Town and Country Planning Act 1990

Application of Act as respects Crown land

294 Control of development on Crown land: special enforcement notices

(1) No enforcement notice shall be issued under section 172 in respect of development carried out by or on behalf of the Crown after 1st July 1948 on land which was Crown land at the time when the development was carried out.

(2) The following provisions of this section apply to development of Crown land carried out otherwise than by or on behalf of the Crown at a time when no person is entitled to occupy it by virtue of a private interest.

(3) Where—

(a) it appears to a local planning authority that development to which this subsection applies has taken place in their area, and

(b) they consider it expedient to do so having regard to the provisions of the development plan and to any other material considerations,

they may issue a notice under this section (a “special enforcement notice”).

(4) No special enforcement notice shall be issued except with the consent of the appropriate authority.

(5) A special enforcement notice shall specify—

(a) the matters alleged to constitute development to which this section applies; and

(b) the steps which the authority issuing the notice require to be taken for restoring the land to its condition before the development took place or for discontinuing any use of the land which has been instituted by the development.

(6) A special enforcement notice shall also specify—

(a) the date on which it is to take effect (“the specified date”), and

(b) the period within which any such steps as are mentioned in subsection (5)(b) are to be taken.

(7) A special enforcement notice may specify different periods for the taking of different steps.

295 Supplementary provisions as to special enforcement notices

(1) Not later than 28 days after the date of the issue of a special enforcement notice and not later than 28 days before the specified date, the local planning authority who issued it shall serve a copy of it—

(a) on the person who carried out the development alleged in the notice;

(b) on any person who is occupying the land when the notice is issued; and

(c) on the appropriate authority.

(2) The local planning authority need not serve a copy of the notice on the person mentioned in subsection (1)(a) if they are unable after reasonable enquiry to identify or trace him.

(3) Any such person as mentioned in subsection (1)(a) or (b) may appeal against the notice to the Secretary of State on the ground that the matters alleged in the notice—

(a) have not taken place, or

(b) do not constitute development to which section 294 applies.

(4) A person may appeal against a special enforcement notice under subsection (3) whether or not he was served with a copy of it.

(5) The provisions contained in or having effect under sections 174(3) to (5), 175(1) to (4) and 176(1) to (4) shall apply to special enforcement notices issued by local planning authorities and to appeals against them under subsection (3) as they apply to enforcement notices and to appeals under section 174.

(6) The Secretary of State may by regulations apply to special enforcement notices and to appeals under subsection (3) such other provisions of this Act (with such modifications as he thinks fit) as he thinks necessary or expedient.

296 Exercise of powers in relation to Crown land

(1) Notwithstanding any interest of the Crown in Crown land, but subject to the following provisions of this section—

(a) a plan approved, adopted or made under Part II of this Act or Part II of the 1971 Act may include proposals relating to the use of Crown land;

(b) any power to acquire land compulsorily under Part IX may be exercised in relation to any interest in Crown land which is for the time being held otherwise than by or on behalf of the Crown;

(c) any restrictions or powers imposed or conferred by Part III, VII or VIII, by the provisions of Part VI relating to purchase notices, or by any of the provisions of sections 266 to 270, shall apply and be exercisable in relation to Crown land, to the extent of any interest in it for the time being held otherwise than by or on behalf of the Crown.

(2) Except with the consent of the appropriate authority—

(a) no order or notice shall be made, issued or served under any of the provisions of section 102, 103, 172, 198, 199 or 215 or Schedule 9 or under any of those provisions as applied by any order or regulations made under Part VIII, in relation to land which for the time being is Crown land;

(b) no interest in land which for the time being is Crown land shall be acquired compulsorily under Part IX.

(3) No purchase notice shall be served in relation to any interest in Crown land unless—

(a) an offer has been previously made by the owner of that interest to dispose of it to the appropriate authority on equivalent terms, and

(b) that offer has been refused by the appropriate authority.

(4) In subsection (3) “equivalent terms” means that the price payable for the interest shall be equal to (and shall, in default of agreement, be determined in the same manner as) the compensation which would be payable in respect of it if it were acquired in pursuance of a purchase notice.

(5) The rights conferred by the provisions of Chapter II of Part VI shall be exercisable by a person who (within the meaning of those provisions) is an owner-occupier of a hereditament or agricultural unit which is Crown land, or is a resident owner-occupier of a hereditament which is Crown land, in the same way as they are exercisable in respect of a hereditament or agricultural unit which is not Crown land, and those provisions shall apply accordingly.

297 Agreements relating to Crown land

(1) The appropriate authority and the local planning authority for the area in which any Crown land is situated may make agreements for securing the use of the land, so far as may be prescribed by any such agreement, in conformity with the provisions of the development plan applicable to it.

(2) Any such agreement may contain such consequential provisions, including provisions of a financial character, as may appear to be necessary or expedient having regard to the purposes of the agreement.

(3) An agreement made under this section by a government department shall not have effect unless it is approved by the Treasury.

(4) In considering whether to make or approve an agreement under this section relating—

(a) to land belonging to a government department, or

(b) to land held in trust for Her Majesty for the purposes of a government department,

the department and the Treasury shall have regard to the purposes for which the land is held by or for the department.

298 Supplementary provisions as to Crown and Duchy interests

(1) Subject to the following provisions of this section—

(a) where there is a Crown interest in any land, the provisions of sections 109 to 113 and Part V and the provisions of Schedule 3 to the Planning (Consequential Provisions) Act 1990 in so far as they relate to those sections or that Part, or to Part VII or sections 166 to 168 of the 1971 Act, shall have effect in relation to any private interest or Duchy interest as if the Crown interest were a private interest; and

(b) where there is a Duchy interest in any land, those provisions shall have effect in relation to that interest, and to any private interest, as if the Duchy interest were a private interest.

(2) References in this Act to claims established under Part VI of the 1947 Act include references to claims so established in accordance with arrangements made under section 88(2) of that Act (which provided for the application of Part VI of that Act to Duchy interests and for the payment of sums in lieu of development charges in respect of such interests); references to development charges include references to sums determined in accordance with such arrangements to be appropriate in substitution for development charges; and references to the amount of an established claim or of a development charge shall be construed accordingly.

(3) Where, in accordance with an agreement under section 297, the approval of a local planning authority is required in respect of any development of land in which there is a Duchy interest, the provisions of this Act referred to in subsection (1)(a) shall have effect in relation to the withholding of that approval, or the giving of it subject to conditions, as if it were a refusal of planning permission or, as the case may be, a grant of planning permission subject to conditions.