East Suffolk Council
Sea Link
Sea Link is a new proposed high voltage undersea electricity link between Suffolk and Kent being developed by National Grid Electricity Transmission.
National Grid has stated that the Sea Link project is required to add greater capacity to the electricity transmission network, allowing anticipated renewable energy, generated offshore, to connect to the network and be transported around the country. The proposal includes on shore underground cabling, a substation at Friston and a converter station at Saxmundham.
The Secretary of State has exercised powers under section 35 of the Planning Act 2008 to direct that the Sea Link project be treated as development for which development consent is required and the Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project regime is applicable. The developer will as a result be required to apply for development consent where the final decision whether to give permission will be made by the relevant Secretary of State through the granting of a Development Consent Order.
- Direction by Secretary of State under section 35 of the Planning Act 2008 relating to Sea Link
- Secretary of State’s decision letter
East Suffolk Council and Suffolk County Council wrote jointly to National Grid PLC to seek coordination of the Sea Link project with the other potentially forthcoming projects.
In February 2025, East Suffolk Council wrote to the Chair and Chief Executive of National Grid to highlight ESC’s concerns about the Sea Link project ahead of the project’s planned submission to the Planning Inspectorate in Q1 2025, and to urge NGET to engage constructively with East Suffolk Council to place the project in better stead for formal submission to the Planning Inspectorate.
Consultations
Scoping Report – October to November 2022
- The Planning Inspectorate consulted on the Scoping Report submitted by National Grid for the Sea Link project providing stakeholders 28 days for comments.
- East Suffolk Council’s response to the Scoping Report consultation
Non-statutory consultation – October to December 2022
- National Grid’s non-statutory consultation on the Sea Link project ran between 24 October and 18 December 2022.
- East Suffolk Council’s response to the initial consultation on the Sea Link project
Statutory consultation – October to December 2023
On 24 October 2023, National Grid published a statutory consultation on its proposals. The deadline for sending National Grid comments was Monday 18 December 2023. The consultation documents can still be viewed via the link below:
More information about Sea Link from the National Grid website
East Suffolk Council’s response to the October 2023 consultation was issued on 18th December 2023 and was ratified by Cabinet on 2nd January 2024. Please see Agenda Item 11 Item. A copy of the response is also available below separately from the Cabinet papers.
Additional Consultation – July to August 2024
NGET held additional consultation on the Sea Link project from 8 July – 11 August 2024, focused on the changes to the project proposals since statutory consultation was held in late 2023.
Local engagement and project update (November 2024) – January 2025
NGET published a project update in November 2024, presenting a number of further amendments to the design, reflecting feedback received during both rounds of consultation as well as from ongoing assessment work. NGET stated these further amendments to the proposed development are not material or substantial changes to the proposed application. They do not materially change the effects or fundamentally change the project as a whole.
The consultation documents can be viewed via the link below:
Sea Link Document library | National Grid Group
Application submission
NGET submitted an application to the Planning Inspectorate (PINS) for a Development Consent Order for the Sea Link project on 27 March 2025. NGET’s application documentation can be found on PINS’ dedicated Sea Link project page.
Adequacy of Consultation – March to April 2025
East Suffolk Council submitted its Adequacy of Consultation Representation to PINS prior to the 11 April 2025 deadline. Whilst accepting that the Applicant (NGET) had met the bar for adequacy of consultation in terms of Sections 42, 47 and 48 of the Planning Act 2008, ESC took this opportunity to communicate to PINS its disappointment in the Applicant’s consultation throughout the pre-application period, noting that the meaningful contributions provided by the Council do not appear to have been positively taken on board. ESC’s Adequacy of Consultation Representation can be found here.
Pre-examination
PINS accepted the application for examination on 23 April 2025, marking the beginning of the pre-examination period.
Relevant Representation – May to June 2025
Following a comprehensive review of NGET’s application documentation by officers, ESC submitted its Relevant Representation to PINS prior to the 23 June 2025 deadline. This submission was designed to provide the Examining Authority (who will be examining the application during the six-month Examination commencing later this year) with a summary of the Council’s principal concerns, together with supporting context.
This Representation will be expanded on in greater detail within ESC’s Local Impact Report, which will be submitted during the Examination. ESC also organised engagement events with the Town and Parish Councils proposed to host the project should it be granted development consent by the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, helping to ensure that their views and local knowledge informed ESC’s response.
This engagement was also used as a further opportunity to encourage Town and Parish Councils to register themselves as Interested Parties to ensure they are able to participate in the upcoming Examination. You can view ESC’s Relevant Representation and this will also be uploaded to the PINS Sea Link project page in due course.