The countdown to the new Infrastructure Consenting regime in Wales is on

A set of five regulations were laid before Senedd Cymru on the 17 June 2025 which provide some of the, much awaited, detailed procedural guidelines for the Infrastructure Consenting (IC) regime in Wales introduced by the Infrastructure (Wales) Act 2024 (“the Act”). 

The regulations make provision for pre-application requirements, the making and consulting on an application, the procedure for examining and deciding applications, the compulsory acquisition of land or rights over land, the charging of fees and other miscellaneous matters necessary to ensure the implementation of the Act: 

1. Procedure and transitional matters: The Infrastructure Consent (Pre-Application and Application Procedure and Transitional Provisions) (Wales) Regulations 2025; 
2. Examination and decision-making: The Infrastructure Consent (Examination and Decision) (Procedure) (Wales) Regulations 2025;
3. Fees: The Infrastructure Consent (Fees) (Wales) Regulations 2025;
4. Compulsory acquisition: The Infrastructure Consent (Compulsory Acquisition) (Wales) Regulations 2025.
5. Miscellaneous provisions: The Infrastructure Consent (Miscellaneous Provisions) (Wales) Regulations 2025; and 

The regulations are designed to work together, and they cross-refer to each other so that they can operate as a cohesive legislative framework for the Act. All these regulations will come into force on 15 December 2025. 

We summarise below the content for each of the five regulations published to date. 

Pre-Application and Application Procedure and Transitional Provisions

These regulations deal, as the name indicates, with provisions for pre-application processes and procedures and how applications for ICs will be dealt with by the Welsh Ministers. In particular, they include provision in relation to notices, acceptance, pre-application consultation and publicity, what the notices have to include, general requirements for applications, validating an application, consulting statutory consultees and other persons, local impact reports, marine impact reports, and the procedure in respect of variation of applications. A parallel can be drawn with the Infrastructure Planning (Applications: Prescribed Forms and Procedure) Regulations 2009/2264 applicable to the DCO regime but there are significant differences.

Notification of your intention to submit an application remains a requirement.  PEDW will issue a letter of acceptance of this notification which triggers an 18 month window in which the application must be made (subject to some limited exceptions). 

What the acceptance notice also triggers is a requirement to have a website within 3 months of the acceptance of notification and for that to be maintained with a detailed list of information until the application is made.   There are some questions about the timing of the provision of the information and when an applicant may have that information available so timing of the notification is likely to remain an important consideration. 

Transitional provisions are made for notice requirements where applications made in the 12-month period beginning the day after the regulations come into force. 

The schedule to the regulations sets out a list of consultees who must be consulted before the grant of an IC according to the type of development being applied for. The regulations differentiate between statutory consultees who can claim fees and specialist consultees who can’t. 

Examination and Decision-making

The scope of these regulations set out all relevant provision in relation to the appointment and functioning of an examining authority, preparation for and managing the examination, the date for making a decision as to the choice of procedure for the examination the conduct of the examination, varying an application, and the procedure after examination, including making decisions and after making decisions.  

Fees

The consultation on fees undertaken to inform this set of regulation made it clear that the IC regime would operate on the basis of full cost recovery.  This set of regulations facilitates that and therefore there is not much to be surprised about.

Fees can be charged by Welsh Ministers, planning authorities and NRW for pre-application advice.  Unsurprisingly these regulations cover application fees, fees for making application for powers of entry to survey land and for other authorities to engage with any applications to remove consent requirement or agree to deemed consents.

All fees must not exceed the cost of providing the advice and must be published on the relevant website for at least a month before coming into force.  There are provisions for timely payment, increasing fees where it becomes clear that the fee published will not be sufficient for the pre-application advice requested as well as provisions for recovery of fees not paid. 

There is the ability for planning authorities and other relevant statutory consultees (being those listed as bodies to be consulted before granting an IC) for other services related to an IC consent which do not fall within pre-application advice. 

Welsh Minsters are obliged to pay planning authorities a fee for producing the local impact report but this is halved if the Local Impact Report (LIR) is two weeks late.  This suggests that no fee is payable for LIRs produced more than 2 weeks after the relevant deadline. The same applies to NRW when producing a marine impact report. 

Finally, it is worth noting that fees paid to Welsh Ministers will be refunded where they are not spent but not until after the determination of the application.

These regulations make it clear that full cost recovery is happening but as to what the fees will be we will need to wait for the various bodies to start publishing their fee schedules. What the regulations have done is make it very easy and flexible for the various bodies charging fees to amend those as and when it is necessary. 

Compulsory Acquisition

Where an IC will authorise compulsory acquisition of land or rights over land, these regulations provide the legal reqirements applicable to all stages of the process. 

The requirements provided in these regulations is in addition to any contained in other regulations that implement the Act. 

Key issues included in the compulsory acquisition regulations include:

1. Procedural matters in relation to submission such as the procedures to be followed before an application for infrastructure consent is submitted, the procedures that must be followed when submitting and validating an application;
2. The procedures matters for varying an application to include land not initially included, procedures about representations, the procedure for determining the examination procedure and the procedures that must take place after an infrastructure consent order;
3. Additional requirements throughout the application process to give various notices to anybody with an interest in the land to which the compulsory acquisition request relates or any part of that land;
4. There are also additional documents that an application for infrastructure consent must contain, including a book of reference and information relating to the request for compulsory acquisition. 
5. Additional requirements to those in the Infrastructure Consent (Examination and Decision) (Procedure) (Wales) Regulations 2025 include to hold a meeting before determining the examination procedure. There are also different requirements as to the date for determination of the procedure for examination and to ensure that representations validly made by people with an interest in an application which is varied to include a request for compulsory acquisition are considered.

Miscellaneous Provisions

These regulations make provision for miscellaneous matters that ensure the purpose of the Act is appropriately implemented such as provision in respect of requests for directions to be given under the Act. In particular, regulation 4 and schedule 1 of the regulations include a detailed list the projects that may be directed to be significant infrastructure projects under section 22(2)(c) of the Act, which are:

1. Energy:
   1. construction, extension or alteration of solar generating station or wind generating station expected to have an installed generating capacity of more than 35 megawatts but less than 50MW;
   2. construction, extension or alteration of generating station (other than solar and wind) expected to have an installed generating capacity of more than 35 megawatts but less than 50MW;
   3. construction or alteration of an electricity sub-station;
   4. installation of an electric line above ground associated with a generating station with a nominal voltage of 132 Kilovolts or less, with a length less than 2 kilometres and where it is other than above ground with a length of at least 2 kilometres;
   5. construction or alteration of a liquified neutral gas facility that is not a significant infrastructure project;
   6. construction or alteration of a gas reception facility that is not a significant infrastructure project;
   7. construction or alteration of hydrogen production facilities.
2. Transport:
   1. construction or alteration of a highway that is not a significant infrastructure project and where permitted development right do not apply.
   2. construction or alteration of a rail freight interchange;
   3. construction or alteration of harbour facilities
3. Water: construction or alteration of a dam or reservoir where the volume of water to be held back by the dam or stored in the reservoir is expected to exceed 1 million cubic metres but not to exceed 10 million cubic metres.
4. Waste Water: construction or alteration of a waste water treatment plant where the treatment plant (when constructed) is expected to have a capacity exceeding a population equivalent of 250,000 but not exceeding a population equivalent of 500,000.
5. Waste: construction or alteration of a hazardous waste facility that is not a significant infrastructure project.
6. Flood defences: construction of flood defence works with a total length of 500 meters or more.

Conclusion

These regulations will come into force on the 15 December 2025 together other specified provisions with Infrastructure (Wales) Act 2024 (Commencement No. 1) Order 2025.

Two further sets of regulations are yet to be made in relation to the implementation of the Act relating to consequential and transitional provisions, and in respect of changing and revoking an infrastructure consent order.

A written statement published by the Welsh Government on the 18 July 2025[1] confirms that the Government is currently preparing guidance on a number of areas to supplement the new consenting process, including further detailed advice on pre-application requirements, making an application and how communities can get involved and that two further sets of regulations on provisions for consequential and transitional arrangements for changing and revoking an infrastructure consent order will be brought forward later this year.

[1] Written Statement: Implementation of the Infrastructure (Wales) Act 2024 – Progressing to a new infrastructure consenting process (18 July 2025) | GOV.WALES