Sizewell C consultations

Consulting to secure Britain's low-carbon future

In 2020, we submitted the application for a Development Consent Order (DCO) to build Sizewell C.

The submission followed many years of engagement and thousands of meetings with stakeholders and local communities whose contributions helped shape our proposals. We will continue to work with the public, local authorities and other organisations to make sure Sizewell C brings as much benefit to the East of England as possible.

Examination of the DCO application concluded on 14 October 2021 and the DCO was granted in July 2022. Read more in our press release.

Consultation stages

  • Stage 1

    At Stage 1 we consulted on our initial proposals and options for the construction of Sizewell C and associated developments, including an accommodation campus, transport by rail and sea, park and ride, and road improvements.

    Overall 1,298 responses were received at Stage 1 Consultation, which ran from November 2012 to February 2013. The consultation included:

    • Direct engagement with over 4,000 local people;
    • Exhibitions, drop-in sessions and meetings with residents;
    • Presentations to parish and district councils;
    • Meetings with the New Anglia Local Enterprise Partnership, business organisations and chambers of commerce; and
    • Working with groups representing people with disabilities, older people, minority ethnic groups and young people.

    Feedback from this first stage of consultation, along with technical workshops and information from further studies, modelling and assessments will help shape the plans published at Stage 2 Consultation.

    Documents

  • Stage 2

    Stage 2 Consultation on the proposals for a new nuclear power station at Sizewell began on 23 November 2016 and ran until 3 February 2017.

    Our latest proposals have been informed by feedback from Stage 1 Consultation, ongoing engagement, further technical work and environmental studies.

    Throughout November and December we hosted public exhibitions in a number of locations in East Suffolk, along with a number of presentations to schools, community groups and parish councils.

    Stage 2 Consultation ended on Friday 3 February 2017. Thank you to those who submitted a formal response to Stage 2 Consultation on the Sizewell C proposals – we received over 1,000. All formal responses received are recorded and considered carefully by EDF Energy. The feedback will help us as we develop our plans for the next stage of public consultation on Sizewell C.

    Documents

  • Stage 3

    Stage 3 Consultation ran from 4 January to 29 March 2019. We are currently reviewing the responses received during this period and will be undertaking ongoing technical and environmental assessments.

    During the consultation we met with almost 7,000 people through 100 events and over 32,000 visits were made to our consultation website.

    We look forward to feeding back to the community about how the consultation will shape our plans going forward.

    Documents

  • Stage 4

    More than 1,000 people took part in Stage 4 of the Sizewell C public consultation which ended on 27 September 2019 after ten weeks of events, exhibitions and meetings.

    There were local meetings in churches, community centres, offices, village and town halls across the county and the Sizewell C team has worked alongside organisations such as the RSPB and Destination Management Organisation to address issues of key interest around the environment and tourism.

    Planning Aid England has also helped 14 parish councils submit their responses to proposals for Sizewell C with funding from EDF Energy to provide independent and free guidance and advice to local parish and town councils during this consultation.

    Each issue raised will now be considered and recorded. The feedback will be analysed and used to help EDF Energy develop final proposals which will be submitted to the Planning Inspectorate in 2020.

    Documents

  • DCO application

    The planning application for a Development Consent Order (DCO) to build and operate a new nuclear power station to the north of Sizewell B was submitted to the Planning Inspectorate (PINS) on 27 May 2020. The proposed new power station, Sizewell C, will be capable of generating enough safe, low-carbon electricity to power about six million homes.

    To view the DCO application document, please click here*.

    To view the newsletter, click here.

    Disclaimer. All information on this website relates to the documents submitted to the planning inspectorate at the date of submission of the DCO Application. The official Planning Inspectorate website may have changes not reflected on this website.

  • DCO changes

    After submitting our DCO application, we continued to listen to helpful feedback from stakeholders and work on design detail in preparation for building Sizewell C. This revealed potential opportunities for changing our application to improve our plans and in many cases, further reducing impacts on the local area and environment. We consulted on the changes to our application, which are summarised below:

    • Increase in the frequency of freight train movements to facilitate bulk material imports by rail.
    • Enhancement of the permanent beach landing facility and options for a new temporary beach landing facility to facilitate material imports by sea.
    • Change SSSI crossing design to a single-span bridge with embankments.
    • Surface water removed early in the construction process to be discharged to the foreshore via a temporary outfall.
    • Change to the sea defence to make the scheme more efficient and resilient to climate change.
    • Greater flexibility as to where certain Sizewell B facilities are relocated to, potentially avoiding the need for car parking on Pillbox Field.
    • Change to certain parameter heights and activities on the main development site to facilitate the construction process.
    • Change to the location of the Water Resource Storage Area and the addition of flood mitigation measures to lower flood risk.
    • Revisions to tree retention on the main development site.
    • A new bridleway link between Aldhurst Farm and Kenton Hills.
    • Extension of the Order Limits to provide for fen meadow habitat at Pakenham as further mitigation for fen meadow loss.
    • Extension and reduction of the Order Limits for works on the main development site and related sites (fen meadow mitigation sites and marsh harrier improvement sites).
    • Extension of landscaped bund and other minor changes at the Southern park and ride site, including a minor reduction of the Order Limits.
    • Minor reductions to the Order Limits at the Northern park and ride site.
    • Extension of the Order Limits for works on the Two Village Bypass, change to the public right of way around Walk Barn Farm and additional habitat mitigation proposals.
    • Extension to and reduction of the Order Limits for works on the Sizewell Link Road.
    • Minor reductions to the Order Limits for Yoxford Roundabout, the A12/B1119 junction at Saxmundham and the A1094/B1069 south of Knodishall.

    Do read the Consultation Document (97.2 MB) for full details of the changes.

    The deadline for responses to this was Friday 18 December 2020 and the changes were accepted on 21 April 2021.

  • Minor changes consultation

    11 June to Midday 12 July 2021

    We continue to listen to feedback from local communities and stakeholders. This ongoing engagement, along with detailed design work, resulted in some small proposed changes to our planning application.

    We sought feedback on these proposed changes, which were particularly relevant to communities near to the proposed Sizewell link road, the two-village bypass, and in the Leiston-Sizewell area.

    The numbering of the changes started at Proposed Change 16 to reflect the format of the Consultation Document and followed on from the 15 changes to the application that were accepted for examination by the Planning Inspectorate on 21 April 2021.

    The deadline for responses to this consultation was Midday Monday 12 July 2021.

  • Construction water supply strategy

    3 to 27 August 2021

    We continue to listen to feedback from local communities and stakeholders. This ongoing engagement, along with further design work in collaboration with Northumbrian Water Limited, has resulted in a proposed change to our construction Water Supply Strategy. We are now seeking feedback on this proposed change.

    Described as Proposed Change 19, the numbering reflects the format of the Consultation Document and follows on from previous changes. These include 15 changes to the application that were accepted for examination by the Planning Inspectorate on 21 April 2021 and three further changes submitted on 23 July 2021.

    The Consultation Document can also be viewed by appointment at the Sizewell C information office or Leiston Town Council. You can request a hard copy of the Consultation Document and response form by emailing info@sizewellc.co.uk or calling 0800 197 6102.

    The deadline for responses to this consultation was 23:59 on Friday 27 August 2021.