37A.—(1) F370[Subject to Part XXI, an application for permission] for any development specified in the Seventh Schedule (inserted by the Planning and Development (Strategic Infrastructure) Act 2006) shall, if the following condition is satisfied, be made to the Board under section 37E and not to a planning authority.

(2) That condition is that, following consultations under section 37B, the Board serves on the prospective applicant a notice in writing under that section stating that, in the opinion of the Board, the proposed development would, if carried out, fall within one or more of the following paragraphs, namely—

(a) the development would be of strategic economic or social importance to the State or the region in which it would be situate,

(b) the development would contribute substantially to the fulfilment of any of the objectives in the F371[National Planning Framework] or in any F372[regional spatial and economic strategy] in force in respect of the area or areas in which it would be situate,

(c) the development would have a significant effect on the area of more than one planning authority.

(3) In subsection (2) "prospective applicant" means the person referred to in section 37B(1).]

F373[(4) (a) Notwithstanding subsection (1), where an application for permission is being made in relation to a development specified in the Seventh Schedule that is located in a strategic development zone, the applicant may elect to make the application to the planning authority under section 34 and regulations made thereunder.

(b) Section 170 shall apply to an application made under paragraph (a).

(c) Section 37B shall not apply to an application made under paragraph (a).]