Four spades in the ground

Angus Walker picture-13This entry reports on what has happened to projects consented under the Planning Act 2008 regime.

Since the Planning Act 2008 regime came into force in March 2010, 15 nationally significant infrastructure projects have been granted consent. Getting consent is obviously a significant milestone, but what has happened since then? Are any of them actually being built? Read on to find out.

Prompted by the groundbreaking ceremony for the Heysham to M6 Link Road last week (shouldn't more be made of these events?), I have done a bit of research on the status of the fifteen consented projects, and here is what I have come up with.

Project

Consented

Status

Rookery South energy from waste

October 2011

Held up in the courts

North Doncaster railway chord

October 2012

Under construction

Ipswich railway chord

September 2012

Under construction

Kentish Flats Extension offshore wind farm

February 2013

Construction to start autumn 2014

Hinkley Point C nuclear power station

March 2013

Held up in the courts

Brechfa Forest West onshore wind farm

March 2013

No construction yet, awaiting grid connection application

Galloper offshore wind farm

May 2013

Construction to start late 2016

Heysham to M6 Link Road

March 2013

Under construction

Able Marine Energy Park

December 2013

Undergoing special parliamentary procedure

Triton Knoll offshore wind farm

July 2013

No construction yet, awaiting grid connection application

East Northant resource management

July 2013

Consent implemented (did not require construction)

Port Blyth biomass

July 2013

Construction to start later this year

M1 Junction 10a improvement

October 2013

Under construction

King's Lynn electric line

December 2013

Construction to start in September 2014

So of the fifteen, only five are actually under construction or implemented. The four being constructed are all transport projects, and the fifth is a hazardous waste project that was an extension to an existing permission not requiring construction. It could thus be said that that project gets the gold medal for being the first to come into use.

No energy project has yet got to the stage of a spade in the ground, despite eight of the fifteen being of that type. Is this something to be concerned about? Not yet, but definitely something to keep an eye on. The regime's efficacy is not finally proven until projects come into use.

From a lawyer's point of view - from anyone's in fact - the start of construction is important because it means that the legal consent that was secured is actually implementable (at least to allow the project to be constructed, the final test being whether it can come into use).

Published DCOs are all well and good, but if their requirements (equivalent to planning conditions) are too difficult to discharge, or if the flexibility of the DCO is too limited and changes are needed to the project that are outside its scope, then hold-ups may occur. There are of course many other reasons for delay, but an implementable DCO is at least a necessary part of construction going ahead.

The good news is that projects consented under the Planning Act 2008 are actually getting built.