Abstract
Forewind Limited (the Applicant) has applied to the Secretary of State for a development consent order (DCO) under section 37 of the Planning Act 2008 (as amended) (PA 2008) for the proposed Dogger Bank Teesside A & B offshore wind farm (the application). The Secretary of State has appointed an Examining Authority (ExA) to conduct an examination of the application, to report its findings and conclusions, and to make a recommendation to the Secretary of State as to the decision to be made on the application.
The relevant Secretary of State is the competent authority for the purposes of the Habitats Directive and the Habitats Regulations and the Offshore Marine Regulations for applications submitted under the PA 2008 regime. The findings and conclusions on nature conservation issues reported by the ExA will assist the Secretary of State in performing their duties under the Habitats Regulations and the Offshore Marine Regulations.
This Report on the Implications for European Sites (RIES) compiles, documents and signposts information provided within the DCO application, and the information submitted throughout the examination by both the Applicant and other Interested Parties up to and including Deadline VII (11 December 2014) of the examination, in relation to potential effects of the application on European Sites. The RIES makes reference to examination documents in the Planning Inspectorate’s document library. Each document is identified by a unique reference number in the document library. This RIES should be read in conjunction with these documents.
This RIES is issued to ensure that the Interested Parties including the statutory nature conservation bodies: Natural England (NE), Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC), the Marine Management Organisation (MMO), Natural Resources Wales (NRW) and Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) are consulted formally on Habitats Regulations Assessment matters. This process may be relied on by the Secretary of State for the purposes of Regulation 61(3) of the Habitats Regulations and Regulation 25 of the Offshore Marine Regulations and so the RIES is not revised following consultation. The consultation responses received on this RIES will be considered by the ExA in making their recommendation to the Secretary of State and made available to the Secretary of State along with this RIES.