Pre-planning


Thinking about building a new site but still in the early stages? As the saying goes, the early bird catches the worm. No matter how early in the process you are, contacting us as soon as possible will help us establish whether our water and wastewater infrastructure can support your new site.

What will the service provide?

  • Our response will give an overview of the capacity in our water supply, sewerage network and wastewater treatment works as well as any asset protection requirements. We'll also give an indication of where our assets are located so that you can ensure they're protected during the build, as damaging any of our network can lead to legal action.
  • The advice we provide will then be valid for 12 months and it will help us inform our response when it comes to us being consulted on your planning application later down the line by the local planning authority.

How long will it take?

  • One of our dedicated team will respond to your enquiry within 21 days.

How much will it cost?

  • The charge for this service is £74.72+VAT per application, which is to be paid at the time of making an application and is non-refundable. For information on our charges, visit our schedule of charges here.

2D pre-application consultation

  • Remember that you need to consider a 2D pre-application consultation which you are obligated to consult with us on in Wales. We'd still recommend undertaking our pre-planning service beforehand.

Have you thought about sustainable drainage?

  • All new development of more than one building or a construction area of 100m2 or more in Wales will require consent from the sustainable drainage system (SuDS) approval body (also known as a SAB) for any new SuDS features, according to schedule 3 of the Flood and Water Management Act 2010.
  • Before you submit a pre-planning enquiry with us, we recommend you first speak to your local SAB to establish if a surface water connection to the public sewer is the most appropriate way to dispose of the surface water. More information on this can be found within our leaflet.
  • You might also be eligible for our surface water incentive scheme if you have plans to remove surface water from the wastewater network.
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Pre-planning guidance notes

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If you need more guidance on this application, download our detailed guidance notes here.