NIPA will be hosting three roundtable events during February, specifically to provide NIPA members and other stakeholders an opportunity to hear about the consultation on the draft National Networks NPS, and to engage in the consultation process, which is due to close on 26th February 2014. Each event will be kicked off with a presentation from the Department for Transport, followed by a discussion about the issues it raises in terms of national policy and its role in the Planning Act process for Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects.

The National Networks NPS is long awaited, the draft NPS document is at Annex A to the DfT’s recent consultation paper - https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/national-road-and-rail-networks-draft-national-policy-statement and there has been much anticipation of its arrival. It is one of the remaining NPS gaps, and could potentially play a very important part in the effective planning and delivery of transport infrastructure. DfT colleagues will no doubt be listening carefully to the debate. We will also be recording comments made and preparing notes of the discussions as a basis for the preparation of a NIPA response to this important consultation and to inform NIPA’s separate (but closely related) response to the Transport Select Committee. No attributable comments will be included in these notes without them being agreed with attendees in advance of publication.

The basic details of the events are as follows:

Manchester:      0830am, 12th February at Transport for Greater Manchester, 2 Piccadilly Place, Manchester, M1 3BG

Bristol:              1700, 13th February at Burges Salmon, One Glass Wharf, Bristol, BS2 0ZX

London:             1700, 18th February at Pinsent Masons, 30 Crown Place, Earl Street, London, EC2A 4ES

Each event is programmed for around 2 hours, and there will be opportunities for informal discussion afterwards. If you are interested in attending one of these events, please can you contact Sharon Bassom, Peter Brett Associates, 0118 520303, sbassom@peterbrett.com. Please can you let Sharon know your contact details, which location, and whether or not you are a NIPA Member. There is no charge for these events.  Please forward this email on to colleagues that may also be interested in attending.

Further details of each event will be announced  in due course. We are keen that we attract a broad cross section of stakeholders to these discussions, including promoters, advisors, local authorities, LEP’s, government agencies, community and third sector representatives. This will help DfT to receive a balanced and informed response taking account of all of those who are engaged in the process of delivering major transport infrastructure projects. In addition to the three roundtable events mentioned above, there is a Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects Applications Masterclass being held on 4th February, please see the attached for further details.