The Planning Act (2008)

The Act established a single development consent regime for major infrastructure projects. Significant provisions in this Act include:

• The creation of a new independent Infrastructure Planning Commission (IPC) for major infrastructure projects. For energy projects, this means schemes over 50MW
• The creation of National Policy Statements (NPS), which set out the strategy for replacing major infrastructure
• Introduction of a Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) which enables charging authorities to levy a charge on development to support infrastructure development

Changes to the existing (Town and Country) planning system including appeal procedures

For major infrastructure projects, the Planning Act seeks to speed up planning decisions and remove unnecessary delays. National infrastructure priorities in areas such as energy, aviation, road and rail transport, water and waste will be detailed by the NPS and the granting of permission to individual projects will be made independently by the IPC.

www.planningportal.gov.uk/england/government/en/1115315167262.html

www.opsi.gov.uk/acts/acts2008/en/ukpgaen_20080029_en_1