The A46 Coventry Junctions (Walsgrave) Development Consent (Correction) Order 2026 was made on 22 May 2026 and came into force on 27 May 2026. The statutory instrument is a targeted amendment to the earlier A46 Coventry Junctions (Walsgrave) Development Consent Order 2026, listed as S.I. 2026/537. According to the instrument, the purpose is to correct errors and omissions in the original development consent order made under the Planning Act 2008. The legal effect is not a new consent for the scheme, but a correction to the text of the consent already granted.
The order records that the Secretary of State received a written request from the applicant for corrections under paragraph 1(5)(a) of Schedule 4 to the Planning Act 2008. It also states that this request was received before the end of the relevant statutory period, which is a required procedural step for this form of post-decision correction. The instrument further states that the relevant local planning authorities were informed that the request had been received. For planning practitioners, that matters because it shows the correction has followed the formal route set out in primary legislation rather than an informal administrative amendment.
The correction order is made using powers in section 119 of the Planning Act 2008 and paragraph 1(4) and 1(8) of Schedule 4 to that Act. In practical terms, that places the amendment within the established legal framework for correcting a development consent order once it has been made. The instrument was signed by Natasha Kopala, Head of the Transport and Works Act Orders Unit, on behalf of the Secretary of State for Transport. That detail is procedural, but it confirms departmental authority and gives the order the formal status required for it to take effect on the commencement date.
Article 2 of the correction order sets out how the amendments are to operate. It says the original A46 Coventry Junctions (Walsgrave) Development Consent Order 2026 is corrected in line with a schedule, with one column identifying where a correction is made, another stating how it is made, and a third giving the text to be substituted, inserted or omitted. That drafting structure is important for anyone working with the scheme documents. The operative legal changes sit in the schedule itself, so the original order and the correction order need to be read together in order to identify the current wording in force.
The explanatory note states that the order corrects errors and omissions in S.I. 2026/537 following the applicant's request under Schedule 4 to the 2008 Act. Although explanatory notes do not form part of the law, they are often the clearest indication of the instrument's administrative purpose. For affected parties, the immediate consequence is legal clarity. Even limited drafting errors in a development consent order can create uncertainty around how individual provisions should be read and applied. A formal correction order reduces that risk by replacing or inserting text through a defined statutory process.
From 27 May 2026, the relevant legal position for the A46 Coventry Junctions (Walsgrave) project is the original development consent order as modified by this correction instrument. That is the version that promoters, local authorities, advisers and other stakeholders will need to use when interpreting the consent. For readers tracking infrastructure planning decisions, this is a routine but significant housekeeping measure. It shows how the Planning Act 2008 allows prompt correction of drafting defects after a development consent order has been made, without requiring the underlying consent decision to be remade.