Advice for developers proposing significant infrastructure projects
Pre-application advice services we provide
We provide a range of pre-application advice services for Significant Infrastructure Projects (SIPs) in Wales and the Welsh marine area (the sea adjacent to Wales out as far as the seaward boundary of the territorial sea). These include:
- A chargeable statutory preliminary service which provides a high-level statement on environmental considerations and assessment requirements for proposed SIPs, as well as broad advice on any potential Statement of Common Ground (SoCG) and other advice relating to pre-application consultation that we recommend you undertake with other specialist teams in Natural Resources Wales (NRW) or third parties. It is recommended that if you choose to use this service, it is requested in the early stages of project development.
- A chargeable discretionary advice service which provides further advice on several environmental topics and development types, including SIPs. Whilst this service is typically used for more detailed advice and discussions after receiving statutory preliminary service advice or any Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) scoping direction advice from Planning and Environment Decisions Wales (PEDW), it can be requested at any point during the pre-application stage. It is also recommended that you use this service in relation to any SoCG request later on in the pre-application stage, prior to submission of your proposed SIP application to PEDW.
Other advice we provide at pre-application stage
A SIP may require an EIA and where this is the case and we receive a scoping direction consultation from PEDW, we will provide advice to PEDW on the scope of the environmental statement and related assessment methodologies, as necessary. PEDW will include our consultation response as part of the scoping direction issued to the developer. We recover our costs for providing this advice from the developer.
You must consult us on your proposed SIP application as part of statutory pre-application consultation and publicity in accordance with Section 30 of the Infrastructure (Wales) Act 2024 and Regulation 8 of the Infrastructure Consent (Pre-Application and Application Procedure and Transitional Provisions) (Wales) Regulations 2025. At this stage, your proposed SIP application should be well developed having been informed by earlier engagement with our statutory preliminary service where sought, any non-statutory discretionary advice service provided by us and any scoping direction advice received.
We will provide you with a substantive response to the consultation detailing whether we have:
- no comment with reasons for that response
- no objection with reference to any current standing advice
- identified concerns and how they can be addressed
- identified concerns and would object to an application made in the same or substantially the same terms with reasons for the objection(s)
Email your pre-application consultation notice for the proposed SIP application to: infrastructure.planning@cyfoethnaturiolcymru.gov.uk
We will provide a substantive response within 42 days beginning with the day after the date the notice is given unless an extension of time is agreed.
We recover our costs for providing you with the substantive response.
How to make a request for our statutory preliminary service
We provide a statutory preliminary service for all proposed SIPs on request by the applicant in accordance with Section 27 of the Infrastructure (Wales) Act 2024 and the Infrastructure Consent (Miscellaneous Provisions) (Wales) Regulations 2025. All requests for this preliminary service must be supported by:
- a completed preliminary services request form
- for terrestrial development in Wales, a plan drawn to an identified scale and showing the direction of north
- for development in the Welsh marine area, co-ordinates which identify the location to which the application relates
- any other plans, drawings and information necessary to describe the proposed development
Email your preliminary service request to: infrastructure.planning@cyfoethnaturiolcymru.gov.uk
Subject to the submission of all of the above information and payment of the fee, the request will be accepted as valid and we will provide you with a notice of acceptance. If it is invalid, we will inform you of the reasons why your request has not been accepted.
The service will be provided within 29 days from the validation notice date unless an extension of time is agreed.
As part of this service, and in accordance with statutory requirements, we will provide you with:
- a statement of environmental considerations for the proposed development
- a statement of any environmental assessments that may be required in relation to the proposed development
- details of any potential statement of common ground and
- advice on any pre-application consultation that may be carried out, including any persons who may be consulted
You can also make a written request for a pre-application meeting. Where we receive such a request, we will inform you of whether or not a meeting will be held within 15 days.
Please note that there is no statutory requirement for us to accept the pre-application meeting request and any decision to proceed will be made on a case by case basis. Where we accept a request, we will recover our costs for preparing and providing advice at the meeting.
Publishing statutory preliminary service advice
We must keep and publish a register of requests for the statutory preliminary service, which must contain:
- a copy of the preliminary service request form
- any plan, documentation, reports or other information submitted and
- NRW’s preliminary service response
We must normally publish this information and documents at the time of providing the service. If an applicant wishes to request that we withhold certain information from the public register, for example due to commercial confidentiality, they must provide reasons for maintaining confidentiality that outweigh the public interest in disclosure. Any delay in publication can only be until PEDW receives notification of a proposed SIP application, or three years after the advice is issued, whichever is the sooner.