Speeches by Young.

“Yes. You could have an explicit requirement for renewable developers to reinstate.”

“You are essentially saying an explicit requirement is redundant because in practice, for business reasons or whatever, that is what already happens.”

“Could there be more emphasis on combining renewables with other uses? Could the national policy statements be more explicit in encouraging that?”

“Charles, is this something that the national policy statements need to make more explicit?”

“A stated aim of the amendments to planning policy for critical national priority infrastructure is to ensure that the national importance of those projects is considered, while encouraging higher quality applications. Do you think the amendments could encourage higher quality applications, despite the presumption of co…”

“Sam, the Government believe that the updates will discourage repeated consultation and drive environmental statements to be “proportionate and focused”. Will that prevent delays to critical national priority projects?”

“Jackie, do you want to come in on that point?”

“I am conscious of the time so will move on. Isobel, the presumption of consent for critical national priority infrastructure has been criticised for removing the incentive to avoid ecologically sensitive sites. Is that a necessary consequence of the policy achieving its objective, or could any improvements be made?”

“Jackie, do you support the new policy whereby measures to mitigate the environmental impacts that cause a “material reduction” in the electricity generation capacity of renewables are unlikely to be appropriate?”

“The policy says that if measures to mitigate the environmental impacts cause a material reduction, they are not likely to be appropriate.”

“Sam, should the policy be reframed to allow more flexibility and to clarify when maximising generation or achieving specific conservation objectives will take precedence?”

“Isobel, beyond simply mitigating environmental impacts, should the NPSs focus more on using strategic planning to integrate conservation into the design and construction of new energy infrastructure?”

“As you know, the Government are using the Planning and Infrastructure Bill to remove statutory pre-application consultation requirements. To implement that effectively, what further guidance do you want to see in the national policy statements?”

“We have just been talking about the presumption of consent for critical national infrastructure. How do you think that new policy will interact with that? Do you think that the NPSs need to set out a strong expectation that consultation is still expected? That then leaves the question, why remove the requirement in the…”

“Could further amendments to the NPSs support the intent of the Planning and Infrastructure Bill to consent projects faster and ensure smooth transition until those reforms come into force?”

“Graham, do you have anything to add?”

“Is there not a mixed message coming from the Government on this, if they are making it not a requirement but at the same time are trying to set out in the guidance how it should be done?”

“Ali, do you want to add anything?”

“Let us move on to the question of grid connections, which we discussed in the previous session. Again, I will start with Peta. The National Infrastructure Planning Association has referred to misunderstandings emerging about the role of the regional capacity targets in the Clean Power 2030 Action Plan. What further cla…”

“Graham, should national policy statements give significant weight to the availability of a grid connection for a proposed project?”