The Infrastructure (Wales) Act 2024 contains an express legal-challenge regime.

Section 96 provides that an infrastructure consent order, refusal and several other decisions can be questioned only through judicial review within the statutory period specified for the relevant decision.

For an infrastructure consent order, the period is six weeks.

The claim form must be filed before the end of six weeks beginning with the day after publication of the order or, if later, publication of the statement of reasons.

A refusal has its own trigger.

For refusal of infrastructure consent, section 96 links the six-week period to the day after publication of the statement of reasons.

Other SIP decisions have their own statutory trigger dates.

Section 96 separately addresses non-acceptance, correction decisions, changes or revocation and other acts or omissions. Do not calculate every challenge from the same date.

The challenge remains a legality review.

The court is not conducting a new infrastructure examination. Obtain specialist Welsh planning/public-law advice immediately if a legal defect is suspected.

Sources and further information

Infrastructure (Wales) Act 2024 - section 96 legal challenges

Civil Procedure Rules - Pre-Action Protocol for Judicial Review

Last checked: 26 September 2026

Preserve the infrastructure consent order and statement of reasons as soon as they are published.

Those documents can determine both the substance of the challenge and the statutory time calculation.

Download the examination record.

Keep the application, representations, Local Impact Reports, hearing material, written questions and responses, examination report where published, environmental information and relevant procedural decisions.

Record the publication dates separately.

The Infrastructure (Wales) Act uses publication events to trigger several six-week periods. Save evidence of the date on which the order and statement of reasons were published.

Identify whether the concern relates to the examination or the final decision.

The statutory framework can cover acts and omissions during the application process as well as the final order, but the correct route and trigger require legal assessment.

Do not wait for a campaign meeting before seeking advice.

Six weeks is a short litigation timetable. Governance and fundraising can proceed alongside, not before, urgent legal assessment.

Sources and further information

Infrastructure (Wales) Act 2024 - section 96 legal challenges

Last checked: 26 September 2026