UK company Barton Willmore has been hired to support the planning application for RWE and SSE’s North Falls offshore wind farm, which will be an extension to the existing Greater Gabbard development.
Barton Willmore’s infrastructure and energy team will apply a planning perspective and mindset to the process.
This will ensure that all aspects of the technical assessment and consultation requirements can be identified, drawn together and addressed, the company said.
“The outcome from this mindset shift, compared to the engineering-led approaches seen on previous projects, will be to achieve a balanced resolution of all of the issues and factors, ultimately leading to a consent which is both flexible and deliverable,” it said.
Barton Willmore will have oversight of, and responsibility for, the end-to-end delivery of the development consent order (DCO).
The three-year work will see Barton Willmore and the wider consultancy team work together to prepare the application, from initial site surveys and stakeholder consultation to finalising the application design and associated assessments.
It will also work closely with the project’s key consultants including those responsible for the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) and Habitats Regulations Assessment (HRA), as well as other advisors to ensure planning is at the centre of the overall consenting process.
Barton Willmore infrastructure and energy director Ben Lewis (pictured) said: “This is a fantastic win for us and shows the potential of our consultancy model to support DCO developers on wind farm and other Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects.
“We bring a consent-focused approach grounded in planning and EIA strategy which places the DCO at the heart of the design process.
“We’re harnessing experience and expertise from across a wide portfolio of renewable energy and linear planning projects and packaging that into something distinctive.
“The combined experience of our team will bring real benefits to the project and we’re tremendously excited by the opportunity to showcase what we can do to support the realisation of the North Falls offshore wind farm.”
North Falls consents manager Daniel Harper said: “We’re assembling a bespoke team to deliver this incredibly important project and ensure that it progresses smoothly through the planning and consenting process.
“Barton Willmore will bring a great deal of DCO experience, which will undoubtably add value to our project.
“Their skills and expertise are well-known and we’re looking forward to working with them.”