# Planning (Wales) Act 2026, Section 51: Sustainable development duty

Extent: E+W
Status: prospective

(1) This section applies to the exercise by a public body of a function under or by virtue of this Act in relation to an application (or proposed application) for—
(a) planning permission, or
(b) approval of a reserved matter.
(2) The function must be exercised, as part of carrying out sustainable development in accordance with the Well-being Act, for the purpose of ensuring that the development and use of land contribute to improving the economic, social, environmental and cultural well-being of Wales.
(3) In complying with subsection (2), a public body must take account of any relevant guidance issued by the Welsh Ministers (including relevant guidance issued under section 14 of the Well-being Act).
(4) In this section “public body” has the meaning given by section 6 of the Well-being Act.
(5) Nothing in this section affects—
(a) whether regard must be had to a particular consideration under section 66 (determination of applications), or
(b) the weight to be given to a consideration to which regard is had under that section.

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Source: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/asc/2026/6/section/51 (the official version)
Page: https://openlegislation.uk/planning-wales-act-2026/section-51
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives.