ABP has now submitted a scoping report to the Secretary of State via the Planning Inspectorate in support of a request for a Scoping Opinion under the EIA Regulations. The purpose of the document, which can be downloaded via this link, is to identify those areas/topics which ABP and its consultant team believe should be formally assessed as part of the pre-application process – for example, the likely impact of dredging, construction noise, traffic flows etc. The Planning Inspectorate will undertake a formal consultation with various bodies and once their views have been collated, the Inspectorate will publish its Scoping Opinion which will identify those areas/topics which will have to be assessed as part of the application process whilst also identifying any topics for which it is considered assessment will not be necessary.
ABP welcomes any feedback on this proposal at any stage in the application process and a formal statutory consultation is anticipated to start in January 2022.