Citation, commencement, interpretation and extent

1. —(1) This Order may be cited as the Town and Country Planning (General Development Procedure) (England) (Amendment) Order 2003.

(2) Article 5 of this Order shall come into force on 5th December 2003 and all other articles shall come into force on 5th September 2003.

(3) This Order applies in England only.

(4) In this Order—

“the 1995 Order” means the Town and Country Planning (General Development Procedure) Order 1995( 2 ).

Amendment of interpretation article

2. In article 1(2) of the 1995 Order, for the definition of “environmental information” and “environmental statement” substitute—

“ “ EIA development”, “environmental information” and “environmental statement” have the same meanings respectively as in regulation 2 of the Town and Country Planning (Environmental Impact Assessment) (England and Wales) Regulations 1999 ” ( 3 ).

Changes to article 10: Consultation before the grant of planning permission

3. In the Table in article 10(1) of the 1995 Order (consultation before the grant of planning permission), after paragraph (zb) insert—

“ (zc) Development which—

4. In article 10 of the 1995 Order—

(a) in paragraph (1)(ii) delete “; or”.

(b) after paragraph (1)(iii) insert—

• “ ; or

  (iv)

  the development is subject to any standing advice provided by the authority or person so mentioned to the local planning authority in relation to the category of development. ” .

(c) after paragraph (1A) insert—

“ (1B) The exception in article 10(iv) shall not apply where—

(a) the development is an EIA development; or

(b) the standing advice was issued more that two years before the date of the application for planning permission for the development and the guidance has not been amended or confirmed as being extant by the authority or person within that period ”

(d) after paragraph 2(m) insert—

“ (n) in paragraph (zc) “Regional Development Agency” has the same meaning as in section 41 of the Regional Development Agencies Act 1998 ( 4 ) and “Regional Development Agency’s Strategy” is a strategy formulated and kept under review under section 7 and section 7A of that Act ”

Changes to article 22: Written notice of decision or determination relating to a planning permission

5. For article 22(1) of the 1995 Order substitute—

“ 22 —(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 and—

(a) planning permission is granted, the notice shall include a summary of their reasons for the grant and a summary of the policies and proposals in the development plan which are relevant to the decision;

(b) planning permission is granted subject to conditions, the notice shall:—

(i) include a summary of their reasons for the grant together with a summary of the policies and proposals in the development plan which are relevant to the decision to grant permission; and

(ii) shall state clearly and precisely their full reasons for each condition imposed, specifying all policies and proposals in the development plan which are relevant to the decision;

(c) planning permission is refused, the notice shall 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; and

(d) where the Secretary of State has given a direction restricting the grant of planning permission for the development for which application is made or where he 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 shall give details of the direction or of the view expressed,

and in the case of notification required by sub-paragraph (b) (c) or (d) the notice shall be accompanied by a notification in the terms (or substantially in the terms) set out in Part 2 of Schedule 1 to this Order. ”

Changes to article 23: Appeals

6. In article 23(2) of the 1995 Order, for “six” substitute “three”.

Changes to article 25: Register of applications

7. In article 25(11)(a) of the 1995 Order, for “six” substitute “three”.

Changes to Schedule 1 Part 2

8. In Part 2 of Schedule 1 to the 1995 Order, for “six” substitute “three”.

Transitional Provisions

9. The amendments made to the 1995 Order by—

(a) articles 3, 4, 6, 7 and 8 shall not apply in respect of planning applications made before the coming into force of those articles;

(b) article 5 of this Order, shall not apply to planning applications made before the coming into force of article 5, which are decided or determined within a period of three months from that date.