The list below is a record of advice the Planning Inspectorate has provided in respect of the Planning Act 2008 process.
There is a statutory duty under section 51 of the Planning Act 2008 to record the advice that is given in relation to an application or a potential application and to make this publicly available. Advice we have provided is recorded below together with the name of the person or organisation who asked for the advice and the project it relates to. The privacy of any other personal information will be protected in accordance with our Information Charter which you should view before sending information to the Planning Inspectorate.
Note that after a project page has been created for a particular application, any advice provided that relates to it will also be published under the ‘s51 advice’ tab on the relevant project page.
Advice given between between 1 October 2009 and 14 April 2015 has been archived. View the archived advice.
General
Enquiry
As I understand the process, in order for a NSIP to proceed, a DCO application must be made to the Planning Inspectorate.
What if a relatively small infrastructure project (a railway re-opening) fails to meet all of the legal criteria for being classed as a NSIP?
Can a DCO application for a non-NSIP infrastructure project still be submitted to the Planning Inspectorate, later to be signed by the Secretary of State (or delegate)?
Or must a non-NSIP infrastructure project use some other process, such as a TWAct Order?
Advice given
Development consent (ie consent in the form of a Development Consent Order) is required for development to the extent that the development is or forms part of a Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project (NSIP). NSIPs are defined in ss14 through s30A of the Planning Act 2008 (as amended) (the PA2008).
Section 35 of the PA2008 though states that the Secretary of State may give a direction for development to be treated as development for which development consent is required. A ‘s35 direction’ is the only mechanism through which development which is not an NSIP (or part of an NSIP) can be caused to require development consent.
