Town and Country Planning Act 1990

Publicity for applications

65 Publication of notices of applications for planning permission for designated development

(1) A development order may designate any class of development as development to which this section is to apply; and a class of development which is for the time being so designated is in this section referred to as “development of a designated class”.

(2) An application for planning permission for development of a designated class shall not be entertained by the local planning authority unless it is accompanied—

(a) by a copy of a notice of the application, in such form as may be prescribed by a development order, and by such evidence as may be so prescribed that the notice has been published in a local newspaper circulating in the locality in which the land to which the application relates is situated; and

(b) by a certificate signed by or on behalf of the applicant stating—

(i) that he has complied with subsection (3) and when he did so, or

(ii) that he has been unable to comply with it because he has not such rights of access or other rights in respect of the land as would enable him to do so, and that he has taken such reasonable steps as are open to him (specifying them) to acquire those rights but has been unable to acquire them.

(3) In order to comply with this subsection a person must—

(a) post on the land a notice, in such form as may be prescribed by a development order, stating that the application for planning permission is to be made; and

(b) leave the notice in position for not less than seven days in a period of not more than one month immediately preceding the making of the application to the local planning authority.

(4) The notice mentioned in subsection (3)—

(a) must be posted by affixing it firmly to some object on the land, and

(b) must be sited and displayed in such a way as to be easily visible and legible by members of the public without their going on the land.

(5) An applicant shall not be treated as unable to comply with subsection (3) if the notice is, without any fault or intention of his, removed, obscured or defaced before the seven days referred to in subsection (3)(b) have elapsed, if he has taken reasonable steps for its protection and, if need be, replacement.

(6) If an applicant has cause to rely on subsection (5) his certificate under subsection (2)(b) must state the relevant circumstances.

(7) The notice mentioned in subsection (2)(a) or required by subsection (3) shall (in addition to any other matters required to be contained in it) name a place within the locality where a copy of the application for planning permission, and of all plans and other documents submitted with it, will be open to inspection by the public at all reasonable hours during such period as may be specified in the notice.

(8) That period shall not be less than 21 days beginning with the date on which the notice is published or, as the case may be, first posted.

(9) An application for planning permission for development of a designated class shall not be determined by the local planning authority before the end of the period of 21 days beginning with the date of the application.

66 Notification of applications to owners and agricultural tenants

(1) Without prejudice to section 65, a local planning authority shall not entertain any application for planning permission unless it is accompanied by one of the following certificates signed by or on behalf of the applicant—

(a) a certificate stating that, at the beginning of the period of 21 days ending with the date of the application, no person (other than the applicant) was the owner of any of the land to which the application relates;

(b) a certificate stating that the applicant has given the requisite notice of the application to all the persons (other than himself) who at the beginning of that period were owners of any of the land to which the application relates, and setting out—

(i) the names of those persons,

(ii) the addresses at which notice of the application was given to them respectively, and

(iii) the date of service of each such notice;

(c) a certificate stating—

(i) that the applicant is unable to issue a certificate in accordance with paragraph (a) or (b),

(ii) that he has given the requisite notice of the application to such one or more of the persons mentioned in paragraph (b) as are specified in the certificate (setting out their names, the addresses at which notice of the application was given to them respectively, and the date of the service of each such notice), and

(iii) that he has taken such steps as are reasonably open to him (specifying them) to ascertain the names and addresses of the remainder of those persons but has been unable to do so;

(d) a certificate stating—

(i) that the applicant is unable to issue a certificate in accordance with paragraph (a), and

(ii) that he has taken such steps as are reasonably open to him (specifying them) to ascertain the names and addresses of the persons mentioned in paragraph (b) but has been unable to do so.

(2) Any such certificate as is mentioned in paragraph (c) or (d) of subsection (1) must also contain a statement that the requisite notice of the application, as set out in the certificate, has on a date specified in the certificate been published in a local newspaper circulating in the locality in which the land in question is situated.

(3) The date specified in a certificate under subsection (2) must not be earlier than the beginning of the period mentioned in subsection (1)(a).

(4) In addition to any other matters required to be contained in a certificate issued for the purposes of this section, every such certificate must contain a statement —

(a) that none of the land to which the application relates constitutes or forms part of an agricultural holding; or

(b) that the applicant has given the requisite notice of the application to every person (other than himself) who, at the beginning of the period mentioned in subsection (1)(a), was a tenant of any agricultural holding any part of which was comprised in the land to which the application relates.

(5) Such a statement as is mentioned in subsection (4)(b) must set out—

(a) the name of each person to whom the applicant has given notice of the application,

(b) the address at which notice was given to him, and

(c) the date of service of that notice.

(6) Where an application for planning permission is accompanied by such a certificate as is mentioned in subsection (1)(b),(c) or (d), or by a certificate containing a statement in accordance with subsections (4)(b) and (5), the local planning authority shall not determine the application before the end of the period of 21 days beginning with the date appearing from the certificate to be the latest of the dates of service of notices as mentioned in the certificate, or, if later, the date of publication of a notice as mentioned in the certificate.

(7) In this section—

• “owner”, in relation to any land, means a person who for the time being is—

  (a)

  the estate owner in respect of the fee simple in the land, or

  (b)

  entitled to a tenancy of the land granted or extended for a term of years certain of which not less than seven years remain unexpired; and

• “agricultural holding” has the same meaning as in the [1986 c. 5.] Agricultural Holdings Act 1986.

67 Notification of applications for planning permission for mineral working

(1) In the case of applications for planning permission for development consisting of the winning and working of minerals section 66 shall have effect with the following modifications.

(2) Subsection (1) of that section and the following provisions of this section shall have effect as if any person entitled to an interest in a relevant mineral in any of the land to which the application relates were an owner of the land.

(3) In the case of an application for planning permission for development consisting of the winning and working of minerals by underground mining operations, the local planning authority may entertain the application if, instead of being accompanied by any of the certificates mentioned in subsection (1) of that section, it is accompanied by a certificate signed by or on behalf of the applicant—

(a) stating that he has given the requisite notice of the application to such one or more of the persons specified in the certificate who, at the beginning of the period of 21 days ending with the date of the application, were owners (within the meaning of section 66) of any of the land to which the application relates or entitled to an interest in a relevant mineral in that land;

(b) setting out the names of those persons, the addresses at which notice of the application was given to them respectively and the date of service of each such notice;

(c) stating that there is no such person as is mentioned in paragraph (a) whom the applicant knows to be such a person and whose name and address is known to the applicant but to whom he has not given the requisite notice of the application; and

(d) stating that he has complied with subsection (7) and when he did so.

(4) In this section “relevant mineral” means any mineral other than oil, gas, coal, gold or silver.

(5) Any such certificate as is mentioned in subsection (3) must also contain a statement that the requisite notice of the application, as set out in the certificate, has on a date specified in it been published in a local newspaper circulating in the locality in which the land in question is situated.

(6) The date specified under subsection (5) must not be earlier than the beginning of the period mentioned in paragraph (a) of subsection (3).

(7) In order to comply with this subsection the applicant must—

(a) post the requisite notice of the application, sited and displayed in such a way as to be easily visible and legible by members of the public, in at least one place in every parish or community within which there is situated any part of the land to which the application relates; and

(b) leave the notice in position for not less than seven days in the period of 21 days immediately preceding the making of the application to the local planning authority.

(8) The applicant shall not be treated as unable to comply with subsection (7) if the notice is, without any fault or intention of his, removed, obscured or defaced before the seven days referred to in subsection (7)(b) have elapsed, if he has taken reasonable steps for its protection and, if need be, replacement.

(9) If the applicant has cause to rely on subsection (8), his certificate under subsection (3) shall state the relevant circumstances.

(10) The notice required by subsection (7) shall (in addition to any other matters required to be contained in it) name a place within the area of the local planning authority to whom the application is made where a copy of the application for planning permission, and of all plans and other documents submitted with it, will be open to inspection by the public at all reasonable hours during such period as may be specified in the notice (which must not be less than 21 days beginning with the date on which the notice is first posted).

(11) Subsections (4), (5) and (6) of section 66 shall apply in relation to certificates under subsection (3) as they apply to certificates under subsection (1)(b) of that section but as if at the end of subsection (6) there were added the words “or, if later, the latest of the dates on which a notice was posted as mentioned in subsection (7)(a) of section 67”.

68 Further provisions as to certificates under sections 65 to 67

(1) If any person—

(a) issues a certificate which purports to comply with the requirements of subsection (2)(b) of section 65 or of section 66 or 67 and contains a statement which he knows to be false or misleading in a material particular, or

(b) recklessly issues a certificate which purports to comply with those requirements and contains a statement which is false or misleading in a material particular,

he shall be guilty of an offence.

(2) A person guilty of an offence under subsection (1) shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding level 3 on the standard scale.

(3) Any certificate issued for the purpose of section 65, 66 or 67 shall be in such form as may be prescribed by a development order for a certificate under that section.

(4) Any reference in any provision of section 66 or 67 to the requisite notice, where a form of notice is prescribed by a development order for the purposes of that provision, is a reference to a notice in that form.

69 Registers of applications, etc

(1) Every local planning authority shall keep, in such manner as may be prescribed by a development order, a register containing such information as may be so prescribed with respect to applications for planning permission made to that authority.

(2) The register shall contain—

(a) information as to the manner in which such applications have been dealt with, and

(b) such information as may be prescribed by a development order with respect to simplified planning zone schemes relating to zones in the authority’s area.

(3) A development order may make provision for the register to be kept in two or more parts, each part containing such information relating to applications for planning permission made to the authority as may be prescribed by the order.

(4) A development order may also make provision—

(a) for a specified part of the register to contain copies of applications and of any plans or drawings submitted with them; and

(b) for the entry relating to any application, and everything relating to it, to be removed from that part of the register when the application (including any appeal arising out of it) has been finally disposed of (without prejudice to the inclusion of any different entry relating to it in another part of the register).

(5) Every register kept under this section shall be available for inspection by the public at all reasonable hours.