SIP Pre-Application Consultation: New Guidance published

The Welsh Government has added to its suite of guidance notes for the Welsh Infrastructure Consent regime with new Guidance covering the expectations around pre-application consultation (“PAC”) and publicity.

After the release of the Infrastructure Consent (Pre-Application and Application Procedure and Transitional Provisions) (Wales) Regulations 2025 (“IC (PAAPT) Regs 2025”) back in 2025, there was a degree of uncertainty on the precise requirements of the regime for PAC and publicity, some of which is now cleared up by the Guidance.

A full list of documents to be consulted on as part of satisfying the requirements of Regulation 8 and Part 3 of the IC (PAAPT) Regs 2025 is set out in the Guidance but we highlight some key points below.

Documents for consultation

The Guidance confirms applicants must publish a draft Infrastructure Consenting Order (ICO) and a draft Explanatory Memorandum in both English and Welsh as part of PAC. The Explanatory Memorandum must justify the need for the project, identify the relevant statutory powers and regulations, explain each power or provision sought in the ICO and why it is included, and clearly set out any revoked or deemed consents and where requirements sit within the ICO. 

Environmental statement

The Environmental Statement (“ES”) consulted upon should be a draft ES. If, following consultation, the ES requires amendments, the amended draft should be re‑consulted upon with the relevant statutory and specialist consultees. The guidance does not specify what degree of change triggers re‑consultation but this means that the draft ES will need to be an advanced, if not final, ES much like that in the previous DNS regime. 

Where re‑consultation is needed, the 18‑month notification period (from pre-application notification to full application) may be extended by 56 days. This leaves little time to make updates to ES chapters so in practice, the ES should be in a robust state at the point of pre-application notification and PAC being undertaken.

Compulsory acquisition

In the event an applicant is intending to include compulsory acquisition powers, the applicant must give written notice of their proposed application to anyone they reasonably believe has a legal interest in the affected land.  The Infrastructure Consent (Compulsory Acquisition) (Wales) Regulations 2025 specifies that applicants are required to undertake “diligent enquiries” to find out who has an interest in the land related to the proposed compulsory acquisition, which is standard practice for CPOs. The Guidance describes this as “all reasonable efforts” but land agents with CPO experience will be familiar with the concept of “diligent enquiry”.

Publicity requirements

All consultation documents must be published on the applicant’s website within three months of the pre‑application notice of acceptance. This does not leave much time to prepare and finalise documents so applicants should effectively be ready to launch consultation when they notify.

Applicants must also comply with the following notice requirements by publishing notices in English and Welsh as follows: 

• put up a site notice in at least one place on or near the land for not less than 42 days;
• where the development is a linear scheme exceeding 5 kilometres, put up a site notice at intervals of no more than 5 kilometres;
• put a notice in a local newspaper for a minimum of 7 days;
• for developments located within the Welsh Marine Area, the notice must be published in at least one fishing journal (if one is in circulation in the area) and Lloyd’s List; and
• hold at least one at public engagement event in the locality.

Further guidance on best practice for public engagement is being prepared and will be published when available.

Applicants must still conduct comprehensive engagement with prescribed bodies, local authorities and the public, publicise proposals widely, and produce a consultation report addressing feedback and explaining its influence on the final application. Consultation periods must also run for at least 42 days.

Final thoughts

As has been expected the Welsh Government is reinforcing in this guidance that they expect applicants to ‘front load’ applications and put full and detailed information about their projects into the public domain at statutory consultation.  Making changes post statutory consultation could require re-consultation.  Applicants should take notice and ensure that their applications are in an almost fully formed state when making a pre-application notification and going into PAC which will mean early engagement with consultees, the preparation of robust Ess and sufficient detail about the proposed application to enable the draft ICO and explanatory memorandum to be included. 

How can Burges Salmon help?

Our Planning & Compulsory Purchase team has extensive experience advising on Welsh planning and compulsory purchase projects and we regularly advise clients on how to navigate Welsh consenting regimes when promoting  projects.

If you have any queries or want to know more about the SIP regime, please do not hesitate to contact Cathryn Tracey (Partner) or Olivia Heininger (Associate) in our Planning & Compulsory Purchase team.