Consenting and next steps

The project is being classed as a project of national significance, which are treated separately from local authority planning processes.

The government agency responsible for examining these applications 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 as to whether the project should be granted development consent. It is the Secretary of State that makes the final decision.

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 be gathering your feedback to help shape our proposals before we submit the application to the Planning Inspectorate.

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