Consenting process and next steps

This reservoir is recognised as being a strategic regional asset. The volume of water it can hold means it is a Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project (NSIP) and is treated separately from local authority planning processes.

The government agency responsible for examining NSIPs is the Planning Inspectorate. We will work with them as we prepare our application and submit it for acceptance. Once accepted by the Planning Inspectorate, a panel of inspectors will be appointed who will then examine the application before making a recommendation to the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) as to whether the project should be granted development consent. It is the Secretary of State that makes the final decision.

Our application for development consent will include the area of land we would require, either permanently or temporarily, to build the project. We’ll continue to refine and consult on our proposed project boundary before submitting the application. Ultimately, this will include the land needed for the reservoir and its associated water infrastructure, and wider areas of land required for construction, environmental mitigation and enhancement, and other enabling works needed to build the reservoir. Supporting information will also form part of our application, including our assessments of any impacts and plans for mitigating them.

Local people and stakeholders have an important role to play to help inform how the project is developed and designed. During this pre-application phase, we will bewe will be gathering your feedback to help shape our proposals before we submit the application to the Planning Inspectorate.

Our summer 2024 consultation was the second phase in a multi-phase consultation approach – at least one more consultation will follow.

You can see where you will have the chance to comment on our proposals on this timeline