The Planning and Infrastructure Act 2025 (Commencement No. 3 and Transitional Provisions) Regulations 2026 were made on 20 May 2026 and, under regulation 3, brought most of Part 1 of Schedule 5 to the 2025 Act into force on 21 May 2026. The explanatory note states that this is the third commencement instrument made under the Act, and it activates the Schedule with one express exception: paragraph 14(2). For planning authorities, applicants and advisers, the immediate point is straightforward. From 21 May 2026, the statutory changes extending Habitats Regulations treatment to Ramsar sites in England are in force unless a project falls within the saving provisions in regulation 4.
According to the explanatory note, Part 1 of Schedule 5 amends the Conservation of Habitats and Species Regulations 2017 so that Ramsar sites in England are covered by the protected-site assessment regime in Part 6 of those Regulations. Ramsar sites are wetlands of international importance designated under the Ramsar Convention. The legal effect is that, when assessments are carried out under the Habitats Regulations, Ramsar sites must now be treated in the same manner as European sites. In practical planning terms, that places relevant Ramsar considerations inside the statutory assessment exercise itself.
Regulation 4 then sets out where the new rules do not apply. The amendments to the 2017 Regulations do not apply to projects authorised by a planning permission granted before 17 August 2020, and they also do not apply to projects authorised by a general consent where the relevant date falls before 21 May 2026. That transitional drafting creates a firm cut-off. A scheme can therefore fall outside the new Ramsar requirements because of the date attached to its underlying permission or consent, even if construction or later approvals continue after commencement.
The Regulations are also precise about how the grant date is identified for section 73 cases. Where a planning permission has been issued under section 73 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990, regulation 4 treats the operative date as the date the previous permission was granted, not the later section 73 decision date. That closes off a simple date reset. For older schemes amended through section 73, the key question remains the timing of the earlier planning permission referred to in section 73(1).
For general consents, a different date test applies. If the development consent is subject to prior approval, the relevant date is the date prior approval was given, the date a decision was made that prior approval was not required, or the date the authority's period for making that determination expired. In other general consent cases, the relevant date is the date the development was commenced. This will matter most where proposals proceed under class-based consent routes and prior approval procedures. Authorities and applicants will need to identify not only the consent route used, but also the event that fixes the project on one side or the other of the transitional line.
In operational terms, the instrument is narrow but important. From 21 May 2026, new planning and prior approval cases in England that engage the Habitats Regulations may need Ramsar effects assessed on a statutory basis, while a defined set of legacy permissions remains carved out. The Regulations were signed on 20 May 2026 by Matthew Pennycook, Minister of State, on behalf of the Secretary of State. The accompanying note also records that an impact assessment was prepared for the 2025 Act. For day-to-day planning practice, the message is clear: Ramsar site protection in England now has direct statutory footing in the Habitats Regulations, subject to tightly drawn transitional limits.