Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects meaning

In this issue When planning permission is required Planning enforcement Obtaining, amending and implementing planning permission Nationally significant infrastructure projects Daily and weekly news alerts New and updated content Related Documents When planning permission is required Court clarifies scope of section 55 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 and resolving ambiguity in prior approvals (Dharmeshkumar v SSLUHC) In Dharmeshkumar v SSLUHC, the High Court found that substantial refurbishment amounted to “development” for the purposes of section 55 of the TCPA 1990, as it materially altered the building’s outward appearance and therefore required express consent. The court also confirmed that any uncertainty within prior approvals can be resolved by referring to the application paperwork and drawings, ensuring compliant aspects remain authorised while only non-compliant works face enforcement. See News Analysis: Court clarifies scope of section 55 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 and resolving ambiguity in prior approvals (Dharmeshkumar v SSLUHC). Planning...

In this issue: Public rights of access Planning applications and decisions Nationally significant infrastructure projects Housing Daily and weekly news alerts Latest Q&A Related Documents Public rights of access Supreme Court holds that Dartmoor Commons Act right of access extends to wild camping (Darwall v Dartmoor National Park Authority) In Darwall v Dartmoor National Park Authority [2025] UKSC 20, the Supreme Court unanimously rejected Mr and Mrs Darwall’s appeal, confirming that section 10(1) of the Dartmoor Commons Act 1985 (DCA 1985) confers a public right of access that includes wild camping as open‑air recreation. Hannah Brown, senior solicitor, and Matthew McFeeley, Partner, at Richard Buxton Solicitors, with Rosie Brain, solicitor at Clarke Willmott, assess the ruling’s implications. McFeeley highlights that, aside from the core question of statutory interpretation, the decision is notable for clarifying when, under Pepper v Hart, extrinsic materials may illuminate Parliament’s intention, and for evaluating the wider legal context created by earlier statutes...

Note: the CPRC no longer distributes the underlying papers with the minutes, and consequently no documents explaining the matters discussed are supplied alongside this News Analysis. A copy of the minutes can be found here: Minutes of the Civil Procedure Rule Committee. Welcome, apologies and introductory remarks (item 1) The minutes of the 9 May 2025 meeting were approved (for more detail, see News Analysis: Minutes of the CPR Committee meeting—9 May 2025). From the action log, the following items were recorded: Forms and standard orders—various strands of work remain in progress, and a new working group will be created. The Chair and Secretariat will finalise the finer details outside the committee. Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024—drafting was agreed under item 3 at the Minutes of the CPR Committee meeting—9 May 2025, and the finalised draft is now circulating within the sub-committee for approval. A handful of substantive issues have emerged but are not anticipated to require consideration by the full committee....

The Planning Act 2008 (PA 2008) establishes the consent framework for nationally significant infrastructure projects (NSIPs) across energy, transport, water, waste water and waste. Decisions on development consent order (DCO) applications may be taken by reference to any relevant National Policy Statements (NPSs), which articulate national policy for NSIPs. See Practice Note: National Policy Statements. While the Secretary of State (SoS) is legally accountable for the decision, in practice the government entrusts acceptance and examination of applications to the Planning Inspectorate (PINS). See Practice Note: Examination of nationally significant infrastructure projects—general. The government has issued a ‘Collection: National Infrastructure Planning Guidance Portal’, containing guidance on NSIP pre-examination, the examination itself, the fast-track route for NSIPs, and awards of costs relating to the examination of DCO applications. Collectively, these provisions define the route by which nationally significant schemes are assessed and authorised, with guidance set out in practice notes and the collection. Fast-track process Under PA 2008, s 98(1), the Examining Authority (EA) must conclude examination of the application...

Key legislation Environmental impact assessment (EIA) safeguards the environment by obliging the planning decision‑maker, including a local planning authority (LPA), when determining whether to grant planning permission for a project likely to have significant environmental effects, to take those likely significant effects into account in the decision‑making process within town and country planning matters as part of that decision‑making process. In the context of town and country planning, EIA is regulated by: the Town and Country Planning (Environmental Impact Assessment) Regulations 2017 (English EIA Regulations), SI 2017/571 in England; and the Town and Country Planning (Environmental Impact Assessment) (Wales) Regulations 2017 (Welsh EIA Regulations), SI 2017/567 in Wales together, the ‘EIA Regulations’. The EIA Regulations implement into English and Welsh law the changes introduced by Archived Directive 2014/52/EU to Archived Directive 2011/92/EU on assessing the effects of certain public and private projects on the environment (as they had effect immediately before IP completion day—11 pm on 31 December 2020), insofar as they...

This Flowchart sets out the application procedure for development consent orders (DCOs) for nationally significant infrastructure projects under the Planning Act 2008, from pre-application, obtaining information about interests in the land, submission of the application, acceptance by the Secretary of State, pre-examination, examination, the Secretary of State's final decision and challenge. This flowchart explains the procedure for applying for development consent orders (DCOs) for nationally significant infrastructure projects under the Planning Act 2008, covering pre-application stage, gathering details of interests in the land, submitting the application, acceptance by the Secretary of State, pre-examination, examination, the Secretary of State’s final decision, and challenge...