The Town and Country Planning (Development Management Procedure) (England) Order 2015

Part 6 E+W Determination

Directions by the Secretary of State E+W

31.—(1) The Secretary of State may give directions restricting the grant of permission by a local planning authority, either indefinitely or during such a period as may be specified in the directions, in respect of any development or in respect of development of any class so specified.

(2) The Secretary of State may give directions that development, which is both of a description set out in column 1 of the table to Schedule 2 to the [F1 2017] Regulations (descriptions of development and applicable thresholds and criteria for the purposes of the definition of “Schedule 2 development”) M1 and of a class described in the direction, is EIA development for the purposes of those Regulations.

(3) A local planning authority must deal with applications for planning permission for development to which a direction given under paragraph (1) or (2) applies, in such manner as to give effect to the direction.

Textual Amendments

F1 Word in art. 31(2) substituted (16.5.2017) by The Town and Country Planning (Environmental Impact Assessment) Regulations 2017 (S.I. 2017/571), regs. 1(1), 72(4) (with regs. 47, 70)

Marginal Citations

M1 S.I. 2011/1824, amended by S.I. 2012/637, 2013/2140 and 2013/2879.

Development not in accordance with the development plan E+W

32.  A local planning authority may in such cases and subject to such conditions as may be prescribed by directions given by the Secretary of State under this Order, grant permission for development which does not accord with the provisions of the development plan in force in the area in which the land to which the application relates is situated.

Representations to be taken into account E+W

[F2 33.— (1) A local planning authority must, in determining an application for planning permission, take into account any representations made where any notice of, or information about, the application has been—

(a) given by site display under article 13, within 21 days beginning with the date when the notice was first displayed by site display;

(b) served on an owner of the land or a tenant of an agricultural holding under article 13, within 21 days beginning with the date when the notice was served on that person provided that the representations are made by any person who they are satisfied is such an owner or tenant;

(c) published in a newspaper under article 13, within the period of 14 days beginning with the date on which the notice was published;

(d) given by site display under article 15, within 21 days beginning with the date when the notice was first displayed by site display;

(e) served on an adjoining owner or occupier under article 15, within 21 days beginning with the date when the notice was served on that person, provided that the representations are made by any person who they are satisfied is such an owner or occupier;

(f) published in a newspaper or a website under article 15, within the period of [F3 14 days] [F3 21 days] beginning with the date on which the notice or information was published; and

(g) served on an infrastructure manager under article 16, within 21 days beginning with the date when the notice was served on that person provided that the representations are made by any person who they are satisfied is such an infrastructure manager.

(2) For an EIA application accompanied by an environmental statement a local planning authority must, in determining the relevant application, take into account any representations made where any notice of, or information about the application has been—

(a) given by site display under article 13 or 15, within 30 days beginning with the date when the notice was first displayed by site display; and

(b) published in a newspaper under article 13 or 15, or on a website under article 15, within the period of 30 days beginning with the date on which the notice or information was published.

(3) The representations and periods in this article are representations and periods prescribed for the purposes of section 71(2)(a) of the 1990 Act (consultations in connection with determinations under section 70).

(4) A local planning authority must give notice of their decision to every person who has made representations which they were required to take into account in accordance with paragraph (1)(b) and such notice is the notice prescribed for the purposes of section 71(2)(b) of the 1990 Act.

(5) Paragraphs (1) to (4) apply to applications referred to the Secretary of State under section 77 of the 1990 Act (reference of applications to the Secretary of State) and to applications made to the Secretary of State under section 293A(2) of the 1990 Act (application for urgent Crown development) as if—

(a) a reference to a local planning authority were a reference to the Secretary of State; and

(b) a reference to determining an application for planning permission were a reference to determining such application.

(6) Paragraphs (1)(b),(e) and (g) and (4) apply to appeals made to the Secretary of State under section 78 of the 1990 Act (right to appeal against planning decisions and failure to take such decisions) as if—

(a) a reference to a local planning authority were a reference to the Secretary of State; and

(b) a reference to determining an application for planning permission were a reference to determining such appeal.

[F4 (7) In this article, when computing the number of days, any day which is a public holiday must be disregarded unless—

(a) the application is an EIA application accompanied by an environmental statement;

(b) the computation is for the purpose of the period specified in sub-paragraphs (a), (b) (c) or (g) of paragraph (1); or

(c) the application is made under section 293A(2) of the 1990 Act.

(8) In the case of an application for public service infrastructure development, in sub-paragraphs (d),(e) and (g) of paragraph (1), “21 days” is to be read, in each place it occurs, as if it were a reference to “18 days”.]]

Textual Amendments

F2 Art. 33 substituted (coming into force in accordance with art. 1(6) of the amending S.I.) by The Town and Country Planning (Local Authority Consultations etc.) (England) Order 2018 (S.I. 2018/119), art. 5

F3 Words in art. 33(1)(f) substituted (temp.) (14.5.2020) by The Town and Country Planning (Development Management Procedure, Listed Buildings and Environmental Impact Assessment) (England) (Coronavirus) (Amendment) Regulations 2020 (S.I. 2020/505), regs. 1, 5 (with Pt. 5) (as substituted by S.I. 2020/1398, reg. 5)

F4 Art. 33(7)(8) substituted for art. 33(7) (with application in accordance with reg. 1(5) of the amending S.I.) by The Town and Country Planning (Development Management Procedure and Section 62A Applications) (England) (Amendment) Order 2021 (S.I. 2021/746), arts. 1(3), 14(2)

Time periods for decisions E+W

34.—(1) Subject to paragraph (9), where a valid application or a non-validated application has been received by a local planning authority, the authority must within the period specified or referred to in paragraph (2) M2 or (3) give the applicant notice of their decision or determination or notice that the application has been referred to the Secretary of State.

(2) The period specified or referred to in this paragraph is—

(a) [F5 subject to sub-paragraph (aa),] in relation to an application for major development, 13 weeks beginning with the day immediately following that on which the application is received by the local planning authority;

[F6 (aa) in relation to an application for technical details consent for major development, [F7 or an application for development which is public infrastructure development,] 10 weeks beginning with the day immediately following that on which the application is received by the local planning authority;]

(b) [F8 subject to sub-paragraph (bb),] in relation to an application for development which is not major development, 8 weeks beginning with the day immediately following that on which the application is received by the local planning authority; or

[F9 (bb) in relation to an application for technical details consent which is not major development, 5 weeks beginning with the day immediately following that on which the application is received by the local planning authority;]

(c) in relation to any development, unless the applicant has already given notice of appeal to the Secretary of State, such extended period as may be agreed in writing between the applicant and the local planning authority.

(3) In relation to a non-validated application, where the notice mentioned in article 12(1) is received—

(a) during the 7 working days immediately before the end of the period specified or referred to in paragraph (2) (“the initial determination period”); or

(b) on the final day of, or after the end of, the initial determination period,

the period specified or referred to in this paragraph is 7 working days beginning with the date the notice mentioned in article 12(1) is received by the local planning authority.

(4) In this article “valid application” means an application which consists of—

(a) an application which complies with the requirements of article 5, 6 or 7, as the case may be,

(b) in a case to which article 9 applies, the design and access statement,

[F10 (ba) in the case of an application to which article 9A applies, the fire statement;]

(c) the certificate required by article 14,

(d) in a case where pre-application consultation is required in accordance with article 3, the particulars specified in article 4,

(e) subject to paragraph (6), the particulars or evidence required by the authority under section 62(3) of the 1990 Act (applications for planning permission) M3 , and

(f) any fee required to be paid in respect of the application and, for this purpose, lodging a cheque for the amount of a fee is to be taken as payment,

and a valid application is taken to have been received when the application, and such of the documents, particulars or evidence referred to above as are required to be included in, or to accompany, the application have been lodged with the appropriate authority mentioned in article 11(1) and the fee required to be paid has been paid.

(5) In this article “non-validated application” means an application which consists of—

(a) an application which complies with the requirements of article 5, 6 or 7, as the case may be;

(b) in a case to which article 9 applies, the design and access statement;

[F11 (ba) in the case of an application to which article 9A applies, the fire statement;]

(c) the certificate required by article 14;

(d) in a case where pre-application consultation is required in accordance with article 3, the particulars referred to in article 4 M4 ;

(e) subject to paragraph (6), the particulars or evidence required by the authority under section 62(3) of the 1990 Act (applications for planning permission) except the particulars or evidence specified by the applicant in a notice sent to the local planning authority under article 12(1); and

(f) any fee required to be paid in respect of the application and, for this purpose, lodging a cheque for the amount of a fee is to be taken as payment,

and a non-validated application is taken to have been received when the application, and such of the documents, particulars or evidence (except the particulars or evidence specified by the applicant in a notice sent to the authority under article 12(1)) referred to above as required to be included in, or, to accompany, the application have been lodged with the appropriate authority mentioned in article 11(1), and the fee required to be paid has been paid.

(6) Paragraphs (4)(e) and (5)(e) only apply if—

(a) before the application is made the local planning authority publish or republish, for the purposes of paragraphs (4) and (5), a list of requirements on their website; and

(b) the particulars or evidence that the authority require to be included in the application fall within that list;

(c) the particulars or evidence the authority require to be included in the application—

(i) are reasonable having regard, in particular, to the nature and scale of the proposed development; and

(ii) are about a matter which it is reasonable to think will be a material consideration in the determination of the application; and

(d) the list mentioned in sub-paragraph (a) was published (or republished) during the 2 year period immediately before the date on which the application is made.

(7) Where a fee due in respect of an application has been paid by a cheque which is subsequently dishonoured—

(a) sub-paragraph (a) or (b) of paragraph (2), as the case may be, has effect as if, for “the application is received by the local planning authority”, there were substituted “ the local planning authority are satisfied that they have received the full amount of the fee ”; and

(b) sub-paragraph (c) of that paragraph has effect as if, at the end, there were added “ once the authority are satisfied that they have received the full amount of the fee ”.

(8) A local planning authority must provide such information about applications made under article 5, 6 or 7 (including information as to the manner in which any such application has been dealt with) as the Secretary of State may by direction require; and any such direction may include provision as to the persons to be informed and the manner in which the information is to be provided.

[F12 (9) A local planning authority must not determine an application for planning permission where any notice of, or information about, the application has been—

(a) given by site display under article 13, before the end of the period of 21 days beginning with the date when the notice was first displayed by site display;

(b) served on an owner of the land or a tenant of an agricultural holding under article 13, before the end of the period of 21 days beginning with the date when the notice was served on that person;

(c) published in a newspaper under article 13, within the period of 14 days beginning with the date on which the notice was published;

(d) given by site display under article 15, before the end of the period of 21 days beginning with the date when the notice was first displayed by site display;

(e) served on an adjoining owner or occupier under article 15, before the end of the period of 21 days beginning with the date when the notice was served on that person;

(f) published in a newspaper or a website under article 15 within the period of [F13 14 days] [F13 21 days] beginning with the date on which the notice or information was published; and

(g) served on an infrastructure manager under article 16, before the end of the period of 21 days beginning with the date when the notice was served on that person.

(9A) For an EIA application accompanied by an environmental statement a local planning authority must not determine an application for planning permission where any notice of, or information about, the application has been—

(a) given by site display under article 13 or 15, before the end of the period of 30 days beginning with the date when the notice was first displayed by site display; and

(b) published in a newspaper under article 13 or 15 or on a website under article 15, within the period of 30 days beginning with the date on which the notice or information was published.

(9B) The periods in paragraphs (9) and (9A) are periods prescribed for the purposes of section 71(1) of the 1990 Act (consultations in connection with determinations under section 70).

(9C) When computing the number of days in sub-paragraphs (d) to (f) of paragraph (9), any day which is a public holiday must be disregarded.]

[F14 (10) In the case of an application for public service infrastructure development, in sub-paragraphs (d),(e), and (g) of paragraph (9), in each place it occurs, “21 days” is to be read as if it were a reference to “18 days”.]

Textual Amendments

F5 Words in art. 34(2)(a) inserted (15.4.2017) by The Town and Country Planning (Permission in Principle) Order 2017 (S.I. 2017/402), art. 1, Sch. para. 2(4)(a)

F6 Art. 34(2)(aa) inserted (15.4.2017) by The Town and Country Planning (Permission in Principle) Order 2017 (S.I. 2017/402), art. 1, Sch. para. 2(4)(b)

F7 Words in art. 34(2)(aa) inserted (with application in accordance with reg. 1(5) of the amending S.I.) by The Town and Country Planning (Development Management Procedure and Section 62A Applications) (England) (Amendment) Order 2021 (S.I. 2021/746), arts. 1(3), 15(2)

F8 Words in art. 34(2)(b) inserted (15.4.2017) by The Town and Country Planning (Permission in Principle) Order 2017 (S.I. 2017/402), art. 1, Sch. para. 2(4)(c)

F9 Art. 34(2)(bb) inserted (15.4.2017) by The Town and Country Planning (Permission in Principle) Order 2017 (S.I. 2017/402), art. 1, Sch. para. 2(4)(d)

F10 Art. 34(4)(ba) inserted (with application in accordance with reg. 1(5) of the amending S.I.) by The Town and Country Planning (Development Management Procedure and Section 62A Applications) (England) (Amendment) Order 2021 (S.I. 2021/746), arts. 1(3), 15(3)

F11 Art. 34(5)(ba) inserted (with application in accordance with reg. 1(5) of the amending S.I.) by The Town and Country Planning (Development Management Procedure and Section 62A Applications) (England) (Amendment) Order 2021 (S.I. 2021/746), arts. 1(3), 15(4)

F12 Art. 34(9)-(9C) substituted for art. 34(9) (coming into force in accordance with art. 1(6) of the amending S.I.) by The Town and Country Planning (Local Authority Consultations etc.) (England) Order 2018 (S.I. 2018/119), art. 6

F13 Words in art. 34(9)(f) substituted (temp.) (14.5.2020) by virtue of The Town and Country Planning (Development Management Procedure, Listed Buildings and Environmental Impact Assessment) (England) (Coronavirus) (Amendment) Regulations 2020 (S.I. 2020/505), regs. 1, 5 (with Pt. 5) (as substituted by S.I. 2020/1398, reg. 5)

F14 Art. 34(10) inserted (with application in accordance with reg. 1(5) of the amending S.I.) by The Town and Country Planning (Development Management Procedure and Section 62A Applications) (England) (Amendment) Order 2021 (S.I. 2021/746), arts. 1(3), 15(5)

Modifications etc. (not altering text)

C1 Art. 34 modified (16.5.2017) by The Town and Country Planning (Environmental Impact Assessment) Regulations 2017 (S.I. 2017/571), regs. 1(1), 68(2) (with regs. 47, 70)

C2 Art. 34 modified (16.5.2017) by The Town and Country Planning (Environmental Impact Assessment) Regulations 2017 (S.I. 2017/571), regs. 1(1), 68(3) (with regs. 47, 70)

Marginal Citations

M2 In relation to the period for determining an application for EIA development, see S.I. 1999/293.

M3 Section 62 was substituted by section 42(1) of the 2004 Act.

M4 Article 3 and 4 cease to have effect with effect from 17th December 2020; see section 122(3) of the 2011 Act and by S.I. 2013/2931.

Written notice of decision or determination relating to a planning application E+W

35.—(1) When the local planning authority give notice of a decision or determination on an application for planning permission or for approval of reserved matters—

[F15 (za) where planning permission is granted, the notice must include—

(i) information relating to the condition in paragraph 13 of Schedule 7A to the 1990 Act (biodiversity gain condition) including that there are exemptions, transitional arrangements and requirements relating to irreplaceable habitat,

(ii) information to note the effect of section 73(2D) of the 1990 Act (earlier biodiversity gain plan in relation to a previous planning permission regarded as approved for purposes of paragraph 13 of Schedule 7A),

(iii) details of the planning authority under paragraph 12(1) of Schedule 7A (biodiversity gain in England), and

(iv) where development is to proceed in phases and the modifications in Part 2 of the Biodiversity Gain (Town and Country Planning) (Modifications and Amendments) (England) Regulations 2024 apply, a statement to that effect and to the effect that biodiversity gain plans are required before development may be begun and required before each phase of development may be begun;]

(a) where planning permission is granted subject to conditions, the notice must state clearly and precisely their full reasons—

(i) for each condition imposed; and

(ii) in the case of each pre-commencement condition, for the condition being a pre-commencement condition;

(b) where planning permission is refused, the notice must state clearly and precisely their full reasons for the refusal, specifying all policies and proposals in the development plan which are relevant to the decision;

(c) where—

(i) the Secretary of State has given a direction restricting the grant of planning permission for the development for which application is made; or

(ii) the Secretary of State or a government department has expressed the view that the permission should not be granted (either wholly or in part) or should be granted subject to conditions,

the notice must give details of the direction or of the view expressed.

[F16 (1A) References in paragraph (1)(a) to a condition do not include a condition under paragraph 13 of Schedule 7A (the biodiversity gain condition).]

(2) Where paragraph (1)(a) or (b) applies, the notice must also include a statement explaining, whether, and if so how, in dealing with the application, the local planning authority have worked with the applicant in a positive and proactive manner based on seeking solutions to problems arising in relation to dealing with a planning application.

(3) Where paragraph (1)(a), (b) or (c) applies, the notice must be accompanied by a notification in the terms (or substantially in the terms) set out in Schedule 5.

F17 (4) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

(5) In paragraph (1)(a)(ii) “pre-commencement condition” means a condition imposed on the grant of a planning permission which must be complied with—

(a) before any building or other operation comprised in the development is begun; or

(b) where the development consists of a material change in the use of any buildings or other land, before the change of use is begun.

Textual Amendments

F15 Art. 35(1)(za) inserted (12.2.2024) by The Biodiversity Gain (Town and Country Planning) (Modifications and Amendments) (England) Regulations 2024 (S.I. 2024/50), regs. 1(2), 17(a)

F16 Art. 35(1A) inserted (12.2.2024) by The Biodiversity Gain (Town and Country Planning) (Modifications and Amendments) (England) Regulations 2024 (S.I. 2024/50), regs. 1(2), 17(b)

F17 Art. 35(4) omitted (16.5.2017) by virtue of The Town and Country Planning (Environmental Impact Assessment) Regulations 2017 (S.I. 2017/571), regs. 1(1), 72(7) (with regs. 47, 70)