Hergen Haye issues email latest about NPS

Please note that Hergen has offered that DECC would visit us locally at Thornbury to discuss our concerns over this matter.

Today the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, the Rt Hon Chris Huhne MP, launched the consultation on the coalition’s revised draft National Policy Statements (NPSs) on Energy. 

The Energy NPSs will be critical to delivering low-carbon energy supplies through the role they will play in the planning system, as well as helping to create the right environment for business to invest in the energy market.  Decisions on new nationally significant energy infrastructure projects will be taken in accordance with the framework of policies set out in the Energy NPSs, and therefore should be subject to public consultation and both scrutinised and ratified by Parliament before designation.

The Government has decided to run a further consultation as a result of the changes made to the draft Energy NPSs and Appraisals of Sustainability (AoSs) following the responses received to the previous consultation and Parliamentary scrutiny.  More information about this new consultation can be found at www.energynpsconsultation.decc.gov.uk.

The principal purpose of consultation on the revised draft Energy NPSs, as with the previous consultation, is to identify whether they provide a suitable framework for decision-making on applications for development consent for nationally significant energy infrastructure.  The accompanying AoSs provide information on the likely significant effects on the environment of the draft Energy NPSs should they be designated, as well as setting out the effects on other aspects of sustainability.

The consultation document aims to highlight the main, but not all, changes to the draft Energy NPSs and AoSs made following the consultation which closed earlier this year. It does not attempt to highlight every change made or to discuss why the changes have been made - that discussion is contained within the Government’s Response to the earlier consultation which, along with the individual responses received, can also be viewed atwww.energynpsconsultation.decc.gov.uk.

For this consultation to be most effective, we would ask interested parties to focus their responses on those aspects of the policy that have changed and on any aspects which they think should change in the light of the revised AoSs, or any relevant change in circumstances since the previous consultation. However, all consultation responses will be considered.

Many respondents to the previous consultation were interested in the sites that were nominated to be included in the Nuclear NPS as potentially suitable for new nuclear power stations. The revised draft Nuclear NPS contains a list of eight sites that the Government views as potentially suitable for the deployment of new nuclear power stations by 2025. For further information, including if you are interested in responding on sites, please see the Consultation document on the revised draft Energy NPSs which is available from the consultation website mentioned above.

We will be running three consultation events to provide people with more information about the consultation and provide an opportunity to feedback their comments.  These are being held on the dates listed below and you can register to attend through the consultation websitewww.energynpsconsultation.decc.gov.uk .

·         Bristol, 29^th November 2-4.30pm

·         Manchester, 30^th November 10-12.30pm

·         London, 2^nd December, 10-12.30pm

If you feel that it would be helpful for us to attend a meeting organised in your local area during the consultation period, please contact us atnps.consultationevents@decc.gsi.gov.uk

Kind regards,

Hergen Haye, Head of New Nuclear

Giles Scott, Head of Development Consents and Planning Reform