The A14 Cambridge to Huntingdon Improvement Scheme Development Consent Order 2016

PART 7 MISCELLANEOUS AND GENERAL

Operational land for purposes of the 1990 Act

38.  Development consent granted by this Order is to be treated as specific planning permission for the purposes of section 264(3)(a) (cases in which land is to be treated as operational land for the purposes of that Act) of the 1990 Act.

Defence to proceedings in respect of statutory nuisance

39.—(1) Where proceedings are brought under section 82(1) (summary proceedings by person aggrieved by statutory nuisance) of the Environmental Protection Act 1990(1) in relation to a nuisance falling within paragraph (g) of section 79(1) (noise emitted from premises so as to be prejudicial to health or a nuisance) of that Act no order is to be made, and no fine may be imposed, under section 82(2) of that Act if—

(a) the defendant shows that the nuisance—

(i) relates to premises used by the undertaker for the purposes of or in connection with the construction or maintenance of the authorised development and that the nuisance is attributable to the carrying out of the authorised development in accordance with a notice served under section 60 (control of noise on construction site), or a consent given under section 61 (prior consent for work on construction site) of the Control of Pollution Act 1974(2); or

(ii) is a consequence of the construction or maintenance of the authorised development and that it cannot reasonably be avoided; or

(b) the defendant shows that the nuisance is a consequence of the use of the authorised development and that it cannot reasonably be avoided.

(2) Section 61(9) of the Control of Pollution Act 1974 of that Act, does not apply where the consent relates to the use of premises by the undertaker for the purposes of or in connection with the construction or maintenance of the authorised development.

Protective provisions

40.  Schedule 9 (protective provisions) has effect.

Certification of plans, etc.

41.—(1) As soon as practicable after the making of this Order, the undertaker must submit copies of each of the plans and documents set out in Schedule 10 (documents to be certified) to the Secretary of State for certification as true copies of those plans and documents.

(2) Where any plan or document set out in Schedule 10 requires to be amended to reflect the terms of the Secretary of State’s decision to make this Order, that plan or document in the form amended to the Secretary of State’s satisfaction is the version of the plan or document required to be certified under paragraph (1).

(3) A plan or document so certified is admissible in any proceedings as evidence of the contents of the plan or document of which it is a copy.

(4) The undertaker must, following certification of the plans or documents in accordance with paragraph (1), make those plans or documents available in electronic form for inspection by members of the public.

Service of notices

42.—(1) A notice or other document required or authorised to be served for the purposes of this Order may be served—

(a) by post;

(b) by delivering it to the person on whom it is to be served or to whom it is to be given or supplied; or

(c) with the consent of the recipient and subject to paragraphs (5) to (8) by electronic transmission.

(2) Where the person on whom a notice or other document to be served for the purposes of this Order is a body corporate, the notice or document is duly served if it is served on the secretary or clerk of that body.

(3) For the purposes of section 7 (references to service by post) of the Interpretation Act 1978(3) as it applies for the purposes of this article, the proper address of any person in relation to the service on that person of a notice or document under paragraph (1) is, if that person has given an address for service, that address, and otherwise—

(a) in the case of the secretary or clerk of a body corporate, the registered or principal office of that body; and

(b) in any other case, the last known address of that person at the time of service.

(4) Where for the purposes of this Order a notice or other document is required or authorised to be served on a person as having any interest in, or as the occupier of, land and the name or address of that person cannot be ascertained after reasonable enquiry, the notice may be served by—

(a) addressing it to that person by name or by the description of “owner”, or as the case may be “occupier”, of the land (describing it); and

(b) either leaving it in the hands of a person who is or appears to be resident or employed on the land or leaving it conspicuously affixed to some building or object on or near the land.

(5) Where a notice or other document required to be served or sent for the purposes of this Order is served or sent by electronic transmission the requirement is taken to be fulfilled only where—

(a) the recipient of the notice or other document to be transmitted has given consent to the use of electronic transmission in writing or by electronic transmission;

(b) the notice or document is capable of being accessed by the recipient;

(c) the notice or document is legible in all material respects; and

(d) the notice or document is in a form sufficiently permanent to be used for subsequent reference.

(6) Where the recipient of a notice or other document served or sent by electronic transmission notifies the sender within 7 days of receipt that the recipient requires a paper copy of all or part of that notice or other document the sender must provide such a copy as soon as reasonably practicable.

(7) Any consent to the use of electronic communication given by a person may be revoked by that person in accordance with paragraph (8).

(8) Where a person is no longer willing to accept the use of electronic transmission for any of the purposes of this Order—

(a) that person must give notice in writing or by electronic transmission revoking any consent given by that person for that purpose; and

(b) such revocation is final and takes effect on a date specified by the person in the notice but that date must not be less than 7 days after the date on which the notice is given.

(9) This article does not exclude the employment of any method of service not expressly provided for by it.

(10) In this article “legible in all material respects” means that the information contained in the notice or document is available to that person to no lesser extent than it would be if served, given or supplied by means of a notice or document in printed form.

Arbitration

43.  Except where otherwise expressly provided for in this Order and unless otherwise agreed in writing between the parties, any difference under any provision of this Order (other than a difference which falls to be determined by the tribunal) must be referred to and settled by a single arbitrator to be agreed between the parties or, failing agreement, to be appointed on the application of either party (after giving notice in writing to the other) by the President of the Institution of Civil Engineers.

Appeals

44.—(1) Except as otherwise provided in this Order, the undertaker may appeal in the event that a local authority issues a notice further to section 60 (control of noise on construction sites) or 61 (prior consent for work on construction sites) of the Control of Pollution Act 1974.

(2) The appeal process is as follows—

(a) any appeal by the undertaker must be made within 42 days of the date of the notice of the decision;

(b) the undertaker must submit the appeal documentation to the Secretary of State and must on the same day provide copies of the appeal documentation to the local authority and affix a notice to a conspicuous object on or near the site of the works which are the subject of such appeal, which must give details of the decision of the local authority and notice that an appeal has been made together with the address within the locality where appeal documents may be inspected and details of the manner in which representations on the appeal may be made;

(c) as soon as is practicable after receiving the appeal documentation, the Secretary of State must appoint a person to consider the appeal (“the appointed person”) and must notify the appeal parties of the identity of the appointed person and the address to which all correspondence for their attention should be sent;

(d) the local authority must submit their written representations to the appointed person in respect of the appeal within 10 business days of the start date and must ensure that copies of their written representations and any other representations as sent to the appointed person are sent to each other and to the undertaker on the day on which they are submitted to the appointed person;

(e) the appeal parties must make any counter-submissions to the appointed person within 10 business days of receipt of written representations under sub-paragraph (d) above; and

(f) the appointed person must make a decision and notify it to the appeal parties, with reasons, as soon as reasonably practicable.

(3) The appointment of the person under sub-paragraph (2)(c) may be undertaken by a person appointed by the Secretary of State for this purpose instead of by the Secretary of State.

(4) In the event that the appointed person considers that further information is necessary to enable the appointed person to consider the appeal the appointed person must as soon as practicable notify the appeal parties in writing specifying the further information required, the appeal party from whom the information is sought, and the date by which the information is to be submitted.

(5) Any further information required under sub-paragraph (4) must be provided by the party from whom the information is sought to the appointed person and to other appeal parties by the date specified by the appointed person. The appointed person must notify the appeal parties of the revised timetable for the appeal on or before that day. The revised timetable for the appeal must require submission of written representations to the appointed person within 10 business days of the agreed date but must otherwise be in accordance with the process and time limits set out in paragraph (2)(c) to (e).

(6) On an appeal under this paragraph, the appointed person may—

(a) allow or dismiss the appeal; or

(b) reverse or vary any part of the decision of the local authority (whether the appeal relates to that part of it or not),

and may deal with the application as if it had been made to the appointed person in the first instance.

(7) The appointed person may proceed to a decision on an appeal taking into account such written representations as have been sent within the relevant time limits and in the sole discretion of the appointed person such written representations as have been sent outside the relevant time limits.

(8) The appointed person may proceed to a decision even though no written representations have been made within the relevant time limits, if it appears to the appointed person that there is sufficient material to enable a decision to be made on the merits of the case.

(9) The decision of the appointed person on an appeal is final and binding on the parties, and a court may entertain proceedings for questioning the decision only if the proceedings are brought by a claim for judicial review.

(10) The local authority may confirm any determination given by the appointed person in identical form in writing but a failure to give such confirmation (or a failure to give it in identical form) does not affect or invalidate the effect of the appointed person’s determination.

(11) Except where a direction is given under sub-paragraph (12) requiring the costs of the appointed person to be paid by the local authority, the reasonable costs of the appointed person must be met by the undertaker.

(12) On application by the local authority or the undertaker, the appointed person may give directions as to the costs of the appeal parties and as to the parties by whom the costs of the appeal are to be paid. In considering whether to make any such direction and the terms on which it must be made, the appointed person must have regard to the Planning Practice Guidance published by the Department for Communities and Local Government on 6th March 2014 or any circular or guidance which may from time to time replace it.

Traffic regulation

45.—(1) This article applies to roads in respect of which the undertaker is not the traffic authority.

(2) Subject to the provisions of this article, and the consent of the traffic authority in whose area the road concerned is situated, which consent must not be unreasonably withheld, the undertaker may, for the purposes of the authorised development—

(a) revoke, amend or suspend in whole or in part any order made, or having effect as if made, under the 1984 Act;

(b) permit, prohibit or restrict the stopping, waiting, loading or unloading of vehicles on any road;

(c) authorise the use as a parking place of any road;

(d) make provision as to the direction or priority of vehicular traffic on any road; and

(e) permit or prohibit vehicular access to any road,

either at all times or at times, on days or during such periods as may be specified by the undertaker.

(3) The power conferred by paragraph (2) may be exercised at any time prior to the expiry of 12 months from the opening of the authorised development for public use but subject to paragraph (7) any prohibition, restriction or other provision made under paragraph (2) may have effect both before and after the expiry of that period.

(4) The undertaker must consult the chief officer of police and the traffic authority in whose area the road is situated before complying with the provisions of paragraph (5).

(5) The undertaker must not exercise the powers conferred by paragraph (2) unless the undertaker has—

(a) given not less than—

(i) 12 weeks’ notice in writing of the undertaker’s intention so to do in the case of a prohibition, restriction or other provision intended to have effect permanently; or

(ii) 4 weeks’ notice in writing of the undertaker’s intention so to do in the case of a prohibition, restriction or other provision intended to have effect temporarily,

to the chief officer of police and to the traffic authority in whose area the road is situated; and

(b) advertised the undertaker’s intention in such manner as the traffic authority may specify in writing within 28 days of its receipt of notice of the undertaker’s intention in the case of sub-paragraph (a)(i), or within 7 days of its receipt of notice of the undertaker’s intention in the case of sub-paragraph (a)(ii).

(6) Any prohibition, restriction or other provision made by the undertaker under paragraph (2)—

(a) has effect as if duly made by, as the case may be—

(i) the traffic authority in whose area the road is situated, as a traffic regulation order under the 1984 Act; or

(ii) the local authority in whose area the road is situated, as an order under section 32 (power of local authorities to provide parking spaces) of the 1984 Act,

and the instrument by which it is effected may specify savings and exemptions to which the prohibition, restriction or other provision is subject; and

(b) is deemed to be a traffic order for the purposes of Schedule 7 (road traffic contraventions subject to civil enforcement) to the Traffic Management Act 2004(4).

(7) Any prohibition, restriction or other provision made under this article may be suspended, varied or revoked by the undertaker from time to time by subsequent exercise of the powers conferred by paragraph (2) within a period of 24 months from the opening of the authorised development.

(8) Before exercising the powers conferred by paragraph (2) the undertaker must consult such persons as the undertaker considers necessary and appropriate and must take into consideration any representations made to the undertaker by any such person.

(9) Expressions used in this article and in the 1984 Act have the same meaning in this article as in that Act.

(10) The powers conferred on the undertaker by this article with respect to any road have effect subject to any agreement entered into by the undertaker with any person with an interest in (or who undertakes activities in relation to) premises served by the road.

(11) If a traffic authority fails to notify the undertaker of its decision within 28 days of receiving an application for consent under paragraph (2), the traffic authority is deemed to have granted the consent.

(1)

1990 c. 43. There are amendments to this Act which are not relevant to this Order.

(2)

1974 c. 40. Sections 61(9) and 65(8) were amended by section 162 of, and paragraph 15 of Schedule 3 to, the Environmental Protection Act 1990, c. 25. There are other amendments to the 1974 Act which are not relevant to this Order.

(3)

1978 c. 30.

(4)

2004 c. 18.