The Beacon Fen Energy Park Order 2026

SCHEDULE 2 REQUIREMENTS

Article 3 PART 1 REQUIREMENTS Interpretation 1 In this Schedule— “relevant planning authority” means— Lincolnshire County Council for the purposes of— requirement 6 (battery safety management); requirement 10 (surface and foul water drainage); requirement 11 (archaeology); requirement 13 (construction traffic management plan); requirement 18 (public rights of way); requirement 20 (flood risk); and requirement 22 (operational waste); North Kesteven District Council and Boston Borough Council for the purposes of— requirement 3 (approved details and amendments to them); requirement 4 (community liaison group); requirement 5 (detailed design approval); requirement 7 (landscape and ecological management plan); requirement 8 (biodiversity net gain); requirement 9 (fencing and other means of enclosure); requirement 12 (construction environmental management plan) requirement 14 (operational noise); requirement 16 (soils management); requirement 17 (skills, supply chain and employment); requirement 19 (decommissioning and restoration); and requirement 21 (contaminated land and groundwater), and “relevant planning authorities” means Lincolnshire County Council, North Kesteven District Council and Boston Borough Council, as applicable. Commencement of the authorised development 2 The authorised development must commence no later than the expiration of five years from the date this Order comes into force. Approved details and amendments to them 3 (1) With respect to the documents certified under article 40 (certification of plans, etc.) and any plans, details or schemes which have been approved pursuant to any requirement (together the “approved documents, plans, details or schemes”), the undertaker may submit to the relevant planning authority or relevant planning authorities (as applicable) for approval any amendments to any of the approved documents, plans, details or schemes and, following approval by the relevant planning authority or relevant planning authorities (as applicable), the relevant approved documents, plans, details or schemes is to be taken to include the amendments as so approved pursuant to this paragraph. (2) Approval under sub-paragraph (1) for the amendments to any of the approved documents, plans, details or schemes must not be given except where it has been demonstrated to the satisfaction of the relevant planning authority or the relevant planning authorities (as applicable) that the subject matter of the approval sought is unlikely to give rise to any materially new or materially different environmental effects from those assessed in the environmental statement. Community liaison group 4 (1) Prior to the commencement of the authorised development the undertaker must submit to the relevant planning authority for approval the terms of reference for a community liaison group whose aim is to facilitate liaison between representatives of people living in the vicinity of the Order limits and other relevant organisations in relation to the construction of the authorised development. (2) The community liaison group must be established prior to commencement of the authorised development and must be administered by the undertaker, and operated, in accordance with the approved terms of reference. (3) The community liaison group is to continue to meet until the date of completion of the final part of the authorised development unless otherwise agreed with the relevant planning authority. Detailed design approval 5 (1) No part of the authorised development may commence until details of— (a) the layout; (b) scale; (c) proposed finished ground levels; (d) external appearance; (e) hard surfacing materials; (f) vehicular and pedestrian access, parking and circulation areas; (g) refuse or other storage units, signs and lighting; (h) drainage, water, power and communications cables and pipelines; (i) landscaping works, planting works and programme for implementation; (j) fencing; (k) security measures; and (l) any mitigation measures necessary to address noise impacts, relating to that part have been submitted to and approved in writing by the relevant planning authority for that part or, where the part falls within the administrative areas of multiple relevant planning authorities, each of the relevant planning authorities, such approval to be in consultation with Lincolnshire County Council as local highway authority in relation to paragraph (f). (2) The details submitted must accord with— (a) the works plan; and (b) the outline design principles. (3) The authorised development must be carried out in accordance with the approved details. Battery safety management 6 (1) Work No. 2 must not commence until a battery safety management plan has been submitted to and approved by the relevant planning authority. (2) The battery safety management plan must prescribe measures to facilitate safety during the construction, operation and decommissioning of Work No. 2. (3) The battery safety management plan must be in accordance with the outline battery safety management plan. (4) The relevant planning authority must consult with the Environment Agency, North Kesteven District Council and Lincolnshire Fire and Rescue before determining an application for approval of the battery safety management plan. (5) The battery safety management plan must be implemented as approved and maintained throughout the construction, operation and decommissioning of the authorised development. Landscape and ecological management plan 7 (1) No part of the authorised development may commence until a written landscape and ecological management plan has been submitted to and approved by the relevant planning authority for that part or, where the part falls within the administrative areas of multiple relevant planning authorities, each of the relevant planning authorities, in consultation with Lincolnshire County Council and the Environment Agency. (2) The landscape and ecological management plan must be in accordance with the outline landscape and ecological management plan and must include terms of reference for the ecological steering group which is to be known as the Beacon Fen ecological steering group, including details for the group’s membership which is to include a representative from each of the relevant planning authorities and must include— (a) terms of reference for the ecological steering group, including details for the group’s membership which is to include a representative from each of the relevant planning authorities; and (b) details of how the plan will secure funding for both the ecological steering group and provision of ecology and planting in Boston Borough Council’s administrative area. (3) Any landscape and ecological management plan submitted must include a commitment to regularly share all relevant pre-construction, construction, post-construction and operational survey and monitoring data in the appropriate formats with the relevant local environmental records centre(s) and relevant national/regional environmental recording schemes. (4) The landscape and ecological management plan must be implemented as approved and maintained throughout the operation of the relevant part of the authorised development to which the plan relates. (5) For the purposes of sub-paragraph (1) “commence” includes part (b) (site clearance (including vegetation removal and demolition of existing structures)) of permitted preliminary works. Biodiversity net gain 8 (1) No part of the authorised development may commence until a biodiversity net gain strategy has been submitted to and approved by the relevant planning authority. (2) The biodiversity net gain strategy must include details of how the strategy will secure a minimum of 30% biodiversity net gain in area-based habitat units, a minimum of 10% biodiversity net gain in hedgerow units, and 10% biodiversity net gain in watercourse units for all of the authorised development during the operation of the authorised development, using the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs’ Statutory Metric (February 2024), or if this is withdrawn or replaced, a biodiversity metric approved by the local planning authority in consultation with the relevant statutory nature conservation body. (3) The biodiversity net gain strategy must be in accordance with the outline landscape and ecological management plan and must be implemented as approved and maintained throughout the operation of the relevant part of the authorised development to which the plan relates. Fencing and other means of enclosure 9 (1) No part of the authorised development may commence until written details of all proposed temporary fences, walls or other means of enclosure have been submitted to and approved by the relevant planning authority or, where the part falls within the administrative areas of multiple relevant planning authorities, each of the relevant planning authorities. (2) No part of the authorised development may commence until written details of all permanent fences, walls or other means of enclosure for that part (which must be in accordance with the relevant outline design principles) have been submitted to and approved by the relevant planning authority or, where the part falls within the administrative areas of multiple relevant planning authorities, each of the relevant planning authorities. (3) For the purposes of sub-paragraph (1), “commence” includes any permitted preliminary works. (4) Any construction site must remain securely fenced in accordance with the approved details under sub-paragraph (1) at all times during construction of the authorised development. (5) Any temporary fencing must be removed on completion of the part of construction of the authorised development for which it was used. (6) Any approved permanent fencing in a part must be completed before the date of completion in respect of such part. Surface and foul water drainage 10 (1) No part of the authorised development may commence until written details of the surface water drainage scheme and (if any) foul water drainage system (both of which must be in accordance with the principles in the outline drainage strategy) have been submitted to and approved by the relevant planning authority for that part, such approval to be in consultation with Anglian Water Services Limited and the Environment Agency. (2) Any approved scheme must be implemented as approved and maintained throughout the construction and operation of the authorised development. Archaeology 11 (1) The authorised development must be implemented in accordance with the archaeological mitigation strategy. (2) No part of the authorised development may commence until a written scheme of archaeological investigation (which must accord with the archaeological mitigation strategy) for that part has been submitted to and approved by the relevant planning authority. (3) For the purposes of sub-paragraph (1), “commence” includes any permitted preliminary works. (4) Any archaeological works or watching brief must be carried out in accordance with the approved scheme. Construction environmental management plan 12 (1) No part of the authorised development may commence until a construction environmental management plan (which must be in accordance with the outline construction environmental management plan) for that part has been submitted to and approved by the relevant planning authority, or, where the part falls within the administrative areas of more than one of the relevant planning authorities, each of the relevant planning authorities, in consultation with Lincolnshire County Council and the Environment Agency. (2) All construction works associated with the authorised development must be carried out in accordance with the approved construction environmental management plan. (3) Any construction environmental management plan submitted must include a commitment to regularly share all relevant pre-construction, construction, post-construction and operational survey and monitoring data in the appropriate formats with the relevant local environmental records centre(s) and relevant national/regional environmental recording schemes. Construction traffic management plan 13 (1) No part of the authorised development may commence until a construction traffic management plan for that part has been submitted to and approved by the relevant planning authority, such approval to be in consultation with the relevant highway authority. (2) The construction traffic management plan must be in accordance with the outline construction traffic management plan. (3) The construction traffic management plan must be implemented as approved. Operational noise 14 (1) No part of numbered Works No. 1, No. 2 and No. 3 may commence until an operational noise assessment containing details of how the design of that numbered work has incorporated mitigation to ensure the operational noise rating levels as set out in the environmental statement are to be complied with for that part has been submitted to and approved by the relevant planning authority for that part or, where the part falls within the administrative areas of multiple relevant planning authorities, each of the relevant planning authorities. (2) The design as described in the operational noise assessment must be implemented as approved and maintained throughout the operation of the relevant part of the authorised development to which the plan relates. Permissive path 15 (1) A permissive path which runs between points PP 1/01 and PP 4/01 on the streets, rights of way and access plans must be provided and open to the public one year following the date of final commissioning of Work No. 1. (2) The permissive path must be maintained and access by the public permitted for 364 days a year except where closure is required for maintenance or in an emergency until the date of decommissioning. Soil management 16 (1) No part of the authorised development may commence until a soil management plan (which must be in accordance with the outline soil management plan as relevant to construction activities) for that part has been submitted to and approved by the relevant planning authority or, where the part falls within the administrative areas of multiple relevant planning authorities, each of the relevant planning authorities. (2) All construction works associated with the authorised development must be carried out in accordance with the soil management plan approved pursuant to sub-paragraph (1). (3) Prior to the date of completion of any part of the authorised development, a soil management plan (which must be in accordance with the outline soil management plan as relevant to operational activities) for that part must be submitted to and approved by the relevant planning authority for that part or, where the part falls within the administrative areas of multiple relevant planning authorities, each of the relevant planning authorities. (4) The operation of the authorised development must be carried out in accordance with the soil management plan approved pursuant to sub-paragraph (3) and maintained throughout the operation of the relevant part of the authorised development to which the plan relates. (5) Prior to the start of any decommissioning works for any part of the authorised development, a soil management plan (which must be in accordance with the outline soil management plan as relevant to decommissioning activities) for that part must be submitted to and approved by the relevant planning authority for that part or, where the part falls within the administrative areas of multiple relevant planning authorities, each of the relevant planning authorities. (6) The decommissioning of the authorised development must be carried out in accordance with the soil management plan approved pursuant to sub-paragraph (5). Skills, supply chain and employment 17 (1) No part of the authorised development may commence until a skills, supply chain and employment plan in relation to that part has been submitted to and approved by the relevant planning authority for that part or, where the part falls within the administrative areas of multiple planning authorities, each of the relevant planning authorities following consultation with Lincolnshire County Council. (2) The skills, supply chain and employment plan must be in accordance with the outline skills, supply chain and employment plan. (3) Any skills, supply chain and employment plan prepared in accordance with this paragraph must identify opportunities for individuals and businesses to access employment and supply chain opportunities associated with that part of the authorised development and the means for publicising such opportunities. (4) The skills, supply chain and employment plan must be implemented as approved and maintained throughout the operation of the relevant part of the authorised development to which the plan relates. Public rights of way 18 (1) No part of the authorised development may commence until a public rights of way management plan for any sections of public rights of way shown to be temporarily closed on the streets, rights of way and access plans for that part has been submitted to and approved by the relevant planning authority. (2) The public rights of way management plan must be in accordance with the outline public rights of way management plan. (3) The public rights of way management plan must be implemented as approved unless otherwise agreed with the relevant planning authority. Decommissioning and restoration 19 (1) Decommissioning of Work Nos. 1, 2 and 3 of the authorised development must commence no later than 40 years following the date of final commissioning of the authorised development. (2) Unless otherwise agreed with the relevant planning authority, no later than 12 months prior to the date the undertaker intends to decommission any part of the authorised development, the undertaker must notify the relevant planning authority of the intended date of decommissioning. (3) Within 12 months of the date notified pursuant to sub-paragraph (2), the undertaker must submit to the relevant planning authority for that part a decommissioning environmental management plan for approval (following consultation with the Environment Agency and Lincolnshire County Council) which must include a decommissioning traffic management plan and site waste management plan. (4) Where the undertaker decides to decommission a part of the authorised development that falls within the administrative areas of multiple planning authorities, the decommissioning environmental management plan must be submitted to each relevant planning authority and the approval of all relevant planning authorities is required for the purposes of this paragraph. (5) The decommissioning environmental management plan must be in accordance with the outline decommissioning environmental management plan. (6) No decommissioning works may be carried out until the relevant planning authority has approved the decommissioning environmental management plan submitted in relation to those works. (7) The decommissioning environmental management plan must be implemented as approved. (8) This requirement is without prejudice to any other consents or permissions that may be required to decommission any part of the authorised development. Flood risk 20 (1) No part of the authorised development may commence until for that part, a flood mitigation strategy has been submitted to and approved by the relevant planning authority in consultation with the Environment Agency. (2) The flood risk mitigation strategy submitted pursuant to sub-paragraph (1) must set out the flood risk mitigation incorporated in the detailed design for the part of the authorised development which is the subject of the strategy and— (a) confirm that such mitigation accords with the flood risk operational mitigation; or (b) to the extent such mitigation does not accord with the flood risk operational mitigation, demonstrate how the mitigation proposed does not give rise to impacts on flood risk that are worse than those set out in the flood risk assessment conclusions; and (c) include details of the design of any floodplain compensation scheme required for that part based on the flood risk operational mitigation and which does not give rise to impacts on flood risk and floodplain storage that are worse than those set out in the flood risk assessment conclusions. (3) Any strategy approved pursuant to this requirement must be implemented as approved and maintained throughout the construction and operation of the authorised development. Contaminated land and groundwater 21 If, during the carrying out of any part of the authorised development, contamination not previously identified is found to be present within such part, no further development (unless otherwise agreed in writing with the relevant planning authority) must be carried out on the part on which the contamination has been found until the process set out at section 11.7 of ES chapter 11 (under the heading “operation phase”) has been followed. Operational waste 22 (1) Prior to the date of final commissioning of Work Nos. 1, 2 and 3 an operational site waste management plan for that part must be submitted to and approved by the relevant planning authority. (2) The operational site waste management plan must be in accordance with the waste and recycling strategy (3) The operational site waste management plan must be implemented as approved and maintained throughout the operation of the relevant part of the authorised development to which the plan relates. PART 2 PROCEDURE FOR DISCHARGE OF REQUIREMENTS Interpretation 23 In this Part of this Schedule— “discharge” means any consent, agreement or approval required by— a requirement; a document referred to by a requirement; or a document that has been approved pursuant to a requirement; “requirement consultee” means any body or authority named in a requirement as a body to be consulted by the relevant planning authority in discharging that requirement; and “start date” means the date of the notification given by the Secretary of State under paragraph 77(2)(c). Applications made under requirement 24 (1) Where an application has been made to the relevant planning authority for any discharge, the relevant planning authority must give notice to the undertaker of its decision on the application within a period of ten weeks beginning with the later of— (a) the day immediately following that on which the application is received by the authority; (b) the day immediately following that on which further information has been supplied by the undertaker under paragraph 76; or (c) such longer period that is agreed in writing by the undertaker and the relevant planning authority. (2) Subject to paragraph 77, in the event that the relevant planning authority does not determine an application within the period set out in sub-paragraph (1), the relevant planning authority is to be taken to have granted all parts of the application (without any condition or qualification) at the end of that period. (3) Any application for consent or approval under sub-paragraph (1) must include a statement that the provisions of sub-paragraph (2) apply to that application. (4) If an application for consent under sub-paragraph (1) does not include the statement required under sub-paragraph (3), the provisions of sub-paragraph (2) will not apply to that application. (5) Any application made to the relevant planning authority pursuant to sub-paragraph (1) must— (a) include a statement to confirm whether it is likely that the subject matter of the application will give rise to any materially new or materially different environmental effects compared to those in the environmental statement and if it will then it must be accompanied by information setting out what those effects are; and (b) include confirmation that the application has been notified and provided to the requirement consultees in accordance with sub-paragraph (7), if the provision governing or requiring the application specifies that consultation with a requirement consultee is required (such confirmation to include contact details for the requirement consultees). (6) Where an application has been made to the relevant planning authority for any discharge and the relevant planning authority does not determine the application within the period set out in sub-paragraph (1) and the application is accompanied by a report pursuant to sub-paragraph (5)(a) which states that the subject matter of such application is likely to give rise to any materially new or materially different environmental effects compared to those in the environmental statement then the application is to be taken to have been refused by the relevant planning authority at the end of that period. (7) Where an application has been made to the relevant planning authority for any discharge, the undertaker will also submit a copy of that application to any requirement consultee. Further information and consultation 25 (1) In relation to any application to which this Schedule applies, the relevant planning authority may request such reasonable further information from the undertaker as is necessary to enable it to consider the application. (2) In the event that the relevant planning authority considers such further information to be necessary and the provision governing or requiring the application does not specify that consultation with a requirement consultee is required, the relevant planning authority must, within 20 business days of receipt of the application, notify the undertaker in writing specifying the further information required. (3) If the provision governing or requiring the application specifies that consultation with a requirement consultee is required, the relevant planning authority must issue the consultation to the requirement consultee within 10 business days of receipt of the application, and must notify the undertaker in writing specifying any further information the relevant planning authority considers necessary or that is requested by the requirement consultee within 10 business days of receipt of such a request and in any event within 20 business days of receipt of the application (or such other period as is agreed in writing between the undertaker and the relevant planning authority). (4) In the event that the relevant planning authority does not give notification as specified in sub-paragraph (2) or (3) it is deemed to have sufficient information to consider the application and is not thereafter entitled to request further information without the prior agreement of the undertaker. Appeals 26 (1) The undertaker may appeal in the event that— (a) the relevant planning authority refuses an application for any discharge or grants it subject to conditions; (b) the relevant planning authority is deemed to have refused an application pursuant to paragraph 75(6); (c) on receipt of a request for further information pursuant to paragraph 76 the undertaker considers that either the whole or part of the specified information requested by the relevant planning authority is not necessary for consideration of the application; or (d) on receipt of any further information requested, the relevant planning authority notifies the undertaker that the information provided is inadequate and requests additional information which the undertaker considers is not necessary for consideration of the application. (2) The steps to be followed in the appeal process are as follows— (a) any appeal by the undertaker must be made within 42 days of the date of the notice of the decision or the determination, or (where no determination has been made) the expiry of the time period set out in paragraph 24(1), giving rise to the appeal referred to in sub-paragraph (1); (b) the undertaker must submit the appeal documentation to the Secretary of State and must on the same day provide copies of the appeal documentation to the relevant planning authority and any requirement consultee; (c) the Secretary of State must appoint a person to determine the appeal as soon as reasonably practicable and must forthwith notify the appeal parties of the identity of the appointed person and the address to which all correspondence for the appointed person’s attention should be sent; (d) the relevant planning authority and any requirement consultee must submit written representations to the appointed person in respect of the appeal within 10 business days of the start date and must ensure that copies of their written representations are sent to each other and to the undertaker on the day on which they are submitted to the appointed person; (e) the undertaker may make any counter-submissions to the appointed person within 10 business days of receipt of written representations pursuant to paragraph (d); (f) the appointed person must make their decision and notify it to the appeal parties, with reasons, as soon as reasonably practicable; and (g) the appointment of the person pursuant to paragraph (c) may be undertaken by a person appointed by the Secretary of State for this purpose instead of by the Secretary of State. (3) In the event that the appointed person considers that further information is necessary to enable the appointed person to consider the appeal they must as soon as reasonably practicable, notify the appeal parties in writing specifying the further information required. (4) Any further information required pursuant to sub-paragraph (3) must be provided by the relevant party to the appointed person and the other appeal parties on the date specified by the appointed person (the “specified date”), and the appointed person must notify the appeal parties of the revised timetable for the appeal on or before that day. The revised timetable for the appeal must require submission of written representations to the appointed person within 10 business days of the specified date, but otherwise the process and time limits set out in paragraphs (d) to (f) of sub-paragraph (2) apply. (5) The appointed person may— (a) allow or dismiss the appeal; or (b) reverse or vary any part of the decision of the relevant planning authority (whether the appeal relates to that part of it or not), and may deal with the application as if it had been made to them in the first instance. (6) The appointed person may proceed to a decision on an appeal taking into account only such written representations as have been sent within the relevant time limits. (7) The appointed person may proceed to a decision even though no written representations have been made within the relevant time limits, if it appears to them that there is sufficient material to enable a decision to be made on the merits of the case. (8) The decision of the appointed person on an appeal is to be final and binding on the parties, unless proceedings are brought by a claim for judicial review. (9) If an approval is given by the appointed person pursuant to this Schedule, it is to be deemed to be an approval for the purpose of Part 1 of this Schedule as if it had been given by the relevant planning authority. The relevant planning authority may confirm any determination given by the appointed person in identical form in writing but a failure to give such confirmation (or a failure to give it in identical form) is not to be taken to affect or invalidate the effect of the appointed person’s determination. (10) Save where a direction is given pursuant to sub-paragraph (11) requiring the costs of the appointed person to be paid by the relevant planning authority, the reasonable costs of the appointed person must be met by the undertaker. (11) On application by the relevant planning authority or the undertaker, the appointed person may give directions as to the costs of the appeal parties and as to the parties by whom the costs of the appeal are to be paid. In considering whether to make any such direction and the terms on which it is to be made, the appointed person must have regard to advice on planning appeals and award costs published in Planning Practice Guidance: Appeals (March 2014) or any circular or guidance which may from time to time replace it. Fees 27 (1) Where an application is made to the relevant planning authority for any consent, agreement or approval required by a requirement, a fee is to apply and must be paid to the relevant planning authority for each application. (2) The fee payable for each application under sub-paragraph (1) is as follows— (a) a fee of £2,578 for the first application for the discharge of each of the requirements 56 (detailed design approval), 57 (battery safety management), 58 (landscape and ecological management plan), 59 (biodiversity net gain) 61 (surface and foul water drainage), 63 (construction environmental management plan), 64 (construction traffic management plan), 67 (soils management), requirement 68 (skills, supply chain and employment), 70 (decommissioning and restoration), requirement 71 (flood risk) and requirement 73 (operational waste); (b) a fee of £588 for each subsequent application for the discharge of each of the requirements listed in paragraph (a) and any application under requirement 56 in respect of the requirements listed in paragraph (a); and (c) a fee of £298 for any application for the discharge of— (i) any other requirements not listed in paragraph (a); (ii) any application under requirement 54 (approved details and amendments to them) in respect of requirements not listed in paragraph (a); and (iii) any approval required by a document referred to by any requirement or a document approved pursuant to any requirement. (3) Any fee paid under this Part of this Schedule must be refunded to the undertaker within four weeks of— (a) the application being rejected as invalidly made; or (b) the relevant planning authority failing to determine the application within the relevant period in paragraph 24(1), unless within that period the undertaker agrees, in writing, that the fee is to be retained by the relevant planning authority and credited in respect of a future application. (4) The fees specified in sub-paragraph (2) shall be adjusted on each anniversary of the date this Order comes into force by a percentage equal to the index value of the Consumer Price Index (CPI) most recently published prior to that anniversary, provided that in no event shall any annual adjustment exceed 5%.