Legal challenge to Sizewell C fails first hurdle

Campaign group Together Against Sizewell C has failed in a bid to force judicial review of the development consent order for the new nuclear plant on the Suffolk coast. The project was given the go-ahead by then-secretary of state Kwasi Kwarteng although the planning inspectorate recommended that the project be refused development consent.
In a planning blog, BDB Pitman’s Mustafa Latif-Aramesh said, “Permission to challenge on those grounds was refused by Mr Justice Kerr on the papers, though we wait to see if it will be renewed in open court.”
Rowan Smith, from Leigh Day’s solicitors, told the East Anglian Times: “Our client is incredibly concerned that the government has ignored the recommendation of the Examining Authority to give the go-ahead to Sizewell C. For such a locally and nationally important issue, it was vital that the Secretary of State properly assesses the environmental impacts of the project.
“However, TASC believes that fundamental legal errors were made, particularly in respect of water, alternatives to nuclear power, local wildlife and climate change.”
Among the group’s objections was the fact that a permanent water supply for the project’s clean water needs (separate to its supply of sea water for coling) has not yet been put in place.