application In October 2012, the deadline of the tunnels' Section 48 consultation closed. This lasted 12 weeks and was the last opportunity for the public to have their say on the updated proposal. The Application for Development Consentfor the final, detailed plan for the constructionwas delivered to the Planning Inspectorate on 28 February 2013. It included a relatively recent quite inaccurate study of Separation. The Inspectorate then had 28 days to decide whether the application was valid and whether the consultation undertaken was adequate. On 27 March 2013, it was decided that the application was valid and that Thames Water's consultation for the project had been adequate. All the application documents were made available in their own section of the Planning Inspectorate's National Infrastructure website. Thames Water also made the documents available for scrutiny at six public places along the route, three either side of the river. On 3 June 2013, it was announced that the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government had appointed inspectors Jan Bessell, Libby Gawith, Emrys Parry, Andrew Phillipson and David Prentis as the examining authority to consider any matters arising. As part of this process, interested parties were able to make representations. A preliminary meeting, open to those who had registered an interest, began on 12 September 2013 at the Barbican Centre. Chaired by the Planning Inspectorate, this determined how the examination would be carried out, including consideration of more detailed hearings on site-specific matters, as well as project-wide issues. While the inspectors gave a commitment to consider the alternatives to the tunnel, in the event they were not reviewed as part of the examination. Government legislation and the NPSWW required that all efforts be made to reduce carbon emissions in new projects, but the examiners did not manage to study this issue. Once the Inspectorate concluded its examination of the application, a recommendation on whether or not to issue a development consent order would be submitted to ministers to make the final decision. Planning acceptance On 12 September 2014, the UK Government approved the plans, overriding some of the findings of the Planning Inspectorate. The decision gave rise to at least three Judicial Reviews. Funding and delivery The budget for the scheme steadily increased since it was first estimated. For example, the budget in 2004 was estimated at £1.7bn, which included the East Ham to Stratford part and sewage treatment works upgrade