Public Notice (England/France): Proposed application for a Development Consent Order for an electric power transmission link between England and France

AQUIND INTERCONNECTOR – SECTION 48, PLANNING ACT 2008

Notice is hereby given that AQUIND Limited of OGN House, Hadrian Way, Wallsend, NE28 6HL (hereafter referred to as “AQUIND”) intends to apply to the Secretary of State under section 37 of the Planning Act 2008 (the “Act”) for a Development Consent Order (“DCO”) to authorise the construction and operation of a new High Voltage Direct Current (“HVDC”) marine and underground electric power transmission link between the south coast of England and Normandy in France, with the capacity to transmit up to 2,000 MW of electricity between France and Great Britain (“AQUIND Interconnector”).
AQUIND is seeking a DCO to, amongst other things, licence and authorise those elements of the AQUIND Interconnector that are located within the UK, which include:

UK onshore elements:

works at the existing National Grid Lovedean substation near Lovedean in Hampshire where AQUIND Interconnector will connect to the existing Great Britain electricity grid;
high voltage alternating current (“HVAC”) underground cables, connecting the Lovedean substation to a new converter station;
the construction of a converter station located to the west of Lovedean village, comprising a mix of buildings and outdoor electrical equipment;
underground high voltage direct current (“HVDC”) cables together with a fibre optic cable from the converter station near Lovedean to the proposed landfall site in Eastney (near Portsmouth), approximately 20 kilometres in length; and

UK offshore elements:

four submarine cables approximately 100 kilometres in length between England and the border of the Exclusive Economic Zone with France, which can be bundled in pairs, and small diameter fibre optic cables for data transmission.

(hereafter referred to as the “Proposed Development”).

The Proposed Development is not of a type that is detailed within either Schedule 1 or Schedule 2 to the Town and Country Planning (Environmental Impact Assessment) Regulations 2017. However, due to the environmental and human sensitivities within and surrounding the Proposed Development, AQUIND has decided to voluntarily undertake an Environmental Impact Assessment (“EIA”).
A Preliminary Environmental Information Report (“PEIR”) has been produced based on information compiled to date on the likely environmental impacts of the Proposed Development and is being consulted as part of the suite of consultation documents. AQUIND will submit an Environmental Statement (“ES”) and a Non-Technical Summary in support of its application for a DCO to set out the findings of the EIA in due course.
The documents, plans and maps showing the nature and location of the Proposed Development, including the PEIR (with a non-technical summary) (“Consultation Documents”) are available to view free of charge during the consultation, which will run from Wednesday 27 February 2019 until midnight on Monday 29 April 2019 at the locations and times set out below:

Venue	Opening Times
Beddow Library, Milton Road, Milton, Portsmouth, PO4 8PR	Mon, Tue & Fri: 09:30 – 17:00, Wed & Thu: 09:30 – 18:00, Sat: 10:00 – 15:30
Waterlooville Library, The Precinct, PO7 7DT	Mon, Tue, Wed & Sat: 9:00 – 17:00, Thu & Fri: 09:00 – 19:00
Horndean Library, 12 Fiveheads Road, Horndean, PO8 9NW	Mon & Thu: 14:00 – 17:00, Wed: 10:00 – 13:00 & 14:00 – 17:00, Friday: 14:00 – 19:00
Portsmouth City Council, Civic Offices, Guildhall Square, Portsmouth, PO1 2BG	Mon – Fri: 09:00 – 16:00
Havant Borough Council, Public Service Plaza, Civic Centre Road, Havant, PO9 2AX	Mon – Fri: 09:00 – 17:00
Winchester City Council, City Offices, Colebrook Street, Winchester, SO23 9LJ	Mon – Thu: 08:30 – 17:00, Fri: 08:30 – 16:30
Hampshire County Council, The Castle, Winchester, SO23 8UJ	Mon – Fri: 08:30 – 18:00
Central Library, Portsmouth City Council, Guildhall Square, Portsmouth, PO1 2DX	Mon & Fri: 09:30 – 17:00, Tue, Wed & Thu: 09:30 – 18:00, Sat: 10:00 – 15:30
Cosham Library, Spur Road, Cosham, Portsmouth, PO6 3EB	Mon, Tue & Thu: 09:30 – 18:00, Wed & Fri: 09:30 – 17:00 Sat: 10:00 – 15:30
Petersfield Library, 27 The Square, Petersfield, GU32 3HH	Mon, Tue, Thu & Sat: 09:00 – 17:00, Wed & Fri: 09:00 – 19:00

The Consultation Documents are also available to view at public exhibitions to be held as follows:

Date	Venue	Time
07/03/2019	Broad Oak Sports & Social Club, Airport Service Road, Portsmouth, PO3 5PB	16:00 – 20:00
08/03/2019	Eastney Community Centre, Bransbury Park, Bransbury Road, Eastney, Portsmouth, PO4 9SU	16:00 – 20:00
14/03/2019	Jubilee Hall, Crouch Lane, Horndean, Hampshire, PO8 9SU	16:00 – 20:00
16/03/2019	The Drayton Centre, 238 Havant Road, Drayton, Portsmouth, PO6 1PA	10:00 – 14:00
21/03/2019	Waterlooville Community Centre, 10 Maurepas Way, Waterlooville, Hampshire, PO7 7AY	16:00 – 20:00
22/03/2019	Acorn Community Centre, 3 The Kestrels, Wecock Farm, Waterlooville, Hampshire, PO8 9UX	16:00 – 20:00
23/03/2019	Deverall Hall, 84 London Road, Purbrook, Waterlooville, PO7 5JU	10:00 – 14:00
30/03/2019	Milton Village Community Hall, 182 Milton Road, Southsea, Hampshire, PO4 8PR	11:30 – 15:30
05/04/2019	Denmead War Memorial Hall, Hambledon Road, Denmead PO7 6PW	16:00 – 20:00

Copies of the Consultation Documents are also available to view and download on the consultation website at www.aquindconsultation.co.uk and may be requested from the e-mail or postal addresses below or by phone on 01962 893869. Where copies of the Consultation Documents are requested, they can be provided free of charge on a USB Memory Stick. Hard copies of the consultation documents can be provided on request (subject to printing and delivery costs).
Responses or other representations in respect of the Proposed Development should be sent in writing to AQUIND by e-mail to aquindconsultation@becg.com or via freepost to ‘AQUIND CONSULTATION’.
All responses must (i) be received by AQUIND on no later than midnight on Monday 29 April 2019, (ii) be made in writing (e-mail or letter format), (iii) state the grounds of the response or representation, (iv) indicate who is making the response or representation, and (v) give an address to which correspondence relating to the response or representation may be sent. Postal responses will be accepted up to three working days after this deadline and responses received after this date will not be taken into consideration. Please note that responses or other representations may be made public.