NSIP Discharge of Requirements Frequently Asked Questions

Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects (NSIPs) are different because the overarching consent is determined by the relevant Secretary of State. Ordinary planning applications are typically determined by the relevant District Council, as the local planning authority.

Depending on the NSIP, Suffolk County Council (SCC) and/ or the relevant District Council have responsibility for post-consent approvals, which set out further technical information relating to implementation of the project. This is referred to as the Discharge of Requirements and is part of the Development Consent Order (DCO).

A Development Consent Order is a bespoke piece of secondary legislation which is promoted by the developer for a project and, when consent is granted, its text becomes law. Because each DCO is drafted by a different organisation they can differ in how discharges are handled.

Suffolk County Council (SCC) is the Local Highway Authority (LHA) which also includes Public Rights of Way (PROW), holds responsibility for the Archaeological Service and is the Lead Local Flood Authority (LLFA). SCC is also responsible for Emergency Planning, as the lead for the Joint Emergency Planning Unit (JEPU).

The relevant district council has responsibility for a lot of the construction details, as part of the Code of Construction Practice, including but not limited to Noise Management, Ecology, Landscape and Lighting. The district council is also the Enforcing Authority, responsible for monitoring and ensuring compliance with planning Requirements or Conditions.

The lead local authority for discharging requirements is usually broadly based according to these responsibilities, although there are variations. For example, in relation to drainage matters, in the Sizewell C Development Consent Order (DCO), East Suffolk Council (ESC) is defined as the discharging authority for drainage matters, whereas for East Anglia One North and East Anglia Two, it is SCC as the LLFA.

For East Anglia Three, the responsibilities for Discharge of Requirements lie with the district councils (East Suffolk Council and Mid Suffolk District Council), however, SCC is engaging with the project, in our role as the LLFA and LHA.

Under the Development Consent Order (DCO) there is no legal obligation for local councils to be consulted, nor any individual members of the public, householders, or local communities, nor to publicise notices. The DCO sets out who the compulsory statutory consultees are for each Requirement, such as The Environment Agency, Natural England, Historic England etc.

Suffolk County Council (SCC) as the Discharging Authority will always consult with planning officers at the relevant district council.

The Discharging Authority will publish the application online, on their respective websites. Please note that the documents that are submitted as part of a Discharge of Requirement are technical documents that are typically aimed at the relevant technical experts, rather than the general public.

SCC will notify relevant town and parish councils of the Discharge of Requirements, on a discretionary basis, if they are within the geography of the proposed works.

If any town and parish councils or members of the public choose to provide comments, they are welcome to do so, but there is no expectation for local councils to submit comments. There is also no formal duty on the part of the discharging authority to have regard to comments from any person or organisation which is not a named consultee, although it may, at its discretion, have regard for such comments. It is not necessary for any public comments to be received for the Planning Officer to discharge the Requirement document that has been submitted to them.

Three weeks (i.e., 21 calendar days) is the standard consultation timeframe for planning matters. Hence, this is also considered as reasonable for the invitation for comments about a Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project (NSIP) Discharge of Requirement submissions.

This period for comments cannot be extended due to the specific timeframes set within the Development Consent Order (DCO) for the Discharging Authority to make a decision on the Discharge of Requirements. For example:

Schedule 24, part 1 (1) of the Sizewell C (SZC) DCO states that “the discharging authority must give notice to the undertaker of its decision on the application before the end of the decision period.”

Therefore, to not be in breach of the DCO (which is a statutory instrument), the Discharging Authority must provide a decision within the specified timeframe.

There are some DCOs that might have a “deeming clause” which states that if the Discharging Authority has not made a decision within the specified timeframe, the submitted document is automatically deemed as approved.

If you do wish to provide any comments on the Discharge of Requirement, please do so within three weeks from publication, and ensure you are contacting the correct discharging authority.

Please ensure that any comments submitted to the Discharging Authority are in relation to the document that has been submitted for Discharge under the relevant Requirement. This is not an opportunity to submit general objections to the overarching project.

Unlike a traditional planning application, for Discharge of Requirements (DoR), no site notices are posted, as there is no formal duty for members of the public to be consulted in the DoR part of the National Significant Infrastructure Project (NSIP) process.

If any parish councils or members of the public choose to provide comment, they are welcome to do so, but there is no obligation on them to do this. Likewise, it is not necessary for any public comments to be received, in order for the Planning Officer to Discharge the Requirement document that has been submitted to them.

More information about the consented NSIP projects can be found on the Planning Inspectorate’s website:

• Sizewell C
• Scottish Power Renewables East Anglia One North
• Scottish Power Renewables East Anglia Two
• Scottish Power Renewables East Anglia Three

Project Works Trackers:

• SZC: 
• EA1N / EA2
• EA3

For any further queries, please contact:

Suffolk County Council: Email - NSIPS@suffolk.gov.uk or sizewellc@suffolk.gov.uk

East Suffolk Council: Email - energyprojects@eastsuffolk.gov.uk

Babergh Mid Suffolk District Council

West Suffolk Council: Email -  planning.technical@westsuffolk.gov.uk

Sunnica Energy Farm

Sizewell C

Scottish power renewables