MEMBERS of the public have until February 10 to register to have their say on plans to build and operate underground gas storage facilities north of Middlewich.

The Keuper Gas Storage Project involves using purpose-built underground salt cavities, created through solution mining, to store natural gas.

It is planned to create up to 19 new cavities at the Holford Brinefield and surrounding area.

Once the brine has been removed from the cavities it is sent to INEOS’ operation at Runcorn, along with other customers in the chemical industry, and the new cavity is then used to store natural gas.

The 19 underground cavities will have the capacity to store up to 500 million cubic metres of natural gas, and the scheme includes two new brine tanks on the Lostock Works site off Griffiths Road in Northwich.

The scheme is classified as a Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project.

This means that rather than going through the local authority like most planning applications the project requires a Development Consent Order from the Secretary of State for the Department for Energy and Climate Change.

The public can register as an interested party at the Planning Inspectorate website until Wednesday, February 10, as part of the pre-examination process, which lasts three months.

During this stage they will be able to provide a summary of their views on the application in writing. Everyone who has registered and made a relevant representation will be invited to attend a preliminary meeting chaired by an inspector.

The Inspectorate has six months to carry out the subsequent examination stage, and during this period people who have registered to have their say are invited to provide more details of their views in writing.

The Inspectorate must prepare a report on the application to the Secretary of State, including a recommendation, within three months of the six-month examination period.

The Secretary of State then has a further three months to make the decision on whether to grant or refuse development consent.

Once a decision has been issued there is a six-week period in which it may be challenged in the High Court.