Very unusually for a development consent project, the Secretary of State (“SoS”) has issued a minded to agree letter for the Portishead Branch Line – MetroWest Phase 1 project (see letter dated 19 April 2022 here), a project that will involve rebuilding a disused railway line. In parallel he has extended the deadline for making … Read more

This blog was first posted on HSF Policy Matters Notes. Amid soaring prices, political obstacles and pressure for enhanced security, the Government’s new energy playbook needs more than eye-catching targets to tackle the key issues Background: A global crisis with UK quirks On 7 April, the Government published its British energy security strategy amid a … Read more

In a surprise move yesterday which has received relatively little press, Business Secretary, Kwasi Kwarteng, wrote to the British Geological Society giving them 3 months to produce a report setting out whether shale gas can be extracted safely in the UK using hydraulic fracturing (‘fracking’) (here). We’ve heard much about offshore wind, solar and nuclear … Read more

The HSF March 2022 Monthly Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects Newsletter is now available, our regular newsletter highlighting what we consider to be the most interesting and topical events from last month within the NSIP world together with our opinions on key issues that matter to our clients. The March 2022 newsletter is available here and … Read more

The HSF February 2022 Monthly Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects Newsletter is now available, our regular newsletter highlighting what we consider to be the most interesting and topical events from last month within the NSIP world together with our opinions on key issues that matter to our clients. The February 2022 newsletter is available here and … Read more

Welcome to Energy and Infrastructure Consenting Notes, our new infrastructure planning blog. Who are we? The London planning team at Herbert Smith Freehills has promoted some of the biggest and most high-profile nationally significant infrastructure project (NSIP) applications to go through the Planning Act 2008 process, from the Hinkley Point and Sizewell new nuclear power … Read more

It’s an issue a number of power stations are facing, particularly energy from waste plants. They have planning permission for a sub-50MW plant, but through technological improvements and efficiencies they find they can now potentially export more than that. It should be a good news story: no increased input (no more waste being trucked to … Read more

This was first posted on Real Estate Development Notes on 2 February 2022. Hot on the heels of our December 2021 update (see here), our January 2022 Monthly Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects Update is now available, highlighting what we consider to be the most interesting and topical events from last month within the NSIP world, together … Read more