Statement
My hon. Friend the Minister for Energy Consumers (Martin McCluskey) made the following Statement today:
This statement concerns an application for development consent made under the Planning Act 2008 by North Falls Offshore Wind Farm Ltd for an offshore wind farm with up to 57 wind turbines and up to two offshore substation platforms and up to one offshore converter platform, located off the East Anglian coastline in the southern North Sea.
Under section 107(1) of the Planning Act 2008 (“the Act”), 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 statutory deadline for the decision on the North Falls Offshore Wind Farm proposed development is 28 January 2026.
I have decided to set a new statutory deadline of 28 April 2026. This is to allow time to request further information that was not available for consideration during the examination period and to give all interested parties the opportunity to review and comment on such information. Whilst it is not my preference to amend the deadline, I am clear that applications for consent for energy projects submitted under the Planning Act 2008 must meet the necessary standards.
The decision to set the new deadline for this application is without prejudice to the decision on whether to grant or refuse development consent.
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This statement has also been made in the House of Commons