Significant things happening in Sussex

Laura Brook

Conservation Officer

The Trust’s Conservation Officers have had a high number of consultations hitting their desk since September, but what has been unique about this year is the submission of two Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects (NSIPs) in Sussex. These projects are as big as they sound and are major developments of such a scale that permission must be given at the national level, by the responsible Government minister.

We haven’t seen an NSIP in Sussex for several years but now we have two at once: the Rampion 2 Wind Farm, and the expansion of Gatwick Airport with an additional runway. Despite both NSIPs running on very similar timelines, we have taken the decision to comment on both applications so that we can keep putting forward a voice for the natural environment.

We have already engaged with public consultations for both Rampion 2 and the Gatwick Airport expansion in the run-up to their respective NSIP applications being submitted. These applications are known as Development Consent Orders (DCOs) and the DCO process is long and complex. Both DCOs are likely to be running until mid-2024. So far, we have been working through the extensive documentation (thousands of pages) that supports these applications so that we can assess the wildlife impacts and summarise our headline concerns. We have now submitted these concerns (known as a Relevant Representation) to the Planning Inspectorate and registered as an Interested Party so that we can keep commenting on the applications as they progress through 'examination' by a Planning Inspector. The registration period for Rampion 2 has now closed but there’s still time to register to comment on the Gatwick DCO (until 19 November) if you'd like to make your own views heard.

We’ll be providing further updates as the two DCO processes continue:

• Rampion 2 
• Gatwick Airport expansion