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Advice to RSPB

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Enquiry

From
RSPB
Date advice given
15 March 2011
Enquiry type
Phone

We understand that the Able UK Ltd is currently undertaking pre-application consultation on the Able Marine Energy Park (AMEP) at North Killingholme. This includes consultation on the preliminary environmental information and is due to finish on March 20th 2011. When can consultees and the general public comment on the Environmental Statement (ES) for this project? Is the applicant under any duty to consult on the ES prior to submitting their Development Consent Order (DCO) application to the IPC?

Advice given

Applicants have a duty to comply with requirements set out in the Planning Act 2008, which includes consultation on the preliminary environmental information. However, they are not under any duty to consult on the ES specifically prior to submitting their DCO application to the IPC.

The IPC consults with a number of statutory bodies during the scoping stage for projects. The scoping stage is the process used to inform applicant?s what information they may wish to include in their ES. The RSPB is not a statutory consultee (under the Infrastructure Planning (Applications: Prescribed Forms and Procedure) Regulations 2009) therefore would not have been consulted during scoping. Although these regulations prescribe a list of consultees, the IPC strongly encourage applicants to consult with a wide range of bodies and the public, as they deem appropriate during the pre-application stage and in the preparation of the ES.

At present, Able UK Ltd has indicated to the IPC that they will be submitting the DCO application for the Marine Energy Park on 31st May 2011; however please note this is an indicative date and may be subject to change. Once the application is submitted, the IPC has 28 days to decide whether to accept the application. If the application is accepted, the application will move into the pre-examination stage during which anybody can register as an interested party if they make a relevant representation to the IPC. Once a person / organisation has registered as an interested party, they will be kept informed of progress of the application and opportunities to be involved. Once in the examination stage, individuals who have registered as interested party can submit written representations to the Examining Authority and may request an issue specific hearing at the discretion of the Examining Authority or can notify the Examining Authority that it wishes to be heard at an open floor hearing, in which case the Examining Authority must hold an open floor hearing.