Written statement on Proposed Richborough Connection and East Anglia THREE Offshore Wind Farm Energy Infrastructure Projects

Richard Harrington (Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy): This statement concerns applications made by National Grid Electricity Transmission plc and East Anglia THREE Limited under the Planning Act 2008 for development consent for the installation, operation and maintenance of a 400kV high voltage Overhead Electric Line between Richborough and Canterbury in Kent (“the Richborough Connection Project”) and the construction, operation and maintenance of an offshore wind generating station off the coast of Suffolk with related onshore works (“the East Anglia THREE Offshore Wind Farm”) respectively.

 

Under section 107(1) of the Planning Act 2008, the Secretary of State must make a decision on an application within three months of receipt of the Examining Authority’s report unless exercising the power under section 107(3) to set a new deadline. Where a new deadline is set, the Secretary of State must make a Statement to Parliament to announce it. The deadline for the decision on the Richborough Connection Project was 8 June 2017 while the deadline for the East Anglia THREE Offshore Wind Farm is 28 June 2017.

 

The Secretary of State has decided to set a new deadline for deciding the two applications of 8 August 2017. The decision to set the new deadline for these applications is without prejudice to the decisions on whether to grant or refuse development consents for them.