The Department for Transport has issued the A46 Coventry Junctions (Walsgrave) Development Consent (Correction) Order 2026, a technical statutory instrument made on 22 May 2026 and in force from 27 May 2026. As published on legislation.gov.uk, the order corrects errors and omissions in the A46 Coventry Junctions (Walsgrave) Development Consent Order 2026, SI 2026/537. This is not a fresh development consent decision. The instrument operates as a correction order under the Planning Act 2008, updating the text of the original consent already granted for the scheme.
The order states that the original 2026 Development Consent Order contained correctable errors within the meaning of paragraph 1(3) of Schedule 4 to the Planning Act 2008. That matters because Schedule 4 provides the statutory route for limited post-making corrections where drafting defects or omissions need to be put right. According to the instrument, the Secretary of State received a written request from the applicant before the end of the relevant statutory period, as required by paragraph 1(5)(a) and paragraph 1(6)(a) of Schedule 4. The order also records that the relevant local planning authorities were informed that the request had been received, in line with paragraph 1(7).
The legal power used is set out expressly in the instrument. The Secretary of State made the correction order under section 119 of the Planning Act 2008 and paragraph 1(4) and (8) of Schedule 4 to that Act. Article 2 then explains how the corrections are applied. Rather than rewriting the entire consent, the instrument uses a schedule table showing where each correction is made, how it is made, and the wording to be substituted, inserted or omitted. For anyone relying on the consent, the operative text now sits across the original order and this correction instrument read together.
The explanatory note is concise but important. It confirms that the purpose of the instrument is to correct errors and omissions in SI 2026/537 following an applicant request made under Schedule 4 to the 2008 Act. In practical terms, that means the government has used the statutory correction process rather than any wider amendment procedure. For project promoters, advisers, contractors and affected land interests, the immediate task is not to revisit the principle of the scheme, but to check the corrected drafting now in force from 27 May 2026.
For local authorities and other public bodies, the order is a reminder that development consent orders remain highly technical legal documents even after they are made. Small textual errors can affect interpretation of requirements, land references, powers or procedural steps, which is why the Planning Act includes a defined correction mechanism. The legislation excerpt provided here does not reproduce the schedule entries themselves, so the precise wording changes sit in the schedule to the correction order rather than in the opening articles. In practice, any decision-making, compliance review or implementation work linked to the A46 Coventry Junctions (Walsgrave) scheme should therefore be checked against both instruments, not SI 2026/537 alone.
The instrument was signed on behalf of the Secretary of State for Transport by Natasha Kopala, Head of the Transport and Works Act Orders Unit, on 22 May 2026. That signature confirms the formal administrative route used for the correction. For readers tracking infrastructure planning decisions, the key point is straightforward. From 27 May 2026, the legally relevant version of the A46 Coventry Junctions (Walsgrave) consent is the original 2026 order as amended by the correction order published on legislation.gov.uk.