Agenda item

To receive a report which has been brought before Planning Committee for information purposes. The report recommends that the report is noted by the Committee and that authorisation is sought from the Executive to authorise the Head of Planning and Interim Head of Regulatory Services in consultation with the Executive Member for Place Shaping to agree the Local Impact Report, Statement of Common Ground, the content of the draft DCO, and all further necessary representations by the District Council, together with post decision monitoring of planning conditions and enforcement of the DCO.

The Planning Committee received the report which had been brought before them for information purposes. The report recommended that the contents be noted, and that authorisation be sought from the Executive to authorise the Head of Planning and Interim Head of Regulatory Services, in consultation with the Executive Member for Place Shaping, to agree the Local Impact Report, Statement of Common Ground, the content of the draft DCO, and all further necessary representations by the District Council, together with post decision monitoring of planning conditions and enforcement of the DCO.

Members noted that the report set out the legislative background to Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects (NSIPs) and how these were dealt with. The Planning Committee had considered similar NSIP reports in respect of the Drax Bioenergy and Carbon Capture Project in April 2021 and the Yorkshire GREEN Project in February 2022. Applicants for infrastructure projects were required to make an application to the Planning Inspectorate (PINS) for a Development Consent Order (DCO). The final decision was made by the Secretary of State on the recommendation of PINS, but Local Planning Authorities were statutory consultees in the process.

Officers explained that National Grid Carbon Limited (part of National Grid Ventures) was proposing to submit an application for a DCO for the construction of dual pipelines to transport carbon dioxide (to facilitate carbon capture, usage and storage (CCUS)) and hydrogen between Drax in North Yorkshire to a landfall point on the Holderness coast in East Riding of Yorkshire, together with associated above ground installations (AGIs); this scheme was a Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project (NSIP) to be determined by PINS. At the landfall point the project would connect to an offshore pipeline for onward transportation of carbon dioxide to the Endurance saline aquifer under the North Sea. This offshore pipeline and associated work formed part of a separate consent for which BP was the project proponent.

Members were informed that two rounds of public consultation were taking place; non-statutory consultation took place in Q3/Q4 2021; statutory consultation was anticipated to take place in Q3 2022. It was anticipated that National Grid Carbon Limited would submit their DCO application to PINS during Q3 2022.  

The Committee acknowledged that once the DCO application had been submitted to PINS, they would have 28 days to decide whether or not the application met the standards required to be accepted for examination. Following acceptance, an Examining Authority would be appointed, and all Interested Parties would be invited to attend a Preliminary Meeting, run and chaired by the Examining Authority. PINS would have up to six months to carry out the examination of the proposals through a series of structured and topic-based hearings which Officers may need to attend. After the examination a decision would be made by the Secretary of State, within 6 months of the close of the examination. Following this the Council would have the responsibility to discharge any planning conditions and enforce the terms of the DCO.

RESOLVED:

The Planning Committee noted the content of the report and that authorisation was to be sought from the Executive to authorise the Head of Planning and Interim Head of Regulatory Services in consultation with the Executive Member for Place Shaping to agree the Local Impact Report, Statement of Common Ground, the content of the draft DCO, and all further necessary representations by the District Council, together with post decision monitoring of planning conditions and enforcement of the DCO.