Abstract
East Anglia ONE Limited (the applicant) has applied to the Secretary of State for a development consent order (DCO) under section 37 of the Planning Act 2008 (as amended) for the proposed East Anglia ONE Offshore Windfarm. The Secretary of State has appointed an Examining Authority (ExA) to conduct an examination of the application, to report its findings and conclusions, and to make a recommendation to the Secretary of State as to the decision to be made on the application.
The relevant Secretary of State is the competent authority for the purposes of the Habitats Directive and the 2010 Habitats Regulations for applications submitted under the Planning Act regime (as amended). The findings and conclusions on nature conservation issues reported by the Examining Authority will assist the Secretary of State in performing its duties under the Habitats Regulations.
This report compiles, documents and signposts information provided within the DCO application, and the information submitted throughout the examination by both the applicant and interested parties. It is issued to ensure that interested parties including the statutory nature conservation bodies, Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC) and Natural England (NE), are consulted formally on habitats regulations matters. This process may be relied on by the Secretary of State for the purposes of Regulation 61(3) of the Habitats Regulations.
Attention is drawn in particular to integrity matrix 3.4 and the potential impacts of the project in-combination with other projects on Gannet and Kittiwake. Please note the comments raised by NE regarding a strategic approach to the allocation of wind resource in the North Sea. The ExA would welcome comments from Interested Parties on this matter spelling out in particular the practical implications of this approach and if possible how this could be progressed and the likely timescales involved.
In addition, the ExA would welcome a copy of the citation documents from NE relating to the consultation on the Flamborough Head and Filey Coast as an SPA and comments from Interested Parties about whether this emerging designation affects the assessment by the applicant of the impact of the project on internationally designated sites and the provision of sufficient information to inform an Appropriate Assessment.