Planning chiefs have allowed the plans for the Sizewell C nuclear power station to move to the next stage.
The Planning Inspectorate have been considering the development consent order for the site since it was entered in May.
It had 28 days within which to either accept the plans and allow them to progress or require further work to be done.
Now the plans have been approved, work will begin to examine them further with documents being made available to the public.
Interested parties will then be able to register to make representations to the examiners who will look into the plans in much more detail.
The examiners can then make a recommendation to the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, Alok Sharma who will make the final decision, which is not expected until next year.
David Wood, Chairman of AONB, said: “This proposal is for the biggest development ever seen in a nationally designated landscape.
“The AONB Partnership has expressed concerns about the impact of the development on the natural beauty of the area during previous rounds of consultation and my concerns are that the AONB Partnership is currently unable to form a collective view, due to some members being furloughed and redeployed, it is of grave concern.
Simon Amstutz, AONB Manager, said: “We will look carefully and challenge where necessary, at what is contained in the Development Consent Order and how EDF Energy have assessed the impacts on the AONB.
“The AONB Partnership has previously expressed its concern about the impact of the proposed new development on the AONB. This concern includes the impacts of the new buildings, proposed new pylons and roads on natural beauty.
“The impacts on footpaths in the AONB during construction, particularly the coast path and the impacts on tranquillity and the dark skies associated with the AONB.”
Adam Rowlands, RSPB Suffolk Area Manager said: “Today we have heard that the Planning Inspectorate has made the decision to accept EDF’s Sizewell C DCO application. We have taken a position that Sizewell C must not go ahead because to date we have not seen the evidence that Sizewell C can be built without detrimentally impacting wildlife at RSPB Minsmere and beyond.
“We sincerely hope that the Planning Inspectorate’s decision means that this evidence has now been presented and potential catastrophic impacts on nature have been fully addressed.
“We are disappointed to be brought into this process at this time of national challenge, but we will put all we can into engaging with the application consideration process to achieve the best outcome for nature.”
EDF have been contacted for comment.
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