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

Title, commencement and application

1.—(1) The title of this Order is the Town and Country Planning (Development Management Procedure) (Wales) (Amendment) Order 2015 and it comes into force on 22 June 2015.

(2) This Order applies to all land in Wales.

Amendments to the Town and Country Planning (Development Management Procedure) (Wales) Order 2012

2.  The Town and Country Planning (Development Management Procedure) (Wales) Order 2012(1) is amended in accordance with the following provisions.

Interpretation

3.  In article 2(1)—

(a)after the definition of “floor space” insert—

““householder application” (“cais deiliad tŷ”) means an application for—

for any purpose incidental to the enjoyment of the dwellinghouse but does not include—

(b)after the definition of “mining operations” insert—

““minor commercial application” (“cais masnachol bach”) means an application for planning permission for the enlargement, improvement or other alteration of an existing building of no more than 250 square metres gross external floor space at ground floor level, or part of that building, currently in use for any of the purposes set out in Schedule 1A to this Order which is an application for—

Amendments relating to certain internal operations

4.  After article 2 insert—

“Development to include certain internal operations

2A.  Subsection (2) of section 55 of the 1990 Act does not apply to operations mentioned in paragraph (a) of that subsection which have the effect of increasing the floor space of the building by more than 200 square metres in circumstances where that the building is used for the retail sale of goods other than hot food.”

Amendments relating to publicity for applications for planning permission

5.  In article 12(7)—

(a)at the end of sub-paragraph (d) omit “and”;

(b)at the end of sub-paragraph (e) insert—

“; and

(f)that, in the case of a householder application or a minor commercial application, in the event of an appeal that proceeds by way of the expedited procedure, any representations made about the application will be passed to the Welsh Ministers and there will be no opportunity to make further representations.”

Amendments relating to consultations before the grant of permission

6.  In article 14(4)(b) for both references to “14 days” substitute “21days”.

Amendments relating to the duty to respond to consultation

7.  After article 15 insert—

“Duty to respond to consultation

15A.—(1) The requirement to consult which is prescribed for the purposes of section 54(2)(b) of the 2004 Act (duty to respond to consultation) is that contained in article 14.

(2) For the purposes of section 54(4)(a) of the 2004 Act the period prescribed is 21 days beginning with the day on which—

(a)notice referred to in article 14(4)(a) is given; or

(b)if earlier, the date of service of a copy of the application on the consultee,

or such other period as may be agreed in writing between the consultee and the consultor.

(3) For the purposes of this article and article 15B, and pursuant to section 54(5)(c) of the 2004 Act, a substantive response is one which—

(a)states that the consultee has no comment to make;

(b)states that the consultee has no objection to the proposed development and refers the consultor to current standing advice by the consultee on the subject of the consultation;

(c)advises the consultor of any concerns identified in relation to the proposed development and how those concerns can be addressed by the applicant; or

(d)advises that the consultee objects to the proposed development and sets out the reasons for the objection.

Duty to respond to consultation: annual reports

15B.—(1) Each consultee who is, by virtue of section 54 of the 2004 Act and article 15A, under a duty to respond to consultation must give to the Welsh Ministers, not later than 1 July in each year, beginning with the 1 July 2017, a report as to that consultee’s compliance with section 54(4) of the 2004 Act.

(2) The report must relate to the period of 12 months commencing on 1 April in the preceding year (“the report year”).

(3) The report must contain, in respect of any report year, a statement as to—

(a)the number of occasions on which the consultee was consulted;

(b)the number of occasions on which a substantive response was provided;

(c)when the substantive response was provided; and

(d)the number of occasions on which the consultee gave a substantive response outside the period prescribed for the purposes of section 54(4) of the 2004 Act and a summary of the reasons why. ”

Amendments relating to appeals

8.—(1) In article 26(1)(b), for the words “paragraph (3)(e)” substitute “paragraph (3)(a)(ii) or (3)(b)(v)”.

(2) In article 26(2)—

(a)after the words “in paragraph (1) is” omit “ six months from”;

(b)for sub-paragraphs (a), (b) and (c) substitute—

“(a)in the case of a householder appeal or a minor commercial appeal, twelve weeks from the date of the notice of the decision or determination giving rise to the appeal;

(b)in the case of any other appeal under section 78(1), six months from—

(i)the date of the notice of the decision or determination giving rise to the appeal; or

(ii)in a case in which the local planning authority have served a notice on the applicant in accordance with article 3(2) that they require further information and the applicant has not provided the information, the date of service of that notice;”.

(3) For article 26(3) substitute—

“(3) The documents mentioned in paragraph (1) are—

(a)in the case of a householder appeal or a minor commercial appeal—

(i)a copy of the application which was sent to the local planning authority which has occasioned the appeal;

(ii)any other plans, documents or drawings relating to the application which were not sent to the local planning authority, except any plans, documents or drawings relating to amendments to the application proposed after the local planning authority have made their determination; and

(iii)the notice of the decision or determination;

(b)in the case of any other appeal made under section 78—

(i)the application made to the local planning authority which has occasioned the appeal;

(ii)all plans, drawings and documents sent to the authority in connection with the application;

(iii)all correspondence with the authority relating to the application;

(iv)any certificate provided to the authority under article 11;

(v)any other plans, documents or drawings relating to the application which were not sent to the authority;

(vi)the notice of the decision or determination, if any;

(vii)if the appeal relates to an application for approval of certain matters in accordance with a condition on a planning permission, the application for that permission, the plans submitted with that application and the planning permission granted.”

(4) After article 26(6) insert—

“(7) In this article—

“householder appeal” (“apêl deiliad tŷ”) means an appeal under section 78(1)(a) of the 1990 Act in relation to a householder application but does not include—

“minor commercial appeal” (“apêl fasnachol fach”) means an appeal under section 78(1)(a) of the 1990 Act in relation to a minor commercial application but does not include—

Amendments relating to functions of a local planning authority where an appeal is made

9.  After article 26 insert—

“Appeal made: Functions of a local planning authority

26A.  The additional period prescribed for the purposes of section 78A is four weeks.”

Amendments relating to the register of applications and local development orders

10.  In article 29(15)(a)—

(a)omit the words “(or the appropriate period allowed under article 22 has expired without their giving a decision)”;

(b)omit the words “of six months”.

Amendments to the Schedules

11.—(1) In the Acknowledgement of Application in Schedule 1, the words “If you appeal, you must appeal within 6 months” to “(“the relevant date”)]………..” are omitted.

(2) After Schedule 1 insert Schedule 1A contained in the Schedule to this Order.

(3) In Schedule 2—

(a)in the Notice Under Article 10 of Application for Planning Permission before the definition of “owner” insert—

“In the event that an appeal is made against a decision of the Local Planning Authority to refuse to grant planning permission for the proposed development, and that appeal then proceeds by way of the expedited written procedure prescribed in Part 1 of the Town and Country Planning (Referrals and Appeals) (Written Representations Procedure) (Wales) Regulations 2015 (S.I……(W. )), any representations made by the owner or tenant to the Local Planning Authority about this application will be passed to the Welsh Ministers and there will be no opportunity to make further representations. Any owner or tenant wishing to make representations should do so by the date in paragraph (f) above.”

(b)in the Notice of Appeal under Articles 10 and 25 before the definition of “owner” insert—

“In the event that an appeal is dealt with by the expedited written representation procedure prescribed in Part 1 of the Town and Country Planning (Referrals and Appeals) (Written Representations Procedure) (Wales) Regulations 2015 (S.I……(W. )), any representations made by the owner or tenant to the local Planning Authority about the application will be passed to the Welsh Ministers and there will be no opportunity to make further representations in relation to the appeal.”

Transitional and savings provisions

12.—(1) The provisions in articles 8 and 11(3)(b) of this Order, do not apply in relation to any appeal under section 78 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 relating to an application made before this Order comes into force.

(2) The provision in articles 3, 5, 10 and 11(1), (2) and (3)(a) of this Order, do not apply in relation to an application for planning permission made before this Order comes into force.

(3) The Town and Country Planning (Development Management Procedure) (Wales) Order 2012, in the form which it existed immediately before the coming into force of this Order, continues to apply to any application for planning permission made before this Order comes into force and to any appeal made under section 78 relating to such an application.