5.(1) Subject to subsection (2), a prospective applicant shall, before making the application in accordance with section 4(1), make a request to the Board to enter into consultations with the Board in relation to the proposed strategic housing development and any such request shall comply with subsection (7).

(2) A prospective applicant shall, prior to making a request to the Board under subsection (1), have consulted the appropriate planning authority or authorities in whose area or areas the proposed development would be situated, comprising at least one meeting, as if the consultations with the planning authority or authorities concerned were for the purpose of making a planning application to it or to each of them, as the case may be, and for that purpose—

(a) subject to subsection (3), section 247 of the Act of 2000 applies, with any necessary modifications to those consultations, and

(b) those consultations shall have regard to so much of Part V of the Act of 2000 as would be relevant to the proposed strategic housing development.

(3) Consultations under section 247 of the Act of 2000 in relation to proposed development referred to in subsection (2) shall be held within 4 weeks of the date of receipt by the planning authority, or planning authorities, as the case may be, of a request by the prospective applicant for such a consultation, unless the prospective applicant requests that the period be extended by a specified period, in which case—

(a) the period shall be extended by the planning authority, or planning authorities, as the case may be, by such specified period upon the first such request, and

(b) the period may be extended, at the discretion of the planning authority or planning authorities, as the case may be, by such specified period upon a second or subsequent such request.

(4) The failure by a planning authority to comply with the requirement to hold a consultation meeting for the purposes of section 247 of the Act of 2000 by virtue of subsection (3) within the time limits provided for by that subsection shall not prevent the Board from proceeding under this section to deal F6[with the request concerned].

(5) A request to the Board by a prospective applicant to enter into consultations with the Board shall be in writing and shall include—

(a) the following:

(i) the name and address of the prospective applicant;

(ii) a site location plan sufficient to identify the land;

(iii) a brief description of the nature and purpose of the development and of its possible effects on the environment;

(iv) a draft layout plan of the proposal;

(v) details of the pre-application consultations that have taken place with the planning authority, or planning authorities, as the case may be, under section 247 of the Act of 2000 and that may have taken place with prescribed bodies or the public;

(vi) such further information as may be prescribed;

(vii) such other information, drawings or representations as the prospective applicant may wish to provide or make available,

(b) a statement that, in the prospective applicant’s opinion, the proposal is consistent with both—

(i) subject to subsection (6), the relevant objectives of the development plan or local area plan concerned, and

(ii) relevant guidelines issued by the Minister under section 28 of the Act of 2000,

and

(c) the appropriate fee.

(6) Where the proposed strategic housing development would materially contravene the development plan or local area plan, as the case may be, other than in relation to the zoning of the land, then the statement provided for the purposes of subsection (5)(b)(i) shall indicate why, in the prospective applicant’s opinion, permission should nonetheless be granted, having regard to a consideration specified in section 37(2)(b) of the Act of 2000.

(7) (a) A request under subsection (1) shall be made by submitting it to the Board in the form of so many printed copies and copies in a machine readable form on digital devices as are prescribed, together with a separate electronic copy if prescribed;

(b) When a prospective applicant is making a request to the Board under subsection (1), he or she shall also send a copy of the request to the appropriate planning authority or authorities in whose area or areas the proposed strategic housing development would be situated. It shall be so sent in the form of so many printed copies and copies in a machine readable form on digital devices as are prescribed, together with a separate electronic copy if prescribed.

(8) Without prejudice to the generality of subsection (5)(a)(vi), the matters that may be the subject of regulations under that subparagraph may include but shall not be limited to a brief description of—

(a) the proposed types of houses F7[, student accommodation units or shared accommodation units] and their design, including proposed internal floor areas, housing density, plot ratio, site coverage, building heights, proposed layout and aspect,

(b) public and private open space provision, landscaping, play facilities, pedestrian permeability, vehicular access and parking provision, where relevant,

(c) the provision of ancillary services, where required, including child care facilities,

(d) any proposals to address or, where relevant, integrate the proposed development with surrounding land uses,

(e) any proposals to provide for services infrastructure (including water, wastewater and cabling, including broadband provision), and any phasing proposals,

(f) proposals under Part V of the Act of 2000, where relevant,

(g) details of protected structures or archaeological monuments included in the Record of Monuments and Places, where relevant, and

(h) any aspect of the proposed development likely to have significant effects on the environment or significant effects on a European site.