The Town and Country Planning (Appeals) (Written Representations Procedure) (England) Regulations 2009

Interpretation

2.—(1) In these Regulations—

“the Act” means the Town and Country Planning Act 1990;

“appellant” means a person giving notice of appeal to the Secretary of State;

“document” includes a photograph, map or plan;

“dwellinghouse” does not include a building containing one or more flats, or a flat contained within such a building;

“electronic communication” has the meaning given in section 15(1) of the Electronic Communications Act 2000(1);

“householder appeal” means an appeal under section 78(1) of the Act in relation to a householder application, except an appeal against the grant of any planning permission, consent, agreement or approval which is granted subject to conditions;

“householder application” means—

(a)

an application for planning permission for development of an existing dwellinghouse, or development within the curtilage of such a dwellinghouse for any purpose incidental to the enjoyment of the dwellinghouse, or

(b)

an application for any consent, agreement or approval required by or under a planning permission, development order or local development order in relation to such development,

but does not include—

(i)

an application for change of use,

(ii)

an application to change the number of dwellings in a building;

“local planning authority” means the body who were responsible for dealing with the application occasioning the appeal;

“notice of appeal” means a notice of appeal under section 78 of the Act;

“questionnaire” means a document in the form supplied by the Secretary of State to local planning authorities for the purpose of proceedings under these Regulations, and for this purpose a form is taken to be supplied where the Secretary of State has published it on a website and has notified the local planning authority of—

(a)

publication of the form on the website,

(b)

the address of the website, and

(c)

the place on the website where the form may be accessed, and how it may be accessed;

“starting date” means the date of the notice under regulation 4 or 11, as the case may be;

“working day” means a day which is not a Saturday, Sunday, Bank Holiday or other public holiday; and

“written representations” includes supporting documents.

(2) In these Regulations, and in relation to the use of electronic communications for any purpose of these Regulations which is capable of being effected electronically—

(a) the expression “address” includes any number or address used for the purposes of such communications, except that where these Regulations impose an obligation on any person to provide a name and address to any other person, the obligation shall not be fulfilled unless the person on whom it is imposed provides a postal address;

(b) references to notices, representations or other documents, or to copies of such documents, include references to such documents or copies of them in electronic form.

(3) Paragraphs (4) to (7) apply where an electronic communication is used by a person for the purpose of fulfilling any requirement in these Regulations to give or send any statement, notice or other document to any other person (“the recipient”).

(4) The requirement shall be taken to be fulfilled where the notice or other document transmitted by means of the electronic communication is—

(a) capable of being accessed by the recipient,

(b) legible in all material respects, and

(c) sufficiently permanent to be used for subsequent reference.

(5) In paragraph (4), “legible in all material respects” means that the information contained in the notice or other document is available to the recipient to no lesser extent than it would be if sent or given by means of a document in printed form.

(6) Where the electronic communication is received by the recipient outside the recipient’s business hours, it shall be taken to have been received on the next working day.

(7) A requirement in these Regulations that any document should be in writing is fulfilled where that document meets the criteria in paragraph (4), and “written” and cognate expressions are to be construed accordingly.

(1)

2000 (c.7). Section 15(1) was amended by the Communications Act 2003 (c. 21), see section 406(1) and paragraph 158 of Schedule 17.