Deadline for responses: 13 December 2024 

Yesterday the Welsh Government launched its consultation on the regulations to the Infrastructure (Wales) Act 2024 – Implementing the Infrastructure (Wales) Act 2024 | GOV.WALES. 

The Infrastructure Act provides for a new consenting process that will enable the Welsh Ministers to determine applications for Significant Infrastructure Projects (SIP). The Act contains the framework for the overall process, with the finer details to be prescribed in Regulations. 

Chapter 7 on Pre-application Notification and Consultation has been shaped already by the consultation that took place earlier this year – full details can be found here: Infrastructure (Wales) Bill: requirements for pre-application consultation | GOV.WALES. 

In line with some of our own feedback to the consultation around promoting best practice and how we ensure consistency in the quality of engagement taking place, there are a number of changes proposed for the SIP process that build on the DNS regime. 

Key points to note:

• Website: A requirement to ‘open and maintain a website dedicated to their proposed development’ that has to be live within 3 months of the pre-application notification being validated. There is also a list of minimum requirements for the website.
• Marine or Land: Publicity and notification requirements will vary depending on whether a proposed development is on land or in the Welsh marine area.
• Public event: For land based development, a new requirement for a public event as part of the statutory consultation process, the detail of this to be left to the discretion of the developer.
• Statutory Consultees: Proposed requirement for statutory consultees to make a substantive response within 42 days, and a requirement for all statutory consultees to provide the Welsh Ministers with an annual report relating to performance.
• Community Consultees: No requirement for community consultees to respond within 42 days but failure to do so ‘will indicate the consultee has no comment to make and has no objections’.

Two of the key questions within this section include:

• The potential for the introduction of a ‘pre-application validation check’ – to improve the quality of submissions and receive initial feedback on their proposals to help shape the final designs.
• A proposed recommended two-step approach to pre-application consultation to ensure existing statutory consultees concerns raised at the pre-application stage are addressed before a formal application is submitted. .

Both of these points align with Grasshopper’s position set out in our consultation response around ensuring phased engagement to allow for iterative and meaningful engagement.  It also highlights the importance of completing the consultation circle by feeding back to consultees in a meaningful way.

Other areas covered by the consultation include:

1. Overview of transitional arrangements to minimise disruption from one planning regime to another.
2. Defines developments that fall within the Infrastructure Consenting (IC) regime under the Act.  Where developments fall outside of the thresholds but is still considered nationally significant such as in the case of novel technologies, the Welsh Ministers can direct the project to be considered as a SIP under the new consenting process. 
3. Managing cross boundary applications.
4. Extinguished and deemed consents.
5. Pre-application advice and information from Welsh Ministers, LPA and NRW in terms of request requirements and response expectations.
6. Pre-application notification and consultation – reflecting feedback from the recent consultation published last week – Infrastructure (Wales) Bill: requirements for pre-application consultation | GOV.WALES.
7. Process and requirement for making an application for a SIP.
8. Role of statutory consultees in the examination of the application and providing substantive responses and impact reports. 
9. Proposed fees model reflecting feedback from the previous consultation (as above). 
10. Proposals for an examination authority and details of examination procedure. 
11. Deciding applications and making orders – including who decides and what they need to consider when deciding.
12. Environmental Impact Assessment and information required. 
13. Post decision – including correcting orders and managing discharge requirements and project amendments. 
14. Compulsory acquisition and how the new process should be implemented. 
15. Registers of pre-application services and application for Infrastructure Consented to maintain transparency. 

Deadline for responses is 13 December 2024.