The West of England Combined Authority Order 2017

1.—(1) Part 8 of the 1999 Act (planning) is modified in accordance with the following provisions.

(2) Part 8 of the 1999 Act has effect as if—

(a) sections 344 (amendments of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990), 345 (Town and Country Planning Act 1990: costs of appeals) and 349 (abolition of joint planning committee for Greater London) were omitted;

(b) for every reference to—

(i) “Greater London” there were a reference to “the West of England”;

(ii) “the Mayor” there were a reference to “the Combined Authority”;

(iii) “he” there were a reference to “the Combined Authority”, save for section 337(6) (publication);

(iv) “under section 343” there were substituted “relating to the Combined Authority under section 343”.

(3) Section 334 of the 1999 Act (the spatial development strategy) has effect as if—

(a) in subsection (3) for “his” there were substituted “its”;

(b) for subsection (4) there were substituted—

“(4) The spatial development strategy must include statements dealing with the general spatial development aspects of such of the Combined Authority’s other policies or proposals as involve considerations of spatial development.”.

(4) Section 335 of the 1999 Act (public participation) has effect as if—

(a) in subsection (2)(a) for “his” there were substituted “its”;

(b) subsection (3)(aa) were omitted;

(c) in subsection (3)(b), for “London borough council” there were substituted “constituent council”;

(d) in subsection (4), for the words after “include” to the end there were substituted—

“—

(a) voluntary bodies some or all of whose activities benefit the whole or part of the West of England;

(b) bodies which represent the interests of different racial, ethnic or national groups in the West of England;

(c) bodies which represent the interests of different religious groups in the West of England; and

(d) bodies which represent the interests of different persons carrying on business in the West of England.”;

(e) for subsection (8) there were substituted—

“(8) In this section “the prescribed period” means such period as may be prescribed by, or determined in accordance with, regulations relating to the Combined Authority made under section 343 below.”.

(5) Section 336 of the 1999 Act (withdrawal) has effect as if —

(a) in subsection (3)—

(i) paragraph (a) were omitted; and

(ii) paragraph (b) were omitted.

(6) Section 338 of the 1999 Act (examination in public) has effect as if for “Authority” there were substituted “the Mayor of the West of England”.

(7) Section 339 (review of matters affecting the strategy) has effect as if in subsection (2) for “his” there were substituted “its”.

(8) Section 342 of the 1999 Act (matters to which the Mayor is to have regard) has effect as if—

(a) for subsection (1) there were substituted—

“(1) In exercising its functions under the preceding provisions of this Part, the Combined Authority shall have regard to—

(a) the National Planning Policy Framework;

(b) the effect that the proposed spatial development strategy or revision would have on—

(i) the health of persons in the West of England;

(ii) health inequalities between persons living in the West of England;

(iii) the achievement of sustainable development in the United Kingdom;

(iv) climate change and the consequences of climate change;

(v) the need to ensure that the strategy is consistent with national policies and the EU obligations of the United Kingdom; and

(c) such other matters as the Secretary of State may prescribe.”; and

(b) subsection (2) were omitted.

(9) Section 347 of the 1999 Act (functional bodies to have regard to the strategy), has effect as if there were substituted—

“Constituent councils to have regard to the strategy

347.   In exercising any function, each of the constituent councils and the Combined Authority shall have regard to the spatial development strategy, but this is without prejudice to section 24 of the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004 as modified by Part 2 of Schedule 1 to the West of England Combined Authority Order 2017 (which requires certain documents of a constituent council to be in general conformity with the strategy).”.

(10) Section 348 of the 1999 Act (Mayor’s functions as to planning around Greater London) has effect as if—

(a) in subsections (1), (2) and (3) for “his” there were substituted “its”;

(b) in subsection (3), for “London borough councils” there were substituted “constituent councils”; and

(c) in subsection (4), for “the Authority” there were substituted “the Combined Authority”.

(11) Section 350 of the 1999 Act (interpretation of Part VIII) has effect as if —

(a) the following definitions were inserted, in the appropriate places—

““constituent councils” means the district councils for the local government areas of Bath and North East Somerset, Bristol City and South Gloucestershire;”

““the Combined Authority” means the West of England Combined Authority established by the West of England Combined Authority Order 2017;”

““Mayor of the West of England” is the person elected to the position established by article 5 of the West of England Combined Authority Order 2017;”

““the West of England” means the area of the Combined Authority as specified in article 2 of the West of England Combined Authority Order 2017;”; and

(b) subsection (2) were omitted.