Planning reform is a mandate, not a shortcut
In March, three months after the Planning and Infrastructure Act (PIA) received Royal Assent, Copper hosted a Parliamentary roundtable to explore what the reforms mean for engagement and consultation on major water infrastructure projects and Strategic Resource Options (SROs).
Chaired by the Government’s Construction Business Champion and Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Groups for Infrastructure and the Built Environment, Mike Reader MP, the discussion brought together representatives from water companies, regional water resource groups, contractors and consultants.
With a packed room, one thing was clear. There is strong appetite across the sector to understand what the PIA changes in practice and what comes next.
At its core, the PIA removes the legislative requirement for pre-application consultation. Instead, consultation moves from statute into guidance and secondary legislation. The intention is clear. Reduce the risk of projects becoming bogged down in process, and allow for greater flexibility in how engagement is delivered.
The debate
But this raises an obvious question. Does this create freedom, or uncertainty?
Debate is already underway. Some see an opportunity to move beyond rigid, compliance-led consultation toward something more proportionate and effective. Others worry that ambiguity could open the door to greater legal challenge, or inconsistency in approach.
What emerged from the roundtable, however, was less about the letter of the Act and more about how the sector chooses to respond.
Two key themes stood out.
Critical considerations
First, the sector must be more confident, and more strategic, in how it seeks consent for major infrastructure. Whether through the Town and Country Planning Act (TCPA), via local planning authorities, or through the Development Consent Order (DCO) regime, each route offers distinct advantages. There was also a challenge put forward. Should the sector be thinking more boldly about mechanisms such as Special Development Orders (SDOs), given the critical role water resources play in enabling growth and safeguarding resilience?
Second, and more fundamentally, the PIA should be seen as a call to action.
This is not a signal to do less consultation. It is a mandate to do it better.
Engagement remains fundamental
Engagement, when done well and at the right stage, is not a barrier to delivery, it’s an enabler. It provides clarity, reduces risk and builds the societal licence required to deliver complex, and often locally sensitive, infrastructure.
There was a clear recognition in the room that this has not changed. If anything, it has become more important.
Decision-makers, whether operating through TCPA or DCO routes, remain politically accountable. Without visible public and stakeholder support, the sector is effectively asking politicians to take a risk, often in a climate that is increasingly fragile and contested.
And yet, the foundations for support are there.
Support is there
Polling conducted with BMG shows strong baseline backing for water investment: 82% support investment in water infrastructure, 69% support new reservoirs, 75% support water recycling, and 72% support desalination.
But support in principle does not guarantee support in practice.
From experience, delivering engagement on new reservoirs and desalination schemes, public backing must be earned. It requires clarity, consistency and genuine dialogue.
The Government has made clear its ambition to build. For the water sector, the challenge is sharper. It must not only deliver infrastructure at pace, but bring people with it.
That will require leadership, not just from industry, but from government, to set a clear, positive national narrative around why these schemes matter, and why they cannot wait.