1. National Policy Statements (NPSs) are provided for by the Planning Act 2008. The Infrastructure Planning Commission (IPC), also created under that Act, will be required (subject to certain statutory exceptions) to determine planning cases in accordance with the relevant NPS, once it has been ratified after consultation.
2. From 1 March 2010 until the NPS has been ratified, the IPC will accept applications and will operate in 'recommending mode', with the Secretary of State determining applications in the light of the IPC's advice.
3. Under the present system, harbour developments are subject to harbour revision or empowerment orders under the Harbours Act 1964. In some cases additional planning consents under Town and Country Planning legislation, and/or the Transport and Works Act, are required in parallel. The new system will simplify applications by providing for these consents to be combined in one Development Consent Order.
4. This NPS will apply to ports in England and (since ports policy is not devolved there) Wales. Planning applications will be referred to the IPC where the annual capacity of the proposed development exceeds:
- 500,000 teu (twenty-foot equivalent units) of containers;
- 250,000 ro-ro units; or
- 5M tonnes of bulk/other cargo.
These are 'nationally significant infrastructure projects' (NSIPs) in the language of the legislation.
5. It is not expected that there will be many volume of ports applications to the IPC initially. Over recent years, planning permission has been given for a series of major container developments including at Felixstowe, Bathside Bay (Harwich), London Gateway, Liverpool and Teesport; decision on a further application, at Bristol, is under consideration.
6. The public consultation phase will close on 15 February. After that, consideration in Parliament by the Commons Select Committee on Transport will continue. The Committee is expected to report by the end of March. It is also open to either House of Parliament to make a resolution with regard to the proposal to designate the NPS.
7. Following Royal Assent to the Marine and Coastal Access Bill, ports applications below the IPC thresholds will in future be dealt with by the Marine Management Organisation (MMO) which is to be established in Tyneside. The MMO will also advise the IPC on marine spatial planning matters and on certain deemed consents.
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