This page was updated in January 2021
Where do we go from here?
Here we explain the workings of Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects (NSIPs) which, as the title suggests, covers major infrastructure projects such as motorways (but not local roads), power stations, ports, airports etc. that usually spread across several Local Authority areas but, importantly, have national significance.
It is the Government, ultimately, that drives forwards NSIPs proposals, and is also responsible for raising funds for them. A usual exception to NSIPs schemes is housing, regarded as the responsibility of Local Authorities. There is therefore a tension between schemes, such as the Ox-Cam expressway, that involve both infrastructure (e.g. the expressway) and housing, and it is not at all clear how this tension can be resolved (for example, Local Authorities may want to site housing far away from a preferred motorway route). Some have gone so far as to suggest making major housing schemes (such as new towns or cities) NSIPs, thus taking much or all control away from Local Authorities (and, by implication, local communities). This has already been suggested for the four new towns West of Cambridge, announced in the March 2020 budget, and is the option favoured by developers who find negotiating directly with Government far more convenient than negotiating with a whole series of Local Authorities.
Once plans for a major infrastructure project have been developed they are submitted to the Planning Inspectorate. This is a legal requirement, covered by the Planning Act 2008, and offers very little opportunity for any further public influence. Once in this NSIPs process the outcome – whether an expressway or a nuclear power station – is an almost certainty.
The days of Public Inquiries for large scale infrastructure projects, such as the M40 Extension in the 1980’s, are gone. They took too long, cost too much money and made it difficult or the government to get any infrastructure plans approved. Now, large infrastructure projects go through the Nationally Significant Infrastructure Process (NSIPs).
The NSIPs process is:
Timebound: takes no more than 14 months from start to finish (Development Consent Order application, to recommendations being made to the relevant Secretary of State)
More restricted: to be involved you have to register as an “interested party” in a specific time period. Most input to the NSIPs process is given in writing. There may not be any opportunity to attend or speak at a meeting.
Not designed to challenge the idea of the project: we should be able to challenge whether Highways England has done things in the right way, its process, but not the idea of having an Ox-Cam Expressway
The Planning Inspectorate explains the new process in this short video. If that we want any influence over any major infrastructure project we must be involved in all project steps before it gets to the NSIPs process. There is little to no opportunity for things to change after that! Although there is the possibility of a Judicial Review of the Planning Inspector’s decision, this could only challenge the process (i.e. did the developers meet all legal requirement?) and not the principle of the development involved (i.e. the outcome).
The now paused Ox-Cam Arc expressway is an NSIP. Should this or any other part of Ox-Cam Arc developments falling under NSIP rules progress further we will let everyone know when and how to register as an “interested party”. Sign up to News and Updates at the bottom of this page stay in the loop.