The Planning Inspectorate has unveiled reforms aimed at speeding up the planning process for nationally significant infrastructure projects.
Reforms include a new pre-application service including an option for project developers to pay more for a fast-tracked decision.
The reforms have been drawn up in response to calls from government to cut red tape holding up major projects.
Under the current system, projects deemed to be of national significance must be examined by the Planning Inspectorate before being granted a development consent order (DCO) by the relevant secretary of state.
An increasing number of DCO applications has led to delays in the system with projects now typically taking more than four years to be processed, almost double the two-and-a-half year timespan recorded in 2012.
According to the government’s Action plan for nationally significant infrastructure projects – published in February 2023 – delays to the current process are most prominent in offshore wind developments.
The new pre-applicational service will consist of three different tiers: Basic, Standard and Enhanced. Every applicant must subscribe to one of these tiers at the pre-application stage of the process.
Those wishing to have the Basic service from the Planning Inspectorate will pay less than those wanting the Enhanced service.
In return for paying more, a fast-track route to a decision will be available to projects which have used the Enhanced level of pre-application service and have also satisfactorily met the quality standard.
However, not all projects using the Enhanced service will wish to, or be suitable for fast-track, the Planning Inspectorate said.
More details on the pre-application service will be released next month, describing the three different pre-application tiers and the service available.
The Planning Inspectorate said it will also move from publishing advice notes to publishing updated advice pages to provide more specific advice on newer areas of technology, such as solar.
The National Infrastructure Planning website is also being given a revamp in a bid to make it easier to track the progress of applications.