PPS News & Blog

Archive for the ‘National Politics’ Category

NSIP planning – where does the politics come in?

Friday, April 12th, 2013

In the wake of DECC Minister Greg Barker’s decision to reject Halite Energy’s application for an underground gas storage facility in Lancashire, PPS asks what is the role of politics in the Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project (NSIP) decision making process?
‘Democratic accountability’
Set up in 2009, the Infrastructure Planning Commission (IPC) was hailed as a fast-track regime [...]

Budget 2013: Doom, gloom and the ‘i’ word

Wednesday, March 20th, 2013

Hot on the heels of yesterday’s planning permission for Hinkley Point C in Somerset, the i word (infrastructure) was in the spotlight once again as the Chancellor George Osborne announced his Budget for the coming financial year.
As widely mooted in the national press in recent days, the Chancellor committed to boost capital investment spending by [...]

Budget measures to back shale gas development

Wednesday, March 20th, 2013

The Chancellor’s Budget Red Book sets out welcome measures to promote the exploration of shale gas, building on what George Osborne announced in his autumn statement.
In his budget statement, Osborne told the House of Commons “Shale gas is part of the future.  And we will make it happen.”
The following is the relevant extract from the [...]

Planning Success for Hinkley Point C

Tuesday, March 19th, 2013

After much anticipation and speculation, today the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, Ed Davey, granted a development consent order (DCO) for a new nuclear power station at Hinkley Point in Somerset.
EDF Energy’s Hinkley Point C proposals for a 3,260 MW power station is the largest Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project (NSIP) to have [...]