The Planning Inspectorate has recently confirmed details of the preliminary meeting and initial hearings that will mark the start of the Examination of our application for development consent. This information, which is made available in accordance with Sections 88 and 89 of the Planning Act 2008 and Rules 5, 6, 9 and 13 of The Infrastructure Planning (Examination Procedure) Rules 2010, is summarised below and available in full in the Rule 6 letter.
The Rule 6 letter also sets out the draft Examination timetable, the examining authority’s initial assessment of key issues and other information. If you have previously registered as an interested party by submitting a relevant representation, then you should have been contacted directly by the Planning Inspectorate via post or email with this information.
| Date/time | Type of meeting | Joining information |
|---|---|---|
| Tuesday 17th March 2026
Registration starts at 9:30am, meeting begins at 10:00am |
Preliminary meeting – Marks the start of the Examination, with a focus on how the Examination will be carried out | In person at King’s House, 245 Ampthill Road, Bedford, MK42 9AZ or virtually via Microsoft Teams |
| Tuesday 17th March 2026
Registration starts at 1:30pm, meeting begins at 2:00pm |
Open floor hearing 1 – An opportunity for registrants to speak directly to the examining authority about their views on our application | In person at King’s House, 245 Ampthill Road, Bedford, MK42 9AZ or virtually via Microsoft Teams |
| Wednesday 18th March 2026
Registration starts at 9:30am, meeting begins at 10:00am |
Issue specific hearing 1 – Focused on the draft development consent order and general principles of our application | In person at King’s House, 245 Ampthill Road, Bedford, MK42 9AZ or virtually via Microsoft Teams |
| Wednesday 18th March 2026
Registration starts at 1:30pm, meeting begins at 2:00pm |
Issue specific hearing 2 – Focused on best and most versatile land, soil and construction traffic | In person at King’s House, 245 Ampthill Road, Bedford, MK42 9AZ or virtually via Microsoft Teams |
You must register in advance if you wish to speak in-person or virtually at the preliminary meeting and/or any of the hearings scheduled above. You must also register in advance if you wish to observe in-person the preliminary meeting and/or any of the hearings scheduled above.
To register, complete the form on the Planning Inspectorate’s website here. All registrations must be submitted by Tuesday 10th March 2026. The Planning Inspectorate will then provide joining information to those who have registered by the deadline.
You do not need to register if you wish to observe the preliminary meeting and/or any of the hearings scheduled above virtually – a livestream of each session will be published shortly prior to each meeting on the Planning Inspectorate’s website here. A recording will also be made available after each meeting.
Find out more
You can find an overview of our submitted plans, which are for a new ground-mounted solar energy generating station and battery energy storage system built on land to the north-west of St Neots, on our website here. A copy of all the documents included in our development consent order application can be inspected on our website here.
For more information on the upcoming preliminary meeting and hearings, please refer to the Rule 6 letter on the Planning Inspectorate’s website or the Hearing notice. You can also register to receive email notification of upcoming hearings and other procedural manners from the Planning Inspectorate here, or you can contact the Planning Inspectorate via email at eastparkenergyproject@planninginspectorate.gov.uk