Section 36(8).
1(1)An application for a consent under section 36 or 37 of this Act shall be in writing and shall describe by reference to a map the land to which the application relates, that is, the land—
(a)on which the generating station is proposed to be constructed, extended or operated; or
(b)across which the electric line is proposed to be installed or kept installed.
(2)An application for a consent under section 37 of this Act shall also state—
(a)the length of the proposed line and its nominal voltage; and
(b)whether all necessary wayleaves have been agreed with owners and occupiers of land proposed to be crossed by the line,
and shall be supplemented, if the Secretary of State so directs, by such additional information as may be specified in the direction.
(3)The Secretary of State may by regulations make provision for determining the fees to be paid on applications for consent under section 36 or 37 of this Act, and the circumstances in which they are to be paid.
(4)Any sums received by the Secretary of State under this paragraph shall be paid into the Consolidated Fund.
2(1)Where an application is made to the Secretary of State for his consent under section 36 or 37 of this Act, notice of the application shall be served on the relevant planning authority.
(2)Where the relevant planning authority notify the Secretary of State that they object to the application and their objection is not withdrawn, the Secretary of State—
(a)shall cause a public inquiry to be held; and
(b)before determining whether to give his consent, shall consider the objection and the report of the person who held the inquiry.
(3)For the purposes of sub-paragraph (2) above the Secretary of State may make regulations limiting the time within which notification of objections may be made to the Secretary of State by relevant planning authorities, and providing that objections which are not notified within the time so limited may be disregarded for those purposes.
(4)Sub-paragraph (2) above shall not apply where the Secretary of State proposes to accede to the application subject to such modifications or conditions as will give effect to the objection of the relevant planning authority.
(5)The Secretary of State may make regulations providing that, in relation to applications for consent under section 37 of this Act for electric lines of a nominal voltage less than 132 kilovolts, the provisions of this paragraph shall have effect with such modifications as may be prescribed.
(6)In this Schedule “relevant planning authority”—
(a)in relation to England and Wales, means a local planning authority within the meaning of the [1971 c. 78.] Town and Country Planning Act 1971, except that in relation to a non-metropolitan county and an application for consent under section 37 of this Act it includes the county planning authority only—
(i)where the line is to be installed in a National Park; or
(ii)where the line will have a nominal voltage of not less than 132 kilovolts;
(b)in relation to Scotland, means a general planning authority, or a district planning authority, within the meaning of Part IX of the [1973 c. 65.] Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973.
3(1)The Secretary of State may by regulations make provision for securing—
(a)that notice of any application for consent under section 36 or 37 of this Act shall, in such circumstances as may be prescribed by the regulations, be published in such manner as may be so prescribed;
(b)that notice of any such application shall, in such circumstances as may be prescribed by the regulations or where the Secretary of State so directs, be served on such persons as may be so prescribed or, as the case may be, specified in the direction;
(c)that every notice published or served in pursuance of the regulations shall state the time within which, and the manner in which, objections to the application may be made by persons other than the relevant planning authority, and that the time so stated shall not be less than such minimum period as may be prescribed by the regulations; and
(d)that, in so far as any such notice requires objections to be sent to any person other than the Secretary of State, copies of the objections shall be sent to the Secretary of State by that person;
and in relation to applications for consent under section 36 of this Act to the extension of a generating station or to the operation of such a station in a different manner, the regulations may include provision for enabling the Secretary of State to give directions dispensing with the requirements of the regulations in such cases as he thinks fit.
(2)Where in the case of an application for consent under section 36 or 37 of this Act—
(a)the Secretary of State is not required by virtue of paragraph 2(2) above to cause a public inquiry to be held; but
(b)objections or copies of objections have been sent to the Secretary of State in pursuance of regulations made under this paragraph,
the Secretary of State shall consider those objections, together with all other material considerations, with a view to determining whether a public inquiry should be held with respect to the application and, if he thinks it appropriate to do so, shall cause a public inquiry to be held, either in addition to or instead of any other hearing or opportunity of stating objections to the application.
4(1)Where in accordance with paragraph 2(2) or 3(2) above a public inquiry is to be held in respect of an application for consent under section 36 or 37 of this Act, the Secretary of State shall inform the applicant accordingly; and the applicant shall in two successive weeks publish a notice stating—
(a)the fact that the application has been made, and the purpose of it, together with a description of the land to which it relates;
(b)a place in the locality where a copy of the application, and of the map referred to in it, can be inspected; and
(c)the place, date and time of the public inquiry.
(2)A notice under sub-paragraph (1) above shall be published in one or more local newspapers circulating in the locality in which the land in question is situated, or circulating respectively in the several localities in which different parts of that land are situated, as the applicant may consider appropriate.
(3)If it appears to the Secretary of State that, in addition to the publication of a notice in accordance with sub-paragraphs (1) and (2) above, further notification of the public inquiry should be given (either by the service of notices, or by advertisement, or in any other way) in order to secure that the information specified in paragraphs (a) to (c) of sub-paragraph (1) above is sufficiently made known to persons in the locality, the Secretary of State may direct the applicant to take such further steps for that purpose as may be specified in the direction.
(4)Where in accordance with paragraph 2(2) or 3(2) above a public inquiry is to be held in respect of an application for consent under section 36 or 37 of this Act and the Secretary of State is proceeding concurrently as mentioned in section 61(2) or (4) of this Act, the public inquiry shall extend to all the matters arising in the concurrent proceedings, and any notice of the inquiry (in addition to any other matters required to be stated in it) shall indicate the extent of the inquiry accordingly.
(5)In the application of this paragraph to Scotland, for sub-paragraphs (1) to (3) there shall be substituted the following sub-paragraph—
“(1)Where in accordance with paragraph 2(2) or 3(2) above a public inquiry is to be held, and it appears to the Secretary of State that in addition to any public notice of such an inquiry any further notification concerning the inquiry is necessary or expedient (either by way of service of notice upon any person or in any other way), the Secretary of State may direct the applicant to take such further steps for this purpose as may be specified in the direction.”
5(1)Where in accordance with paragraph 2(2) or 3(2) above a public inquiry is to be held and the application for consent relates to land in the areas of two or more relevant planning authorities—
(a)the application shall not be the subject of a public inquiry in so far as it relates to land which is not within the area of a planning authority who have notified the Secretary of State that they object to the application, unless the Secretary of State otherwise directs having regard to objections by other persons of which he has notice; and
(b)in so far as the application is to be the subject of a public inquiry in relation to land in the areas of two or more relevant planning authorities, the Secretary of State may direct that separate public inquiries shall be held;
and, where the Secretary of State gives any such directions, the provisions of paragraphs 2 to 4 above shall apply with the necessary modifications.
(2)For the purposes of sub-paragraph (1)(a) above a relevant planning authority who have notified the Secretary of State that they object to the application shall be treated as not having done so if the Secretary of State proposes to accede to the application subject to such modifications or conditions as will give effect to the objection.
6(1)Where an application for consent under section 37 of this Act states that all necessary wayleaves have not been agreed with owners and occupiers of land proposed to be crossed by the electric line, the Secretary of State may—
(a)give notice to the applicant that he does not intend to proceed with the application until he is satisfied, with respect to all the land over which wayleaves have not been agreed, that the applicant has applied to the Secretary of State for consent under paragraph 6 (acquisition of wayleaves) of Schedule 4 to this Act; or
(b)grant his consent subject to the condition (either in respect of the whole of the line or in respect of any part of it specified in the consent) that the work is not to proceed until the Secretary of State has given his permission.
(2)In determining at any time whether to give permission for any work to proceed, either generally or in respect of any part of the line, the Secretary of State—
(a)shall have regard to the extent to which the necessary wayleaves have been agreed by that time; and
(b)in so far as any such wayleaves have not then been agreed in respect of any part of the line, shall take into account any prejudicial effect which, in his opinion, the giving of permission (whether in respect of that part or of any adjacent part of the line) might have on any subsequent proceedings relating to the outstanding wayleaves.
7(1)On granting a consent under section 36 or 37 of this Act in respect of any operation or change of use that constitutes development, the Secretary of State may direct that planning permission for that development and any ancillary development shall be deemed to be granted, subject to such conditions (if any) as may be specified in the direction.
(2)On granting a consent under section 36 of this Act in respect of any operation or change of use that would involve the presence of a hazardous substance in circumstances requiring hazardous substances consent, the Secretary of State may, after consultation with the Health and Safety Commission, direct that hazardous substances consent shall be deemed to be granted, subject to such conditions (if any) as may be specified in the direction.
(3)The provisions of the Planning Act (except Parts VII and XII) shall apply in relation to any planning permission or hazardous substances consent deemed to be granted by virtue of a direction under this paragraph as if it had been granted by the Secretary of State on an application referred to him under the relevant section of that Act.
(4)In this paragraph—
“ancillary development”, in relation to development consisting of the extension of a generating station, does not include any development which is not directly related to the generation of electricity by that station;
“the Planning Act” means the [1971 c. 78.] Town and Country Planning Act 1971 in relation to England and Wales and the [1972 c. 52.] Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act 1972 in relation to Scotland;
“the relevant section” means section 35 in relation to the said Act of 1971 and section 32 in relation to the said Act of 1972;
and in this paragraph expressions which are also used in the Planning Act have the same meanings as in that Act.
8(1)In this Schedule “relevant planning authority” has the meaning given by paragraph 2(6) above.
(2)In section 149 of the [1980 c. 65.] Local Government, Planning and Land Act 1980, each of the following, namely—
(a)subsection (3)(a) (power of Secretary of State to confer on urban development corporation functions of local planning authority in England and Wales); and
(b)subsection (8)(a) (which makes corresponding provision in relation to Scotland),
shall have effect in relation to the provisions of this Schedule (so far as applying to applications for consent under section 37 of this Act) as it has effect in relation to the provisions referred to in that subsection.