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Infrastructure Consent (Miscellaneous Provisions) (Wales) Regulations 2025

Synopsis

These regulations will enable the Welsh Ministers to direct that further types of project are 'significant infrastructure projects'.

Where a direction is made, these projects will require infrastructure consent under the Infrastructure (Wales) Act 2024.

Summary

The Infrastructure Consent (Miscellaneous Provisions) (Wales) Regulations 2025 will come into force on 15 December 2025 and support the Infrastructure (Wales) Act 2024.

This legislation will apply in Wales only.

What will change?

The Infrastructure Consent (Miscellaneous Provisions) (Wales) Regulations 2025 support the introduction of updated infrastructure consenting powers under the Infrastructure (Wales) Act 2024.

Projects that the Welsh Ministers may Direct as constituting ‘Significant Infrastructure Projects’

Schedule 1 defines development projects that the Welsh Ministers may direct as constituting a ‘significant infrastructure project’. Developments subject to these directions will require infrastructure consent under the Infrastructure (Wales) Act 2024.

Sample developments included in Schedule 1 include:

Energy:
- Construction, extension or alteration of a solar generating station or wind generating station in Wales or the Welsh marine area that is expected to have an installed generating capacity of more than 35 megawatts but less than 50 megawatts.
- Construction or alteration of an electricity sub-station.
Transport:
- The construction or alteration of a highway in Wales that is not specifically classified as a significant infrastructure project under the Infrastructure (Wales) Act 2024.
- construction, alteration or increase in the permitted use of an airport in Wales or the Welsh marine area that is not specifically classified as a significant infrastructure project.
Water:
- Construction or alteration of a dam or reservoir in Wales where the volume of water to be held back by the dam or stored in the reservoir is expected to exceed 1 million cubic metres but not to exceed 10 million cubic metres.
Waste water:
- Construction or alteration of a waste water treatment plant in Wales or the Welsh marine area where the treatment plant (when constructed) is expected to have a capacity exceeding a population equivalent of 250,000 but not exceeding a population equivalent of 500,000.
Waste:
- Construction or alteration of a hazardous waste facility in Wales or the Welsh marine area specifically classified as a significant infrastructure project.
Flood defences:
- Construction of flood defence works with a total length of 500 meters or more.

A procedure is established for persons to make requests to the Welsh Ministers to make significant infrastructure consent directions.

Consent Requirements that may be removed by Infrastructure Consent Orders

Infrastructure consent orders made may remove the requirement to obtain certain consents listed in Schedule 2. These concern:

Coast protection work consents under the Coast Protection Act 1949;
Approval requirements on furnaces, arrestment plant or the height of chimneys under the Clean Air Act 1993;
Felling licences under the Forestry Act 1967; and
Written notices for the removal of hedgerows under the Hedgerows Regulations 1997.

Consents that may be deemed to be granted by Infrastructure Consent Orders

Schedule 3 enables a variety of consents under other legislation to be granted by infrastructure consent orders. Examples of these authorisations include:

Consents for work affecting watercourses under the Land Drainage Act 1991;
Discharge consents for works purposes under the Water Industry Act 1991;
Environmental permits for qualifying waste facilities and medium combustion plant under the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2016;
An installation greenhouse gas emissions permit under the Greenhouse Gas Emissions Trading Scheme Order 2020;
Powers to place pipe-lines in the streets under the Pipe-Lines Act 1962; and
Road traffic regulation orders under the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984.

Other Changes

Other matters addressed by the Infrastructure Consent (Miscellaneous Provisions) (Wales) Regulations 2025 include:

Mandatory pre-application services, how pre-application services must be delivered and how these may be requested;
The maintenance of registers of pre-application services and infrastructure consent applications; and
A duty on statutory consultees to provide annual reports to the Welsh Ministers on their performance in providing substantive responses to consultations regarding infrastructure consent applications.

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