Development Consent Application under Planning Act 2008: AQUIND Ltd

This statement concerns an application for development consent made under the Planning Act 2008 by AQUIND Ltd for the construction, operation, maintenance and decommissioning of the UK elements of a 2,000MW bi-directional subsea electrical power interconnector between Normandy in France and Lovedean in Hampshire.

Under section 107(1) of the Planning Act 2008, the Secretary of State must make a decision on an application within three months of the receipt of the examining authority’s report unless exercising the power under section 107(3) of the Act 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 original deadline for the decision on the AQUIND interconnector application was 8 September 2021. This deadline was previously extended to 21 October 2021.

I have decided to set a new deadline of no later than 21 January 2022 for deciding this application. Following receipt of the report from the examining authority, I required clarification from the applicant on several issues. Interested parties were given the opportunity to comment on the applicant’s response. I have decided that further work is necessary to consider the application in detail including whether further information is required, and this requires an extension to the deadline.

The decision to set the new deadline for this application is without prejudice to the decision on whether to grant or refuse development consent.

[HCWS348]