Biographies of the three Commissioners appointed can be viewed here.

The Panel of Commissioners (known as the Examining Authority) will now begin considering the principal issues for the examination and preparing for the Preliminary Meeting, which will be held on 21 March 2012 in Sedgemoor Auction Centre, when the procedure and timetable for the examination of EDF’s application will be discussed. After the Preliminary Meeting, a six-month examination will begin, during which everyone who has properly registered their interest in the application during December and January will have the opportunity to submit written evidence to the Panel and request to speak at hearings.

Sir Michael Pitt commented: “I have today made the initial appointment of three Commissioners to the Panel which will examine of the Hinkley Point C, Nuclear Power Station application. This is a large and complex proposal. I am aware that Government guidance indicates that a panel of five Commissioners will be usual for the largest and most complex cases; these are the initial appointments, and my current intention is to appoint additional members of the Panel later this year.”

A letter has been sent today to everyone who registered as an interested party to notify them of the appointments. Any subsequent appointments will be notified in the same way and publicised on the IPC website.

As we predicted in our last newsletter, the programme of projects has continued to grow with 63 projects being at various stages in the process including 9 applications.

An application for a marine energy park was submitted by Able Humber Ports Ltd on 19 December and accepted for examination by the IPC on 12 January 2012. It is now for the developer to announce the period when people who are affected by the proposal can register to make a relevant representation about the scheme.

The Heysham to M6 Link Road was accepted to proceed to examination on 23 December and the period for people to register their interest in the scheme closes on 20 February 2012. The IPC will hold a drop in event on 7 February at Lancaster Town Hall where people can find out how to register to make a relevant representation about the proposal. Further information about this will be publicised in the local press and on the projects page of this website.

Another outreach event was held on the 25 and 26 January for people to find out how to register to make a relevant representation for the Preesall Saltfield Gas Storage proposal which was accepted for examination on 23 December. The period to register as an interested party and make a relevant representation ends on 10 February 2012.

There are currently 3 wind farm applications that are at the pre-examination stage of the process – Galloper off shore wind farm, Kentish Flats off shore wind farm and Brechfa Forest wind farm in Wales.

People interested in the Galloper off shore wind farm proposal, located off the Suffolk coast, have until 24 February to register with the IPC. The registration period for the Kentish Flats off shore wind farm closed on 6 January and everyone who registered as an interested party will be notified of the date of the Preliminary Meeting in the near future.

The application for Hinkley Point C nuclear power station was accepted for examination on 24 November. The period to register to make a representation closed on 23 January 2012, with over 1,200 registrations submitted. Relevant representations will be published on our website shortly and those people and organisations who registered will be informed of the date for the Preliminary Meeting.

Finally, the examinations for Ipswich and North Doncaster rail chord applications continue. Documents relating to the examination can be viewed on the projects page of the IPC website.

Under Regulation 24 of the Infrastructure Planning (Environmental Impact Assessment) Regulations 2009, where the IPC is of the view that a development which requires an EIA is likely to have significant effects on the environment in another EEA State, the IPC must notify that state and publish a notice in the London Gazette.

During the 28 day acceptance process for the Galloper off shore wind farm, the IPC screened the proposed development for likely significant effects on the environment of another EEA State. Based on the information currently provided by the developer to the IPC, and applying a precautionary approach, the IPC is of the view that the proposed development is likely to have significant effects on the environment in Sweden, Belgium, Denmark, France and the Netherlands.

The IPC has notified these EEA States by emails sent on 17 January 2012 to the named contacts set out in Annex 3 of the IPC’s Advice Note 12 on Transboundary Impact Consultation. The IPC also published the relevant information in a notice in the London Gazette on 19 January.

The notified EEA States have been asked by the IPC to indicate by 2 March whether or not they wish to participate in the procedure for examining and determining the Galloper off shore wind farm development. If no response is received from these EEA States by this date, then the IPC will assume that they do not wish to participate in the procedure.

The Infrastructure Planning Commission announced yesterday (Thursday 12 January) that it accepted for examination, an application from Able Humber Ports Ltd for proposed port facilities located at Killingholme, Humberside. It comprises the construction of a new quay approximately 1,320m long, together with associated onshore facilities accommodating wind turbine manufacture, assembly and commissioning.

The application was submitted on 19 December 2011 and the decision to accept the application to proceed has been made ahead of the statutory deadline and in accordance with section 55 of the Planning Act 2008. (The IPC has 28 days from the day after the date of receipt of an application to decide whether or not to accept it).

When considering whether or not to accept an application for examination the IPC, in accordance with section 55 of the Planning Act 2008, has regard to the application documents submitted, any adequacy of consultation representations received from local authorities, and the extent to which the developer has had regard to any guidance issued (see notes below). Other matters relating to the application will be considered by the Examining Authority during the examination and interested parties will have an opportunity take part in that process and make representations if they wish.

The acceptance to proceed decision and a copy of the application can be viewed at the Able Marine Energy Park project page.

It is now for Able Humber Ports Ltd to publicise the fact that its application has been accepted to proceed to examination and invite people who are interested in the proposal to register with the IPC as an interested party by making a relevant representation.

Interested parties in an application can:

• Say what they agree or disagree with in the application and why
• Comment on what other people have said in their representations
• Attend a Preliminary Meeting and say how they think the application should be examined
• Request that an open floor hearing is held
• Attend and request to speak at open floor or issue-specific hearings

The Planning Act 2008, which established the IPC, sets high standards for applications and places a strong duty upon developers to involve the local community, local authorities and other stakeholders in the development of their proposal, ahead of submission.

Sir Michael Pitt, Chair of the IPC, said: “This is the beginning of the examination process. Acceptance of this application for examination does not mean that consent will be given for the project to go ahead – acceptance of the application simply means that the IPC can begin to make arrangements for the formal examination of the application”

Sir Michael added “It is now for the developer to announce the period when people who are affected by this proposal can register with the IPC as interested party enabling them to take part in the examination”
A recommendation on whether or not to grant development consent for this proposal will be made to the Secretary of State for Transport following the IPC’s examination.

Follow the progress of this application on Twitter – http://twitter.com/AbleMarinePark

Located to the north of Lancaster, the proposal connects the existing length of the A683 Heysham to M6 link from its present eastern end, at its junction with the A589, Morecambe Road, near Torrisholme, to a fully remodelled Junction 34 on the M6 Motorway.

The application was submitted for consideration to the IPC on 6 December 2011 and the decision made ahead of the statutory deadline of 4 January 2012. (The IPC has 28 days from the day after the date of receipt of an application to decide whether or not to accept it to proceed to examination).

This decision has been made in accordance with section 55 of the Planning Act 2008.

The Planning Act 2008, which established the IPC, places a strong duty upon developers to involve the local community, local authorities and other stakeholders in the development of their proposal, ahead of submission.

Sir Michael Pitt, Chair of the IPC said: “This application has been given careful consideration and we’ve decided it meets the required tests set out in the legislation to be accepted for IPC examination”.

“This does not mean that consent will be given for the project to go ahead – acceptance of the application means the application can move on to the next stage of the process when people can register as an interested party”.

It is now for Lancashire County Council to publicise the fact that its application has been accepted to proceed to IPC examination. Members of the public will shortly be able to register with the IPC as an interested party in the application.

Interested parties in an application can:

• Say what they agree or disagree with in the application and why
• Comment on what other people have said in their representations
• Attend a Preliminary Meeting and say how they think the application should be examined
• Request that an open floor hearing is held
• Attend and request to speak at an open floor or issue-specific hearing.

Follow the progress of this application on Twitter – http://twitter.com/HeyshamtoM6Link

The application was submitted on 1 December 2011 and the decision to accept the application to proceed has been made ahead of the statutory deadline and in accordance with section 55 of the Planning Act 2008. (The IPC has 28 days from the day after the date of receipt of an application to decide whether or not to accept it).

When considering whether or not to accept an application for examination the IPC, in accordance with section 55 of the Planning Act 2008, has regard to the application documents submitted, any adequacy of consultation representations received from local authorities, and the extent to which the developer has had regard to any guidance issued (see notes below). Other matters relating to the application will be considered by the Examining Authority during the examination and interested parties will have an opportunity take part in that process and make representations if they wish.

The acceptance to proceed decision and a copy of the application can be viewed at the Preesall Saltfield underground gas storage project page.

It is now for Halite Energy Group Ltd to publicise the fact that its application has been accepted to proceed to examination and invite people who are interested in the proposal to register with the IPC as an interested party by making a relevant representation.

Interested parties in an application can:

• Say what they agree or disagree with in the application and why
• Comment on what other people have said in their representations
• Attend a Preliminary Meeting and say how they think the application should be examined
• Request that an open floor hearing is held
• Attend and request to speak at open floor or issue-specific hearings

The Planning Act 2008, which established the IPC, sets high standards for applications and places a strong duty upon developers to involve the local community, local authorities and other stakeholders in the development of their proposal, ahead of submission.

Sir Michael Pitt, Chair of the IPC, said: “Acceptance of this application for examination does not mean that consent will be given for the project to go ahead – acceptance of the application simply means that the IPC can begin to make arrangements for the formal examination of the application”

A recommendation on whether or not to grant development consent for this proposal will be made to the Secretary of State for Energy following the IPC’s examination.

Follow the progress of this application on Twitter – http://twitter.com/PSGasStorage

The application was submitted for consideration to the IPC on 21 November 2011. (The IPC has 28 days from the day after the date of receipt of an application to decide whether or not to accept it to proceed to examination).

The Planning Act 2008, which established the IPC, places a strong duty upon developers to undertake a great deal of preparatory work before submitting an application to the IPC and to involve the local community, local authorities and other stakeholders in the development of their proposal, ahead of submission.

This decision has been made in accordance with section 55 of the Planning Act 2008. Together with its decision, the IPC also issued advice under section 51 of the Planning Act 2008 drawing attention to a number of issue which the developer may wish to consider in relation to the subsequent stages of the process.

Sir Michael Pitt, Chair of the IPC, said: “We have considered very carefully the application submitted by Galloper Wind Farm Ltd and decided that it meets the required tests set out in the legislation to be accepted for IPC examination. We have also issued advice to the developer in relation to the subsequent stages of the process”.

It is now for Galloper Wind Farm Ltd to determine when to publicise the fact that its application has been accepted to proceed to IPC examination and announce when members of the public will be able to register with the IPC as an interested party in the application

Interested parties in an application can

• Say what they agree or disagree with in the application and why
• Comment on what other people have said in their representations
• Attend a Preliminary Meeting and say how they think the application should be examined
• Request that an open floor hearing is held
• Attend an open floor or issue-specific hearing.
• Request to speak at a hearing.

The Minister also made reference in respect of changes to an application proposed by a developer that had been brought to his attention and he noted particularly the reference it made to the absence of regulations under section 114(2) of the Planning Act 2008. The Minister set out his views on section 114 and the reasons why he does not believe it is necessary or appropriate to make further regulations under this section. The letter and the advice it contains can be viewed here.

The lull has now ended, a flurry of project applications have been submitted over the past few weeks and more are expected over the coming weeks and months.

Since the last enewsletter the applications for Hinkley Point C nuclear power station, Kentish Flats Wind Farm Extension and Brechfa Forest West Wind Farm were all accepted for examination and people affected can now register as interested parties and make representations on these applications. Details of the registration periods for each of these proposals can be found on the respective project pages on our website.

Applications submitted to the IPC in the past few weeks include Galloper off shore wind farm on 21 November, Preesall Saltfield underground gas storage facility on 1 December and Heysham to M6 link road on 6 December. The IPC has 28 days from the day after each application was submitted to decide whether or not to accept it for examination.

You can follow all the projects the IPC has accepted to proceed to examination on Twitter. A list of project Twitter accounts can be found on the register of applications page of our website.

Following the Preliminary Meetings held for the Ipswich Rail Chord and North Doncaster Rail Chord applications, everyone who registered as an interested party has been informed of the decision about how the examination will proceed These letters are available to view on the corresponding project pages.

Veolia Environmental Services (UK) Plc have recently notified the IPC that they intend to submit an application for a rail linked power station that will generate electricity from a combination of natural gas and solid recovered fuel (SRF).

Today, (Thursday 1 December 2011) the IPC has received an application from Halite Energy Group Ltd for development consent for a proposed underground gas storage facility to be located at Preesall Saltfield, Over Wyre in Lancashire

The IPC has 28 days from the day after the date of receipt of an application to decide whether to accept or reject it. The decision will be made in accordance with section 55 of the Planning Act 2008.

If it is accepted, the application will be examined by IPC Commissioners and only at that time will the application documents will be made available on the IPC website and at other locations and any member of the public will be able to register as an interested party. This provides the opportunity to make a written representation and to participate in relevant hearings. Following the examination, the IPC will make a recommendation to the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change who will make the final decision whether or not to grant development consent.