- Latest available (Revised) - English
- Latest available (Revised) - Welsh
- Original (As enacted) - English
- Original (As enacted) - Welsh
Planning (Wales) Act 2026
You are here:
What Version
Advanced Features
- Show Geographical Extent(e.g. England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland)
- Show Timeline of Changes
Opening Options
Status:
This version of this provision is prospective.
Status
The term provision is used to describe a definable element in a piece of legislation that has legislative effect – such as a Part, Chapter or section. A version of a provision is prospective either:
- where the provision (Part, Chapter or section) has never come into force or;
- where the text of the provision is subject to change, but no date has yet been appointed by the appropriate person or body for those changes to come into force.
Commencement Orders listed in the ‘Changes to Legislation’ box as not yet applied may bring this prospective version into force.
Changes to legislation:
Planning (Wales) Act 2026, Section 309 is up to date with all changes known to be in force on or before 10 August 2026. There are changes that may be brought into force at a future date. Changes that have been made appear in the content and are referenced with annotations.
Changes to Legislation
Revised legislation carried on this site may not be fully up to date. Changes and effects are recorded by our editorial team in lists which can be found in the ‘Changes to Legislation’ area. Where those effects have yet to be applied to the text of the legislation by the editorial team they are also listed alongside the legislation in the affected provisions. Use the ‘more’ link to open the changes and effects relevant to the provision you are viewing.
Changes and effects yet to be applied to Section 309:
- s. 346(3)(c)(ii) modified (temp.) by 2026 asc 7 Sch. 5 para. 23
Changes and effects yet to be applied to the whole Act associated Parts and Chapters:
Whole provisions yet to be inserted into this Act (including any effects on those provisions):
- s. 346(3)(c)(ii) modified (temp.) by 2026 asc 7 Sch. 5 para. 23
Prospective
309Applications for planning permission by statutory undertakersE+W
This section has no associated Explanatory Notes
(1)Subsection (2) applies where—
(a)a statutory undertaker applies to a planning authority for operational planning permission and the application is referred to the Welsh Ministers under section 72,
(b)a statutory undertaker makes an appeal to the Welsh Ministers against a planning authority’s decision on an application for operational planning permission or an appeal under section 73(3) relating to the application, or
(c)a statutory undertaker makes an appeal to the Welsh Ministers under section 131 on the ground that operational planning permission ought to be granted for the matters specified in an enforcement notice or that a condition or limitation of operational planning permission ought to be removed.
(2)The application or appeal must be dealt with by the Welsh Ministers and the appropriate Minister if either the Welsh Ministers or the appropriate Minister give a direction to that effect.
(3)A direction under subsection (2) has effect in relation to an appeal to the Welsh Ministers under section 131 only to the extent that the appeal is made on the ground mentioned in subsection (1)(c).
(4)The Welsh Ministers or (if a direction is given under subsection (2)) the Welsh Ministers and the appropriate Minister are not required to deal with an application relating to development that requires the authorisation of a government department, unless the authorisation has been granted without a direction that planning permission is granted.
(5)This Act applies to an application or appeal dealt with by the Welsh Ministers and the appropriate Minister under this section as if the application or appeal had been dealt with by the Welsh Ministers.
(6)The reference in subsection (4) to the authorisation of a government department is to be read in accordance with section 87.
(7)In this section and in sections 310 and 311, “operational planning permission” means planning permission for the development of—
(a)operational land of a statutory undertaker, or
(b)land in which a statutory undertaker holds or proposes to acquire an interest with a view to using the land for the purpose of carrying on its statutory undertaking, where the development involves using the land for that purpose.
(8)In relation to the Civil Aviation Authority, the reference in subsection (7)(b) to using land for the purpose of carrying on its undertaking is to be read as a reference to using land for a purpose specified in section 305(1).
Commencement Information
I1S. 309 not in force at Royal Assent, see s. 409(2)
Options/Help
Print Options
PrintThe Whole Act
PrintThe Whole Part
PrintThe Whole Cross Heading
PrintThis Section only
You have chosen to open The Whole Act
The Whole Act you have selected contains over 200 provisions and might take some time to download. You may also experience some issues with your browser, such as an alert box that a script is taking a long time to run.
Would you like to continue?
You have chosen to open The Whole Act as a PDF
The Whole Act you have selected contains over 200 provisions and might take some time to download.
Would you like to continue?
You have chosen to open The Whole Act without Schedules
The Whole Act without Schedules you have selected contains over 200 provisions and might take some time to download. You may also experience some issues with your browser, such as an alert box that a script is taking a long time to run.
Would you like to continue?
You have chosen to open The Whole Act without Schedules as a PDF
The Whole Act without Schedules you have selected contains over 200 provisions and might take some time to download.
Would you like to continue?
You have chosen to open the Whole Act
The Whole Act you have selected contains over 200 provisions and might take some time to download. You may also experience some issues with your browser, such as an alert box that a script is taking a long time to run.
Would you like to continue?
You have chosen to open the Whole Act without Schedules
The Whole Act without Schedules you have selected contains over 200 provisions and might take some time to download. You may also experience some issues with your browser, such as an alert box that a script is taking a long time to run.
Would you like to continue?
You have chosen to open Schedules only
The Schedules you have selected contains over 200 provisions and might take some time to download. You may also experience some issues with your browser, such as an alert box that a script is taking a long time to run.
Would you like to continue?
Legislation is available in different versions:
Latest Available (revised):The latest available updated version of the legislation incorporating changes made by subsequent legislation and applied by our editorial team. Changes we have not yet applied to the text, can be found in the ‘Changes to Legislation’ area. The revised version is currently only available in English.
Original (As Enacted or Made) - English: The original English language version of the legislation as it stood when it was enacted or made. No changes have been applied to the text.
Original (As Enacted or Made) - Welsh:The original Welsh language version of the legislation as it stood when it was enacted or made. No changes have been applied to the text.
See additional information alongside the content
Geographical Extent: Indicates the geographical area that this provision applies to. For further information see ‘Frequently Asked Questions’.
Show Timeline of Changes: See how this legislation has or could change over time. Turning this feature on will show extra navigation options to go to these specific points in time. Return to the latest available version by using the controls above in the What Version box.
Opening Options
Different options to open legislation in order to view more content on screen at once
Explanatory Notes
Text created by the Welsh Government department responsible for the subject matter of the Act to explain what the Act sets out to achieve and to make the Act accessible to readers who are not legally qualified. Explanatory Notes accompany all Acts of Senedd Cymru.
More Resources
Access essential accompanying documents and information for this legislation item from this tab. Dependent on the legislation item being viewed this may include:
- the original print PDF of the as enacted version that was used for the print copy
- lists of changes made by and/or affecting this legislation item
- confers power and blanket amendment details
- all formats of all associated documents
- correction slips
- links to related legislation and further information resources
Timeline of Changes
This timeline shows the different points in time where a change occurred. The dates will coincide with the earliest date on which the change (e.g an insertion, a repeal or a substitution) that was applied came into force. The first date in the timeline will usually be the earliest date when the provision came into force. In some cases the first date is 01/02/1991 (or for Northern Ireland legislation 01/01/2006). This date is our basedate. No versions before this date are available. For further information see the Editorial Practice Guide and Glossary under Help.
More Resources
Use this menu to access essential accompanying documents and information for this legislation item. Dependent on the legislation item being viewed this may include:
- the original print PDF of the as enacted version that was used for the print copy
- correction slips
Click 'View More' or select 'More Resources' tab for additional information including:
- lists of changes made by and/or affecting this legislation item
- confers power and blanket amendment details
- all formats of all associated documents
- links to related legislation and further information resources
All content is available under the Open Government Licence v3.0 except where otherwise stated. This site additionally contains content derived from EUR-Lex, reused under the terms of the Commission Decision 2011/833/EU on the reuse of documents from the EU institutions. For more information see the EUR-Lex public statement on re-use.