Nationally significant infrastructure projects: advice on working with public bodies in the infrastructure planning process

Advice Note

Document Status

Current

Supplement

Sustainability, Environment, Development & Planning

Series

Advice Note

Abstract

Provides advice on working with public bodies and their involvement with the applicant and the Planning Inspectorate during the Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project (NSIP) process. Covers: what a public body is; public bodies and the NSIP process; summary of how public bodies may be involved at each stage of the NSIP process; pre-application; Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) scoping opinion; applicant's preparation of their environmental statement; consents and authorisations; deemed consents; and harbours.

History

Last updated: 18 August 2026 - Updated on an initial basis to reflect some of the key changes to the Planning Act 2008 process introduced by the Planning and Infrastructure Act 2025. A further detailed review of the Planning Inspectorate’s advice page collection will commence from summer 2026. This review will inform future updates to the advice page collection to fully align content with the amended legal framework. Sourced from: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/nationally-significant-infrastructure-projects-advice-on-working-with-public-bodies-in-the-infrastructure-planning-process and converted to pdf. Whilst we endeavour to capture all updates it is subject to receiving alerts from the publisher and there may be formatting or punctuation changes applied to the html version that do not affect the text. Document type: guidance. First published: 20 September 2024.

Subjects

Publisher History

The Planning Inspectorate processes planning and enforcement appeals and holding examinations into regional spatial strategies and local development plans.


Information

NBS

NBS has produced specification systems and information products for construction industry professionals for more than 40 years. The National Building Specification is the recognised UK national standard and is used by over 5,000 organisations. NBS is part of RIBA Enterprises Ltd.

Accuris

We connect trusted knowledge to customers' workflows – mitigating risk, increasing efficiency and accelerating innovation For more than 60 years, leading R&D and engineering-intensive organizations have relied on us to achieve on-time, on-budget delivery of complex projects and new products. We deliver an unparalleled combination of technical content and Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies to surface answers from the vast universe of technical knowledge, both inside and outside the organization. In a single interface, we connect the dots between information scattered across many different sources, allowing technical professionals to make better, more informed decisions faster.