Our role in planning and development
We are a statutory consultee in the planning system. As part of this role we advise on the potential impacts of development proposals and planning policies on Wales’ natural resources and environment
We are committed to supporting the delivery of sustainable development by working closely and proactively with our partners and customers to help direct development to the most appropriate locations
We are consulted by both planning authorities and developers for our expert advice on likely environmental effects from development proposals. We also advise local planning authorities preparing local development plans.
We seek to ensure that our advice is evidenced based, clear, and consistent to help determining bodies and developers make environmentally informed decisions.
Our consultation topics sets out when we want to be consulted by planning authorities and applicants.
You can find out more about the service we provide to applicants by visiting the “Our service to developers" section.
Check the environmental constraints relevant to your development
You can use the spatial data available on ‘Lle’ to check some of the environmental constraints on our checklist that are relevant to your development.
‘Lle’ is a hub for data and information that was developed as a partnership between Welsh Government and Natural Resources Wales.
Please see below the list of environmental constraints on our development planning checklist you can find on the Lle Portal. Where they are not available on Lle we have provided a link to additional sources where you can find data and information.
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Spatial Data Layers |
Location of Data |
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Historic landfill sites |
Lle Portal |
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Main rivers |
Lle Portal |
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Source protection zones |
Lle Portal |
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Nitrate vulnerable zones |
Lle Portal |
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Geological conservation review site |
Lle Portal |
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Protected sites Ramsar, SAC (includes marine), SPA (includes marine), SSSI, NNR, MCZ, AONB |
Lle Portal |
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National parks |
Lle Portal |
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Flood zone 2 |
Lle Portal |
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Flood zone 3 |
Lle Portal |
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Flood defences |
Lle Portal |
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Development Advice Map zone C1 |
https://naturalresources.wales/evidence-and-data/maps/long-term-flood-risk/?lang=en |
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Development Advice Map zone C2 |
https://naturalresources.wales/evidence-and-data/maps/long-term-flood-risk/?lang=en |
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Aquifer designation Wales: bedrock geology and superficial deposits |
http://mapapps2.bgs.ac.uk/geoindex/home.html?topic=Hydrogeology%20Wales |
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Groundwater vulnerability Wales: bedrock geology and superficial deposits |
http://mapapps2.bgs.ac.uk/geoindex/home.html?topic=Hydrogeology%20Wales |
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Mains sewer line |
Available on request through Welsh Water. |
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European protected species |
Submitting your consultations to us
You can submit your planning consultations to one of our development planning advice teams. Their contact details can be found here.
Our responses to consultations
You can view copies of our responses to government and other public consultations in our consultations responses.
See also:
- Our service to developers
Find out more about the service we provide at the pre-application stage of your development. This section also provides access to more detailed guidance for a number of environmental topics - Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects (NSIPs)
Find out more about our role in the consenting regime for NSIPs - Marine Planning
Find out more about our role in marine planning and protecting the marine environment - Reporting
Find out more about how we report on our role within the planning system