MONTHLY NEWSLETTER –ISSUE OCTOBER 2019
October 30, 2019
Welcome to the latest edition of our NIPA Newsletter designed to keep you informed of national infrastructure developments and NIPA’s activities.
The turn of the seasons from summer to autumn marks the start of the academic year, and so, is a familiar time to study new material. After a quiet summer on the policy front, the Queen’s Speech on 14th October included items of interest to the infrastructure student, which are covered later in this newsletter.
Over the summer NIPA continued to work hard on the identification and dissemination of news, issues and best practice in nationally significant infrastructure project (NSIP) planning, and bringing together those working in the sector. We summarise recent events and our future plans here.
One example of our work on gathering and sharing best practice is our inaugural Award for best practice and / or innovation in an NSIP Project consented between 1st October 2017 and 30th September 2019. Four entries for the award were received and considered by the judging panel earlier this month, with the two entries below shortlisted:
- Tilbury 2 – by Port of Tilbury London Ltd.
- Eggborough CCGT Project – by AECOM; EP UK Investments; DWD; Pinsent Masons; Fichtner; and Ardent
Many thanks to all those who submitted projects for consideration. The winner will be announced and presented with the award at NIPA’s Annual Dinner on Thursday 21st November 2019.
Even though entries for this year’s award have now closed, as ever we are keen to receive your suggestions for improvements to the NSIP regime. There is no “closing date” for sharing positive suggestions with us that you think will help resolve practical issues you are experiencing on projects. We welcome contributions from all involved in the NSIP regime, not just project promoters or those representing them. Experiences from consultees are equally valuable in providing information about how effective the regime is in engaging and representing you, and how it impacts you.
Ideas received from members will be recorded on an issues log, with new items discussed at each NIPA Board meeting. We will identify opportunities to discuss issues and proposed solutions at our periodic meetings with Government Departments and the Planning Inspectorate. We have created a simple form to collect relevant information about your improvement suggestions. This asks for evidence to back up the need for your suggested improvement(s) to help us make the case for you. You can access the form here.
The regime also remains busy with projects, with the number of active Development Consent Order (DCO) applications, those post-acceptance and pre-consent, still approaching 30. We expect a glut of decisions before 2019 turns into 2020, but it is less certain whether the pipeline of applications will continue at the rate recently experienced.
Additionally, NIPA is reconvening two of its Working Groups to a) respond to BEIS’s follow-up Consultation on Proposals to Remove Electricity Storage Projects from the NSIP Regime and b) Ofgem’s Consultation on the next stage in the process concerning Ofgem’s current assessment of National Grid’s proposed costs for delivery of the Hinkley to Seabank overhead line DCO (the ‘Hinkley Point C Connection’)
Read our latest Newsletter in full from the Downloads section below.
