Have Your Say - Sea Link

The Planning Inspectorate has accepted National Grid’s application for development consent for Sea Link, a proposed electricity connection between Kent and Suffolk designed to strengthen the UK’s energy network.

As the demand for energy increases, the project is designed to deliver renewable and low carbon energy efficiently to homes and businesses across the regions and beyond.

The cable would be predominantly offshore, with new onshore infrastructure to bring the power from the subsea cables into and out of the electricity network in both Kent and Suffolk.  

The application was submitted to the Planning Inspectorate on Thursday 27 March 2025. Since then, the Planning Inspectorate has carried out an initial review of the application to check it meets the requirements to continue through the application process.

The Planning Inspectorate’s decision to accept the application marks the start of the pre-examination stage. During this time, they will appoint the independent panel, known as the Examining Authority, who will be responsible for conducting the examination of the application. The Examining Authority will then begin to look at the application in detail and prepare the ‘examination timetable’ – how, where and when it will take place.

At this stage, members of the public will be able to register as an Interested Party in order to take part in the process. We will publicise details of how you can register as an Interested Party in the near future.

The Planning Inspectorate will manage the examination stage, with members of the public able to have a say on the plans directly to the Inspectorate.

To read more about the process and next steps, please see the project website here. The full application is available to view on the dedicated Sea Link page of the Planning Inspectorate website.  

The impact on Cliffsend cannot be underestimated - please consider registering as an interested party when able to do so.