Assistance for applicants
Section 27 – Provision of pre-application services
59.Section 27 provides the Welsh Ministers with a power to make regulations about the provision of pre-application services by the Welsh Ministers, local planning authorities in Wales or Natural Resources Wales. Pre-application services are intended to assist prospective applicants prior to the submission of an application for infrastructure consent.
60.The power to make regulations includes the power to make provision regarding:
the circumstances in which pre-application services must be provided,
the form and content of a request for pre-application services, including the information required to be submitted with a request,
what services must be provided by the Welsh Ministers, local planning authorities and Natural Resources Wales, including when and how they are provided,
requirements for the Welsh Ministers, local planning authorities and Natural Resources Wales to publish the range of pre-application services they provide, and
other steps required to be taken by any person in relation to the provision of pre-application services.
Section 28 – Obtaining information about interests in land
61.Section 28 enables the Welsh Ministers to authorise a person applying (“
62.The recipient of a notice is required to give to the applicant in writing the name and address of any person the recipient believes is an owner or occupier of the land or has some interest in or power over the land.
63.The purpose of this requirement is to enable the applicant to comply with provisions of, or made under, section 29 (provisions about notice of proposed application), 30 (provisions about pre-application consultation and publicity), and sections 64 to 72 (provisions in orders authorising compulsory purchase).
64.The section also enables the Welsh Ministers to authorise the applicant to serve a notice requiring the recipient to give to the applicant in writing the name and address of any person the recipient believes would be entitled to make a claim for compensation if the application for infrastructure consent were to be approved and development were to take place.
65.The section enables the Welsh Ministers to make regulations about a notice given under this section and sets out under subsection (4) persons required to be notified where there is a proposed application or application for infrastructure consent that includes a compulsory acquisition request.
66.This section makes it an offence where a person has failed without reasonable excuse to comply with a notice given under the section, in the case where they have provided false information. The offence is a summary offence and is punishable following conviction by a fine.
67.Where the offence is committed by a corporate body, officers of that body can be held liable for the offence also: see section 135.
