Planning Inspectorate
The government has published guidance about national infrastructure planning which applicants, members of the public and other parties should read. See the?National Infrastructure Planning Guidance Portal.?The guidance should be read alongside the?Planning Act 2008?(the Planning Act).
This advice is non-statutory. However, the Planning Inspectorates advice about running the infrastructure planning regime and matters of process is drawn from good practice and applicants and others should follow our recommendations. It is intended to complement the legislation, regulations and guidance issued by government and is produced under section 51 of the Planning Act.
This advice should be read together with Planning Inspectorates Advice on the Environmental Impact Assessment Process, Commitments Register and government guidance on the Planning Act process.
Advice Context
This advice has been prepared having regard to matters raised on previous NSIP applications and has been informed by the policy tests set out within the relevant National Policy Statements EN-1, EN-3 and EN-5 2024, the requirements of the Infrastructure Planning (Environmental Impact Assessment) Regulations 2017, and the requirements of the Infrastructure Planning (Applications: Prescribed Forms and Procedure) Regulations 2009.
Please note that this advice does not relate to the Habitats Regulations Assessment process. Please see the Planning Inspectorates Advice on the Habitats Regulations Assessment process.
This advice addresses the scoping stage for solar development in the Planning Act 2008 NSIP process and will be expanded in future to cover later stages of the Planning Act 2008 process.
The Inspectorate considers that this advice, if followed, will help enable smoother, more efficient NSIP examinations, with fewer issues needing to be addressed during the examination, and will assist Examining Authorities, applicants and stakeholders to better concentrate their resources.
This advice complements the Planning Inspectorates tiered pre-application service, and is of particular benefit to projects opting for the basic level of service from the Planning Inspectorate, where applicants have opted for limited project specific advice.
An NSIP is likely to possess unique issues and present opportunities that are best identified using an evidence-based approach. Each Development Consent Order (DCO) application will be considered according to its own merits. For this reason, this advice is:
- not overly prescriptive
- not entirely comprehensive in terms of the topics and matters identified to be addressed within an application
- does not override the position reached in an applicable Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) scoping opinion, or that of an Examining Authority during the examination of an application
However, this advice is intended to support greater proportionality in the assessment process and should be viewed as informing the starting point for the development of DCO applications, and particularly the EIA and Environmental Statement.
Technical Advice for Scoping Solar NSIP Development
By applying a comprehensive, evidence-based approach to EIA scoping, certain aspects or matters can be scoped out of the EIA, ensuring that the emphasis of the Environmental Statement is on the likely main or significant environmental effects anticipated. This provides for more focussed resource allocation in pre-application for all parties, and increased clarity to all involved in the process.
The included in this advice, provides examples of supporting information that can assist the Planning Inspectorate when considering whether to agree to scope aspects (as defined within the EIA regulations and sometimes referred to as environmental factors or topics) and / or matters (a sub-division of an aspect, such as a specific impact or receptor type) out of the EIA for solar NSIP developments.
The Solar Scoping Table focuses on some select examples of aspects / matters where significant effects are unlikely to occur for a typical solar development or where they can be controlled through the implementation of standard mitigation measures such that a significant effect on the environment is not likely to occur. It sets out the type of evidence, assumptions and commitments that should be provided at the scoping stage to demonstrate that significant effects are not likely.
The information provided in the Solar Scoping Table comprises examples only. It does not take into account specific information in relation to the project and its receiving environment, and therefore does not guarantee that the Planning Inspectorate will be able to agree to scope certain matters out of the assessment in all cases. Such decisions will be based on the specifics of each project, the receiving environment, the validity and robustness of the supporting information provided, and the responses of advice from consultees.
The list of aspects / matters outlined in the Solar Scoping Table is not intended as an exhaustive list, and it may also be possible to scope other aspects / matters out of the EIA where there is sufficient evidence to conclude that a significant effect is unlikely to occur.
The decision by the Planning Inspectorate on whether to agree to scope an aspect or matter out of the EIA is subject to the provision of appropriate supporting information accompanying a scoping request to give confidence that there is little or no likelihood of a significant effect.
In general terms, the type of information that may be provided in support of a request to scope aspects / matters out of the EIA may include information on the environmental baseline, the proposed development, and potential impact pathways that could arise because of the proposed development.
This information may include certain assumptions that form the basis for conclusions within the scoping report, for example assumptions around construction techniques or vehicle movements. All assumptions that underpin the case to scope aspects / matters out of the EIA should be clearly set out in the scoping request in a tabular format that can then be tracked throughout the process.
Subsequent iterations of this table should be produced within the Preliminary Environmental Information Report (PEIR) and the Environmental Statement submitted alongside the DCO application.
The case for scoping certain aspects / matters out of the EIA may also be supported by the provision of information to describe commitments that the applicant is confident will form part of the proposed application at submission, such as the application of industry standards or to implement tried and tested mitigation measures.
Where the case to scope aspects / matters out of the EIA is based on a commitment to providing mitigation, the scoping request should include adequate information on the proposed measures to demonstrate that they are capable of being secured and implemented, and that there is a high level of confidence in the success / effectiveness of those measures. This could include evidence of previous success and / or agreement from relevant consultation bodies.
Commitments should be recorded in a first iteration of a Commitments Register to be submitted as part of the scoping request, and confirmed in an updated version of the Commitments Register to be submitted as part of the DCO application.
Where commitments are made to implement certain mitigation measures, the scoping request and Commitments Register should identify which outline control document these will be included within, and how they will be secured. Please see the Planning Inspectorates advice on the Commitments Register for a template and further information on its intended use within the NSIP planning process.
Assumptions and commitments should be verified before submission and confirmed in the application documents. If subsequently the assumptions or commitments set out in the scoping request change and could result in different environmental effects, this would not adhere to the agreed scope and may undermine any agreement to scope a matter or aspect out.
Early engagement with the relevant consultation bodies in advance of a scoping request can help to enable agreeme