Taking part in the LTC DCO

25th May 202325th May 2023 Web Master

The DCO process is a bit different from the consultations we’ve been through, so here we update you on taking part in the LTC DCO.

Firstly, to participate in the LTC DCO you must either be an Affected Person (ie your land/property would be directly impacted), or should have registered as an Interested Party between the 9th Jan and 24th Feb 2023. The Planning Inspectorate (PINS) can sometimes, at their discretion, allow people to register after the registration deadline, if there are special circumstances. You will need to contact PINS via email or call 0303 444 5000 to discuss this, if you find yourself in this position.

Those who have successfully registered will have been issued with a Unique Reference number. You will need this number to register to attend DCO meetings and hearings, and also if you submit any written submissions.

Time table and deadlines

For each meeting/hearing there will be a deadline by which you must register and make any relevant written submissions. These will be prior to the actual meeting/hearing so it is important to check when these deadlines are to ensure you can participate.

Details for the Pre-Examination meetings, and a draft timetable for the Examination can be found in the Rule 6 letter issued by PINS.

We’ve taken all the timetable info and popped it all together in an LTC DCO Timetable that we hope makes it a bit easier to get our heads around!

Whilst we will try to keep our site up to date, please do keep an eye on official PINS updates for any changes that may occur.

How to take part

We have done our best to share info on how to take part here. PINS have also published a handy FAQ section, but if after reading the FAQ you still have any questions please contact the PINS LTC team via email or call 0303 444 5000.

Types of meetings/hearings

Programming Meeting is aimed predominantly at host Local Authorities to discuss procedural issues of the draft DCO examination timetable

Preliminary Meetings are for everyone to discuss procedural issues of the draft DCO examination timetable. The merits of the LTC project will not be discussed at these meetings.

Open Floor Hearings (OFH) – Hearings where everyone can request to talk on the merits of the LTC project

Issue Specific Hearings (ISH) – Hearings where everyone can request to speak on specific aspects of the LTC project

Compulsory Acquisition Hearings (CAH) – Hearings where Affected Parties (those who’s land/property would be directly impacted can request Compulsory Acquisition Hearings and speak at them in regard to the impacts to their land/property.

Watching meetings/hearings
You do not have to register if you simply wish to watch the meetings, only if you wish to request to speak at the meeting or submit a written submission for consideration.

The meetings will be broadcast live online, with a recording published soon after the meeting ends. We understand that the link to watch live for each online hearing will be https://cvslivestream.co.uk/ltc/ but please check the PINS LTC webpage shortly before the meetings begin, especially if you are experiencing any issues with the live webcast link.

Speak at or attend meetings/hearing
If you want to do anything other than simply watch online you need to register by the associated deadline

Programming Meeting on 16th May – register by Procedural Deadline A – 23:45 on 5th May 2023
Preliminary Meeting 1 on 6th June – register by Procedural Deadline B – 23:45 on 26th May 2023
Preliminary Meeting 2 on 20th June- register by Procedural Deadline C – 23:45 on 13th June 2023
Any of the Examination Hearings on various dates from June 20th – 6th July – register by Procedural Deadline C 23:45 on 13th June 2023
Any of the Examination Hearings on various dates from July 7th – 20th December -register by Procedural Deadline D 23@45 on 18h July 2023

You can find out more about taking part in online meetings/hearings here.

Making a written submission
If you wish to make a written submission you can do so via the ‘Make a submission ‘ page‘.

You will need to enter your unique reference number that was issued to you when you registered as an Interested Party.

Submissions must not include hyperlinks to documents/evidence hosted on a third party website eg technical reports, media articles etc.

Any submissions that exceed 1500 words should also be accompanied by a summary; this summary should not exceed 10% of the original text.

Electronic attachments should be clearly labelled with the subject title and not exceed 50MB.

More info can be found in Annex H in the Rule 6 letter.

When and where are the meetings/hearings

Before the Examination begins there will some planning meetings:

Pre-Examination(2023)

Tues 16 May – Programming Meeting – deadline to register 5th May – online
Tues 6 June – Preliminary Meeting 1 – deadline to register 26th May – Stratford/online
Tues 20 June – Preliminary Meeting 2 – deadline to register 13th June – online

These are purely to discuss any issues and concerns about the draft Examination timetable to ensure everything runs are smoothly as it can, since the Examination period is strictly 6 months. With a project a huge as the proposed LTC this means there will be a lot of info to examine, so planning will be very important. The merits of the actual project will not be discussed at these meetings.

Once the Preliminary Meetings have officially been closed the 6 month Examination period will begin:

Examination

Please note the following dates are taken from the draft Examination timetable in the Rule 6 letter and are subject to possible change. The Examination Timetable will officially be issued as soon as possible after Preliminary Meeting 2.

Registration for hearings between 20 June and 6 July need to be in by Deadline C (13 June)
Tues 20th June – 6pm – Open Floor Hearing 1 (OFH1) – online

Weds 21st June – 10am – Issue Specific Hearing 1 (ISH1) – online
Topic: Project Definition

Thurs 22nd June – 10am – Issue Specific Hearing 2 (ISH2) – online
Topic: Draft DCO

Fri 23rd June – 10am – Continuation Hearings (if required)- online
Topic: as required depending on whether extra time is needed for either Issue Specific Hearings 1 or 2

Weds 28th June – 10am – Open Floor Hearing 2 (OFH2) – Orsett/online

Thurs 29th June – 10am – Open Floor Hearing 2 (OFH2) (Continuation if required) – Orsett/online

Weds 5th July – 10am – Open Floor Hearing 3 (OFH3) – Dartford/online

Thurs 6th July – 10am – Open Floor Hearing 3 (OFH3) (Continuation if required) – Dartford/online

Registration for hearings after 6 July need to be in by Deadline D (18 July)

Tues 18th July (23:59) – Deadline 1 (D1)

Tues 18th July – Procedural Deadline D (PDD)

Thurs 3rd August (23:59) – Deadline 2 (D2)

Tues 15th August – Publication of ExA’s First Written Questions

Thurs 24th August (23:59) – Deadline 3 (D3)

4th-11th August – Dates reserved for:

Open Floor Hearings (OFH) (if required)
Issue Specific Hearings (ISH) (if required)
Compulsory Acquisition Hearings (CAH) (if required)
Accompanied Site Inspection (ASI) (if required)

Tues 19th September (23:59) – Deadline 4 (D4)

Tues 3rd October (23:59) – Deadline 5 (D5)

Tues 10th October – Publication of ExAs further written questions (if required)

16th – 24th October – Dates reserved for:

Open Floor Hearings (OFH) (if required)
Issue Specific Hearings (ISH) (if required)
Compulsory Acquisition Hearings (CAH) (if required)

Tues 31st October (23:59) – Deadline 6 (D6)

Tues 14th Nov – Publication by the ExA of:

Report on the Implications for European Sites (RIES) and any associated questions (if required)
ExA’s commentary on, or schedule of changes to, the dDCO (if required)
Examining Authority’s further Written Questions (ExQ) (if required)

Fri 17th November (23:59) – Deadline 7 (D7)

20th – 28th November – Dates reserved for: