EDF faces High Court probe over plans for temporary worker accommodation at Hinkley Point

Energy giant EDF Energy’s plans for the first of a new wave of nuclear reactors, Hinkley Point, has been dealt a blow after the High Court granted a judicial review into part of the project.

According to the Times, a land-owner opposed to EDF’s plans to build temporary accommodation for 1,000 workers on its land has been successful in securing the legal review.

Innovia Cellophane, which owns a 50 hectare site seven miles to the south east of the Hinkley Point site where the accommodation is proposed, sought the review after talks to sell the land to EDF failed to reach an agreement.

Innovia already has planning consent to build a school, hundreds of homes and playing fields on the land.

The review is likely to call into question the role of the Infrastructure Planning Commission (IPC), a body set up by the government to speed up planning for major projects, which has been dealing with the EDF’s temporary accommodation proposals.

Innovia believes the IPC should not be dealing with the application as it is not a major project, the Times reports.

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