Large infrastructure projects such as wind farms are set to benefit from a new fast-track planning process.
Secretary of state for levelling up Greg Clark said the changes to the Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects process would be made through amendments to the Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill.
The new planning route will mean shorter deadlines can be set for examinations of certain projects, speeding up decisions and allowing projects to be built more quickly.
Clark said: “Particularly in a time of high inflation, things need to be done more quickly or costs of major infrastructure projects will rise. These changes will help deliver new infrastructure more quickly, by speeding up the planning process which often moves too slowly.”
The initiative is part of the government’s plans to speed up the planning process for large-scale projects, and builds on efforts in the Energy Security Strategy to ensure the country is building the infrastructure it needs faster than before.
The relevant secretary of state – for example for energy, transport, environment or levelling up – will decide whether to put the shorter deadline in place for Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects.
The government has also awarded more than £750,000 to 10 council-led projects to support innovation in ensuring the needs of local communities are reflected in the process. The funded projects are allocated to councils in Somerset, Cumbria, Essex, Suffolk, Leicestershire, North Yorkshire, Cambridgeshire, West Sussex and Norfolk.
The projects include Norfolk Council’s virtual system that will log information about local NSIPs including timeline and deadlines for applicants to see, and Selby District Council and North Yorkshire County Council’s collaboration on a multi-disciplinary environmental framework which sets out the local authority requirements for submitting an NSIP application.
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