Clause 46 - Duration of permission and consent
Planning and Compulsory Purchase (Re-committed) Bill
5:45 pm
Mr Keith Hill (Minister of State (Housing and Planning), Office of the Deputy Prime Minister; Streatham, Labour)
Amendment No. 19 provides that where planning permission is granted and subsequently challenged in a court of law, the duration of the permission or consent will be from the date of grant until three years, or another period as directed by the determining authority, after completion of the legal proceedings. It might be helpful if I explain that in more detail.
A decision to grant planning permission, taken by the local planning authority or the Secretary of State on appeal, can be challenged in the courts. It has been suggested to us that there has been a significant rise in the number of such challenges in recent years by objectors and competitors, whose aim appears to be to delay the start of a development, or even to prevent it entirely, by running it out of time. Where a grant of planning permission is challenged, it is likely to be imprudent for the prospective developer to commence his development until the challenge has been disposed of. However, that clearly presents a potential problem, because the clause reduces the period of validity of a consent, generally from five years to three years.
Furthermore, the clause also prevents the renewal of planning permissions. We recognise that there may be cases in which the combined effect of these factors could unreasonably jeopardise a development. Where a decision to grant planning permission is
subsequently upheld by the court, it is right that the developer should be given the necessary time to implement that permission. Amendment No. 19 therefore provides for the period of consent to start again after the completion of any legal proceedings.
Amendments Nos. 17 and 18 are technical amendments, which are necessary as a consequence of amendment No. 19. They simply allow the provisions that I have just set out to be incorporated into the Town and Country Planning Act 1990—the principal Act.
Amendment No. 22 provides that where listed buildings consent or conservation area consent is granted and subsequently challenged in a court of law, the duration of the consent will be from the date of grant until three years, or for another period as directed by the determining authority, after the completion of the legal proceedings. The amendment applies the same provisions to listed buildings consent and conservation area consent as amendment No. 19 applies in respect of planning permission, and is being introduced for the same reasons.
Amendments Nos. 20 and 21 are technical amendments, which are necessary as a consequence of amendment No. 22. They simply allow the provisions in that amendment to be incorporated into the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990.