The Government has published a draft Statutory Order that would class major sewer schemes as Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects (NSIPs).
If the Order is approved by Parliament it will mean that all proposed major sewer schemes would have to be submitted to just the Planning Inspectorate, rather than submit potentially multiple applications to many local planning authorities.
NSIPs are major infrastructure developments that are defined in the Planning Act 2008 and have a separate planning regime. The Order proposes to extend the definition of NSIPs in the Planning Act 2008 to include, "the construction or alteration of infrastructure for the transfer or storage of waste water.”
To come within the proposed definition, the main purpose of the infrastructure must be to transfer waste water for storage, or for the storage of waste water prior to treatment, or both, the draft Order said.
The infrastructure project must also be expected to have a capacity for the storage of waste water exceeding 350,000 cubic metres. All alterations to infrastructure that meet the above requirements would also be classed as a NSIP.
Criteria for assessing whether a particular project should be treated as a NSIP would be included in separate section of the Planning Act 2008.
The Order was laid before Parliament on 26 March and will be considered by the Joint Committee on Statutory Instruments. It will be considered under the 'affirmative resolution procedure', which requires positive approval by Parliament before it can be made.
Read the Order here.
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