SALC, Charlotte Haines
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If a Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project (NSIP) is proposed in or near your community, the Examination can seem daunting.
There may be thousands of pages of documents, unfamiliar terminology and deadlines that don't fit neatly around monthly – or less frequent – council meetings.
What's more, recent changes to the NSIP process, which came into force on 24 July 2026, have removed the previous statutory requirement for applicants to carry out pre-application consultation. Early engagement is still encouraged, but any meaningful consultation is no longer guaranteed as in the previous process. This makes it particularly important for parish and town councils to be proactive and make good use of the formal opportunities available once an application has been submitted.
For councils supported by a part-time clerk and volunteer councillors, the key is to focus your limited time where it can make the biggest difference. You don't need to become a planning expert or respond to everything. But you do need to understand the process, register at the right time and clearly explain the local issues that matter.
What is the Examination?
Once an application for a Development Consent Order (DCO) has been submitted and accepted by the Planning Inspectorate, it enters pre-examination. This is when people and organisations can register to have their say, an Examining Authority* is appointed, and preparations are made for the formal Examination.
The Examination
is mainly a written process, although hearings and site inspections may also
take place. The Examining Authority gathers and tests evidence before making a
recommendation to the relevant Secretary of State. The standard Examination
period is up to six months.
For a parish or town council, this doesn't mean attending every hearing or producing lengthy technical reports. Your time is better spent identifying the issues where you have valuable local knowledge and making sure they are clearly put before the Examining Authority.
Time-saving tip: nominate one person - perhaps the clerk or a lead councillor - to monitor the project page on the Planning Inspectorate's website, manage correspondence and flag only the deadlines and documents requiring the council's attention.
* The Planning Inspector or panel of Inspectors responsible for examining an NSIP application and making a recommendation to the Secretary of State.
Before Examination: register and have your say
The Planning Inspectorate specifically encourages parish and town councils to register during pre-examination and provide full details of the issues they want considered.
Once registration opens, go to the project page and complete the ‘Register to have your say’ form. Your Relevant Representation is submitted as part of this form.
A Relevant Representation is your council's detailed comments on the application. It should explain the issues you want the Examining Authority to consider rather than simply stating that you support or oppose the scheme.
Download a template here.
Registration also ensures your council is plugged into the Examination process. Interested Parties can make further written submissions, respond to questions, request to speak at relevant hearings and ask to attend accompanied site inspections.
Your Relevant Representation is particularly important because the Examining Authority considers Relevant Representations when preparing its Initial Assessment of Principal Issues, which is its early assessment of the main issues likely to require examination. Your response could include anything from traffic, noise and flooding to public rights of way, landscape and community impacts.
Make your Relevant Representation count
A DCO application can contain an enormous amount of information. Trying to review every document is rarely realistic for a small council and it just isn't necessary.
Instead, concentrate on what you know that the Examining Authority may not. This might include local roads and junctions, public rights of way, community facilities, flooding, noise, landscape, local businesses or the effects of construction on everyday life.
Your evidence doesn't necessarily need to be technical.
Maps, photographs, council records and clear examples of recurring local problems can all help explain what happens on the ground. When preparing your representation:
- Focus on what matters - prioritise the issues where you have useful local knowledge
- Be specific - name affected roads, paths and places and explain the potential impact
- Use evidence where you can - simple local evidence can strengthen your points
- Say what you want - explain what change or mitigation could address the issue
- Keep it concise - avoid duplicating evidence already being provided by others
- Prepare early - agree your priority issues before registration opens.
Time-saving tip: A simple way to save time is to create one issues log with four columns: Issue, Where, Evidence, What we want. Keep updating this rather than producing new documents each time. Divide topics between councillors who know them best and, if you need information from residents, ask targeted questions about priority issues rather than trying to run a wide-ranging consultation.
The same issues log can help you prepare your Relevant Representation and decide whether you need to respond at later Examination deadlines.
What changed in 2026 – and why does it matter?
Recent changes introduced by the Planning and Infrastructure Act 2025 removed the previous statutory pre-application consultation requirements.
For parish and town councils, this makes being proactive even more important. Don't assume a formal consultation will provide your main opportunity to raise concerns. Engage with the applicant early where possible, and be ready to register and set out your issues once the application reaches the pre-examination stage.
The Act has also strengthened the role of the Initial Assessment of Principal Issues in the planning process. This identifies the main issues the Examining Authority expects will need to be examined and helps shape how the Examination is conducted.
For parish and town councils, the key action is to register and submit your Relevant Representation by the published registration deadline. The Examining Authority considers Relevant Representations received by this deadline when preparing its Initial Assessment, so make sure your priority local issues are clearly set out.
This doesn't mean every issue you raise will become a principal issue, or that a relevant new issue cannot be considered later. But setting out your key concerns clearly and on time gives them the best opportunity to inform how the Examination is planned and where its attention is focused.
Be selective during the Examination
Once the Examination starts, the Examining Authority publishes a timetable setting out deadlines for different submissions. It can look intimidating, but you don't have to respond to everything.
Time-saving tip: At each deadline, it’s a good idea to ask yourself:
1. Is this one of our priority local issues?
2. Do we have something useful to add?
If yes, respond. If not, your limited time may be better spent elsewhere. When you do respond, keep it focused. Refer back to evidence already submitted rather than repeating it and concentrate on what is new, such as a change to the proposals, new evidence or an unanswered concern or mitigation that still needs to be secured. Registration also ensures your council is plugged into the Examination process. Interested Parties can make further written submissions, respond to questions, request to speak at relevant hearings and ask to attend accompanied site inspections.
Your Relevant Representation is particularly important because the Examining Authority considers Relevant Representations when preparing its Initial Assessment of Principal Issues, which is its early assessment of the main issues likely to require examination. Your response could include anything from traffic, noise and flooding to public rights of way, landscape and community impacts.
Work with your principal council
Your district, borough, county or unitary authority may have specialist planning, highways, environmental and legal officers involved in the Examination. It’s a good idea to find out who is leading their response so that you can share useful local evidence and find out what issues they are covering. This can prevent duplication and help you identify where your local knowledge can add something different.
Principal authorities may also submit a Local Impact Report, which has a specific role in the NSIP process. Your evidence may help inform it.
It’s also important not to assume the principal authority will make your council's case for you. The Planning Inspectorate specifically encourages parish and town councils to register and set out the issues they want considered themselves.
Your local knowledge is your strength
Parish and town councils don't have endless resources. What you do have is detailed knowledge of your community. You know which roads flood, where people walk, which junctions cause problems, which facilities residents rely on and how construction could affect everyday life.
Use that knowledge strategically.
Register, identify your priority issues, keep one good record and engage when you genuinely have something useful to add.
You don't need to comment on every document or respond at every deadline to make a meaningful contribution. For a time-strapped council, being focused, organised and specific is the best way to make your local knowledge - and your limited time - count.
The Examination
is mainly a written process, although hearings and site inspections may also
take place. The Examining Authority gathers and tests evidence before making a
recommendation to the relevant Secretary of State. The standard Examination
period is up to six months.
For a parish or town council, this doesn't mean attending every hearing or producing lengthy technical reports. Your time is better spent identifying the issues where you have valuable local knowledge and making sure they are clearly put before the Examining Authority.
Time-saving tip: nominate one person - perhaps the clerk or a lead councillor - to monitor the project page on the Planning Inspectorate's website, manage correspondence and flag only the deadlines and documents requiring the council's attention.
* The Planning Inspector or panel of Inspectors responsible for examining an NSIP application and making a recommendation to the Secretary of State.