tuesday 22 February 2022 is available for those wishing to observe in real time. Joining instructions have been issued to those parties who requested to attend.

Please refer to the Agenda for the Preliminary Meeting for further information.

22 February 2022

Preliminary Meeting takes place

22 February 2022

Examination begins

17 February 2022

The Examining Authority (ExA) has used their discretion to accept Additional Submissions from the Holderness Fishing Industry Group (PDF, 130KB) and The National Federation of Fishermen’s Organisations. (PDF,4KB)

15 February 2022

Notes from the Examining Authority’s Unaccompanied Site Inspections, carried out on 9 February (PDF, 492KB) and 10 February 2022 (PDF,715KB) , have been published.

14 February 2022

The submissions for the Procedural Deadline have been published.

7 February 2022

The Examining Authority (ExA) has used their discretion to accept Additional Submissions from the Applicant on 26 January 2022 (PDF, 223KB) and 7 February 2022. (PDF, 412KB)

24 January 2022

The notification of Preliminary Meeting (Rule 6 letter) has been sent.

The letter also includes the draft Examination Timetable and Initial Assessment of Principal Issues.

17 January 2022

The Applicant submitted a set of documents on 14 January 2022, in response to s51 advice issued post-Acceptance. The Examining Authority has accepted them as additional submissions.

24 December 2021

Relevant representations published on the website

17 December 2021

The Applicant has informed us that a number of notifications they sent about the opportunity to make Relevant Representations had not been received for various reasons.

The Applicant has re-sent a further notification to those parties to allow them to make their representations.

If you have received such a further notification and wish to make a representation, please contact us at email address: HornseaProjectFour@planninginspectorate.gov.uk or telephone 0303 444 5000.

16 December 2021

Registration of interested parties closes

4 November 2021

Registration of interested parties begins

26 October 2021

The application has been accepted for examination

29 September 2021

Application received by the Planning Inspectorate