Shepway Energy Park

First public consultation (non-statutory)

• A consultation on the proposals will be held to hear the views of the local communities.
• We’ll present the findings of the consultation and how the feedback’s been considered in our Consultation Report.

Project development and Environmental Impact Assessment 

• We’ll use the consultation feedback to further develop our plans and continue our ongoing engagement with key stakeholders such as local authorities, landowners and environmental bodies to help shape the development of the Environmental Statement (ES) which we’ll submit as part of the DCO application.
• Environmental surveys will be carried out by the team to understand the potential environmental impacts. The survey results will inform measures that need to be taken to avoid, reduce, mitigate and compensate for potential impacts. 

Further public consultation (statutory)

• A further public consultation will be held to present more detailed plans and gather feedback from members of the public and key stakeholders.
• We’ll present the findings of this consultation and how the feedback’s been considered to further develop our plans, in our Consultation Report.

DCO Submission

Once our application’s submitted to the Planning Inspectorate, the Acceptance stage begins.

The Planning Inspectorate will check our application meets all the requirements to continue through to the pre-examination stage. 

The public will be able to register with the Planning Inspectorate to become an Interested Party by making a Relevant Representation.

The Planning Inspectorate will also appoint an Examining Authority, and all Interested Parties will be invited to attend a Preliminary Meeting.

The Examining Authority has up to six months to carry out the examination.

During this stage Interested Parties who have registered are invited to provide written submissions or request to speak at public hearings.

Following consideration of the application, the Examining Authority will provide a report to the Secretary of State, with a recommendation to either accept or reject the application.

This must happen within three months of the examination period closing. 

The Secretary of State will then have three months to issue a decision on whether to grant the development consent. 

Once a decision has been issued, there is a period of six weeks where the decision can be challenged in court.