Member

Amendments 17 and 23 seek to prevent the power being used to redirect an NSIP project to be consented via a special development order. Amendment 23 goes further. It would also require all redirected onshore energy generation NSIP projects to be consented through the Electricity Act 1989. Additional steps are outlined in cases where a Secretary of State is the applicant for an NSIP project being redirected. We recognise that the noble Baroness’s concerns stem from an interest in protecting a local and national democratic say in the consent of important projects. However, similarly to other types of consents, development orders are an established part of the planning system in England. They are made by statutory instrument and are laid before Parliament under the negative procedure. Development orders have in the past been used to grant permission for certain classes of development—for example, for the purpose of national defence.