Town and Country Planning Act 1971

67 Industrial development certificates

(1) Subject to the provisions of this section and of section 68 of this Act, an application to the local planning authority for permission to develop land by—

(a) the erection thereon of an industrial building of one of the prescribed classes ; or

(b) a change of use whereby premises, not being an industrial building of one of the prescribed classes, will become such an industrial building,

shall be of no effect unless a certificate (in this Act referred to as an " industrial development certificate ") is issued under this section by the Secretary of State, certifying that the development in question can be carried out consistently with the proper distribution of industry, and a copy of the certificate is furnished to the local planning authority together with the application.

(2) Subject to subsection (5) of this section, an industrial development certificate shall be required for the purposes of an application for planning permission made as mentioned in section 32(1) of this Act if the circumstances are such that, in accordance with subsection (1) of this section, such a certificate would have been required if the application had been for planning permission to construct the building, or to institute the use of land, which the application seeks permission to retain or continue or (as the case may be) seeks permission to retain or continue without complying with a condition previously imposed, and the provisions of this section shall have effect in relation to that application accordingly.

(3) In considering whether any development for which an industrial development certificate is applied for can be carried out; consistently with the proper distribution of industry, the Secretary of State shall have particular regard to the need for providing appropriate employment in development areas,

(4) An industrial development certificate shall not be required for the extension of an industrial building if the extension, taken by itself, would not be an industrial building of one of the prescribed classes, but (subject to the provisions of section 68 of this Act) an industrial development certificate shall be required for the extension of any building if the extension, taken by itself, would be such an industrial building.

(5) An industrial development certificate shall not be required for the purposes of an application for planning permission to retain a building or continue a use of land after the end of any period specified in, or otherwise without complying with, a condition subject to which a previous planning permission was granted if the condition in question is not one subject to which the previous planning permission was granted in accordance with the provisions of section 70 of this Act or subject to which that planning permission is by virtue of that section deemed to have been granted.

(6) The preceding provisions of this section shall have effect without prejudice to any provisions for restricting the granting of planning permission by local planning authorities which are included in a development order by virtue of section 31(1) of this Act.

(7) In this section—

• " the prescribed classes " means such classes or descriptions of industrial buildings as may be prescribed by regulations made for the purposes of this section by the Secretary of State;

• " development area " means any area for the time being specified as such under section 15 of the [1966 c. 34.] Industrial Development Act 1966, and subsection (6) of that section (which provides for references to a development area in certain provisions to have effect as if certain localities outside that area were included therein) shall apply to any such reference in this section;

and any reference to an application made as mentioned in section 32(1) of this Act includes a reference to an application which by virtue of section 88(7) or 95(6) of this Act is deemed to have been made for such planning permission as is mentioned in the said section 88(7) or, as the case may be, the said section 95(6).