Amendments to the Planning and Infrastructure Bill have been announced by the government, with the aim to slash a year from infrastructure delivery times
Clean energy projects, public transport links, and other major infrastructure will on average be delivered at least a year faster, as the government accelerates planning reforms.
Amendments to the Planning and Infrastructure Bill will scrap statutory consultation requirements specifically related to major infrastructure projects, reducing the average two-year consultation period in half. These changes will help deliver new roads, railways, and windfarms that will bolster the country’s connectivity and energy security, according to the government.
Streamlining the consultation process
The government will bring the community consultation process in line with planning applications for major housing schemes, and set out new statutory guidance to promote meaningful local engagement without constant revisions forcing developers to effectively start project designs over and fatiguing community engagement.
The government claims that this could save over £1bn for industry and taxpayers this Parliament.
Examples of delays under current system:
- Fens Reservoir: Over 1,000 days in pre-application due to a number of issues including around consultation requirements, expected submission in December 2026, supplying 250,000 homes with water.
- National Grid – Bramford to Twinstead: 717 days in pre-application for 29km of overhead lines and underground cables.
- Hinkley Point C: Three years in pre-application consultation; Sizewell C spent around seven-and-a-half years at this stage.
Wider reforms in the Bill will streamline and speed up planning decisions, remove blockers to major infrastructure and housing delivery, and support environmental goals through the new Nature Restoration Fund to achieve ‘win-win’ outcomes for both nature and the economy.
As a result, local people can still object and share their views but in a ‘more effective way’, with developers given the flexibility to adapt their schemes as needed without restarting the process: reducing delays and costs for projects, including datacentres, reservoirs, and solar farms, while ensuring local people’s voices are heard.
Delivering 1.5m new homes- and the necessary infrastructure to support them
The reforms will also boost the government’s efforts to build 1.5m homes by making it easier to deliver the roads, reservoirs and energy generation needed. Local authorities will also be made aware of proposed applications so that they can continue to play an important role informing and advising on developments, as well as advocating for local interests.
These changes build on the recent OBR forecast confirming the government’s planning overhaul, through an updated National Planning Policy Framework, will drive UK housebuilding to its highest level in over 40 years and boost the economy by £6.8bn by 2029/30.
Deputy prime minister and housing secretary Angela Rayner said: “Critical national infrastructure is key to Britain’s future and security – so we can’t afford to have projects held up by tiresome requirements and uncertainty, caused by a system that is not working for communities or developers and holding back our true potential.
“We are strengthening the Planning and Infrastructure Bill to make sure we can lead the world again with new roads, railways, and energy infrastructure as part of the Plan for Change, whilst ensuring local people still have a say in our journey to get Britain building.”
“What is critical is meaningful consultation”
Kevin Gibbs, planning lawyer at Charles Russell Speechlys, said: “Scrapping statutory consultation requirements for major infrastructure projects is an unexpected but welcomed step in the Government’s drive to radically transform the infrastructure consenting process. Vitally important consultation at an informative stage of an infrastructure project’s development has for too long been process driven. What is critical is meaningful consultation, not the process. Provided engagement with the relevant statutory bodies and communities is not lost, which can be safeguarded in the proposed statutory guidance, then today’s announcement will certainly cut the consenting timeline”.
James Robottom, head of policy, Renewable UK said: “This announcement represents a significant step forward for the renewable energy industry, as it will enable us to speed up the delivery of vital infrastructure projects to boost the UK’s energy security, grow the economy and help us to reach the Government’s target of clean power by 2030.
“The industry has a long track record of engaging early and closely with local communities and a wide range of environmental stakeholders, and this will continue as we want to carry on building projects with local support by giving communities a clear voice in the decision-making process. We look forward to feeding into the new guidance that will enable us to spend more time engaging with key stakeholders on the most important issues for each new project on a case by case basis and lead to even higher quality engagement and positive outcomes for nature.”
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