Suffolk Energy Action Solutions (SEAS) has been granted permission for a hearing in the Court of Appeal for its judicial review into planning permission for two ScottishPower Renewables wind farms off the east coast of England.
In July the High Court rejected SEAS’s argument that agreements between the developer and landowners covering onshore elements for the 600MW East Anglia 1 North and 900MW EA2 projects restricted the amount of information supplied to environmental impact assessments.
It also claimed heads of terms agreements had prevented or discouraged stakeholders from airing concerns or raising objections, arguing that then BEIS Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng should have interrogated the situation before allowing Development Consent Orders for the farms in March 2022.
High Court judge Justice Holgate ruled in July that there was no merit in the allegation that the then Secretary of State “had failed to take into account the relevance of the allegations by SEAS to the planning merits of the scheme (i.e., whether development consent should be granted)”.
However, Lord Justice Singh has agreed the case should now go to a full appeal.
In his Order he states: “It seems to me that the central issue in this case raises important points of general principle and should be considered by this Court and so there is a ‘compelling’ reason to permit an appeal to proceed.”
SEAS said it believes that the Court of Appeal is the best place for it to argue points of law that have significant importance, not just to East Suffolk but also for the wider public interest.
It anticipates the hearing will be either in December or early next year.
SEAS campaigning group promoting the benefits of offshore grid circuits bringing power onshore at brownfield sites closer to where energy is needed.