On 1 March 2016 the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 was amended to prescribe what projects constitute Developments of National Significance (DNS).
Examples of DNS projects include:
- electricity generating stations expected to have installed generating capacity of 10-50MW (or 10+ MW for onshore wind)
- airport related development of at least 1 million passengers or 5000cargo movements per year expected
- waste water treatment plants with expected capacity to serve a population exceeding 500,000 or infrastructure with a capacity exceeding 350,000 cubic metres to treat waste water or to store waste water
See the Welsh Government's DNS guidance
Guidance from Planning Inspectorate Wales to applicants and public bodies involved in DNS applications
Fees associated with DNS applications
Applications for qualifying projects are made to and determined by Welsh Government ministers.
Fees
If the local planning authority is requested by the applicant to provide pre-application advice for a DNS, a fee is payable and must accompany the request.
At 1 March 2016 the fee for this service is £1500, fees are non refundable.
We will aim to respond to you within 28 days of a valid request being made (or such other period as may be agreed in writing between the applicant and the authority.
Pre-application enquiry
Download the DNS statutory pre-application form (pdf) to write to the local planning authority.
Read the DNS legislation guidance to learn what information you are required to give and what we are required to give in response.
We will give the best advice based on the information available to us.
Sometimes information may come to light following initial pre-application discussions that alters the case officer view of a scheme and the accuracy of the information you provide will affect this in some cases.
Any advice given by council officers for pre-application enquiries does not constitute a formal decision by the council as the local planning authority.
Views or opinions are given in good faith and to the best of our ability but without prejudice to the formal consideration of any planning application.
Final decision
The final decision on any application can only be taken after consultation with local people, statutory consultees and other interested parties and will be made by Welsh ministers.
Officers cannot guarantee the final formal decision that will be made on applications.
Pre-application advice that has been provided will be carefully considered in reaching a decision or recommendation on an application, subject to the proviso that circumstances and information may change or come to light that could alter that position.
In cases where the submission of planning applications is delayed following the receipt of advice, the weight given to pre-application advice will decline over time and can be superseded by new government advice or new planning policies.
Freedom of Information
The council may be required to disclose information if requested by a third party as part of a Freedom of Information request.
If you consider that the information you provide is commercially sensitive or should be confidential for other reasons and therefore not subject to the disclosure requirements of the Act, you should include a statement to this effect and the reasons for it as part of your written submissions.
The council will try to ensure confidentiality but any such requests must be marked as confidential and must clearly state issues of commercial sensitivity or other significant reasons why this information may not be made public.
The council will not be held responsible for such issues subsequently found to be inadequate by the Information Commissioner and you should therefore take legal advice if you have any concerns.
Contact
Email [email protected] or write to Development Management, Regeneration, Investment and Housing, Newport City Council, Civic Centre, Newport NP20 4UR