Recommendation 9

We acknowledge the concern that strategic plans should not predetermine the outcome of any application for development consent. However, neither should the planning system be blind to the very existence of such plans and, most importantly, to their possible impact on the prospects of a project securing a grid connection. It would undermine the purpose of strategic plans if the Secretary of State were unable to take them into account in the planning balance. • The National Policy Statements should clearly recognise, as a material consideration, the regional and zonal capacities for different technologies specified in the Clean Power 2030 Action Plan and the Strategic Spatial Energy Plan. • The National Policy Statements should clearly recognise, as a material consideration, the optimal areas for different technologies identified in the Strategic Spatial Energy Plan. (Recommendation, Paragraph 32)