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UK government water NSIPs changes would help major schemes in the planning pipeline
31 Jul 2024, 1:02 pm
The UK government’s proposed changes to the nature of and thresholds for water resource infrastructure projects that are to qualify automatically as being nationally significant are welcomed, an expert has said.
The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government recently launched a consultation seeking views on proposed reforms to the national planning policy framework (NPPF) and broader national planning policy. The proposals aim to achieve sustainable growth in the planning system across England.
Addressing increasing issues with water scarcity and quality are part of the government proposals. According to a recent drinking water inspectorate report (90 pages/ 14.1MB), there is a growing gap in the water supplies across England, with the gap expected to rise to five billion litres a day by 2050.
The proposals detail plans to amend the Planning Act 2008 in order to tackle these issues, altering the definition and thresholds of water infrastructure nationally significant infrastructure projects (NSIPs) within the Act.
Planning expert Robbie Owen of Pinsent Masons said: “These proposed changes are the direct result of the sector grappling over the last five years with the way that the Planning Act is currently worded.”
The changes bring into the definition: water infrastructure projects designed to be used intermittently but provide significant peak water supplies during droughts; the construction, maintenance or operation of water infrastructure by a third party on behalf of a water undertaker; water recycling; and infrastructure transferring drinking water (as well as raw / untreated water, which is already included).
As referenced in Ofwat’s provisional determinations of price review 2024, announced earlier this month, there are over 20 such major projects in the planning pipeline.
Owen said: “If the changes are made, it will save a lot of work and some complexity for water companies early on in a project’s development, particularly by allowing them to avoid having to ask government for ‘opt-in’ section 35 directions so that the project can be consented automatically through the nationally significant infrastructure planning regime.”
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