Local Government Act 1972

Part IE+W Discharge of Planning and Countryside Functions in National Parks

Planning Boards and National Park CommitteesE+W

1If immediately before the 1st April 1974 there is an existing joint planning board constituted by an order under section 1 of the M1Town and Country Planning Act 1971 for a National Park comprised in two or more existing counties and as from that date the Park will be comprised in two or more new counties, the Secretary of State shall make an order reconstituting the existing board for discharging the functions to which this Part of this Schedule applies and [F1section 2 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990] shall apply to a joint board so reconstituted and the order reconstituting it as it applies to a joint board constituted under that section and the order constituting it and shall so apply as if the area of the Park were a united district.

2An order under the said section 1 constituting a new joint board for a united district consisting of the whole or part of a National Park and comprised in two or more new counties may confer on the board, in addition to the functions of a county planning authority under [F2the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 and the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990], any other functions to which this Part of this Schedule applies.

3If immediately before 1st April 1974 there is an existing joint planning board for a National Park comprised in two or more existing counties and on that date the Park will be wholly comprised in one new county, the Secretary of State shall by order reconstitute that board as a special planning board to discharge the functions to which this Part of this Schedule applies as respects the area of the Park, and any enactment relating to joint boards constituted by an order under [F3section 2 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990] shall apply to a special planning board reconstituted under this Part of this Schedule and to the order reconstituting it as it applies to a joint planning board constituted under that section and to the order constituting it and shall so apply as if the area of the Park were a united district, but with the substitution of references to the council of a new county for any references to the constituent authorities.

4The Secretary of State may by an order under paragraph 1 or 3 above, or by an order under the said [F6section 2] relating to a united district consisting of the whole or part of a National Park, or by an order under this paragraph, confer on a joint or special planning board for a National Park or any part of a National Park any of the additional countryside functions as respects the Park or, as the case may be, any part of it.

5For every National Park for which there is no joint planning board or special planning board the council or councils of the [F7planning areas] in which the Park is comprised shall make arrangements for the discharge of the following functions of theirs as respects the Park by a separate committee to be known as a National Park Committee, that is to say—

(a)their functions to which this Part of this Schedule applies except those mentioned in paragraph 6 below; and

(b)their functions as local authority under the 1949 Act and the 1968 Act.

6The functions of a council or councils excepted from the requirement imposed by paragraph 5 above are—

(a)their functions under Part II of [F8the Town and Country Planning Act 1990];

(b). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . F9

(c)their functions under Part III and, so far as relating to planning control under Part III, [F10Part VII] of that Act with respect to the carrying out of any operations in, on, over or under land, or any use of land, partly situated in the National Park and partly in some other area, where those functions so far as relating to any such operations or use are exercisable by the local planning authority for that other area.

7The validity of anything done or purporting to have been done by a National Park Committee in pursuance of arrangements made by virtue of paragraph 5 above shall not be called in question in any legal proceedings, or in any proceedings under [F11the Town and Country Planning Act 1990] which are not legal proceedings, on the ground that it ought to have been done by the authority or one of the authorities by whom the arrangements were made.

8The National Park Committee for a Park comprised in two or more [F12planning areas] shall be appointed by the council of such of [F13those areas] as may be agreed between the councils of those counties or, in default of agreement, jointly by both or all those councils, and, where it is appointed by one of those councils, the expenses incurred by the Committee shall be defrayed by both or all those councils in such proportions as they may agree or as in default of agreement may be determined by the Secretary of State.

9A National Park Committee may arrange with a district planning authority whose area comprises any part of the Park for the authority to discharge as respects a part of the Park within their area such of the functions exercisable by the Committee by virtue of paragraph 5 above as may be agreed between the Committee and the Countryside Commission or as in default of agreement may be determined by the Secretary of State.

10Where a joint planning board, special planning board or National Park Committee is required to be established by being reconstituted or appointed under this Part of this Schedule for any area being or comprised in a National Park, the requirement shall be deemed to be complied with in any case approved by the Secretary of State after consultation with the Countryside Commission if the board or Committee is established for that area together with other land.

11Not less than one third [F14(to the nearest whole number)] of the members of a joint planning board, special planning board or National Park Committee established for an area being or comprising the whole or any part of a National Park shall be persons appointed by the Secretary of State after consultation with the Countryside Commission:

12The persons appointed in pursuance of paragraph 11 above shall hold office for such period not being less than one year nor more than three years as the Secretary of State may, after consultation with the Countryside Commission, determine and shall be eligible for reappointment.

[F1512A(1)The members of a joint planning board, special planning board or National Park Committee established for an area being or comprising the whole or any part of a National Park shall include members (in this paragraph referred to as “district council members”) who are appointed by [F16councils of non-metropolitan districts which] comprise any part of that Park (in this paragraph referred to as “relevant district councils”).

(2)The number of district council members of such a board or Committee shall be equal to—

(a)the number of relevant district councils; or

(b)one seventh (to the nearest whole number) of the members of the board or Committee,

whichever is the less; and for the purposes of this sub-paragraph any casual vacancy in the membership of the board or Committee shall be disregarded.

(3)The district council members shall be appointed by such of the relevant district councils as may be agreed between those councils or as in default of agreement may be determined by the Secretary of State.

(4)The district council members shall hold office for a period of one year and shall be eligible for reappointment; and section 102(5) above shall apply in relation to a district council member appointed under this paragraph as it applies in relation to a member of a committee appointed under that section.]

13Section 101 above shall, in its application to the discharge as respects a National Park of any functions to which this Part of this Schedule applies and any additional countryside functions, have effect subject to the following modifications:—

(a)a local planning authority shall not make arrangements for the discharge of any such functions as respects a National Park or land in a National Park by some other local authority without consulting the Countryside Commission;

(b)section 101 shall not authorise a [F17county or metropolitan district council] to make arrangements for the discharge of any functions which by virtue of paragraph 5 above are required to be discharged by a National Park Committee except in accordance with that paragraph;

(c)section 101(4) shall not apply in relation to arrangements made by the [F17county or metropolitan district council] by virtue of paragraph 5 for the discharge of any functions by a National Park Committee.

14In the case of a National Park Committee for a National Park wholly comprised in [F18one planning area] the members of the Committee shall ([F19subject to paragraphs 11 and 12A above]) be appointed by, and the majority of those members shall be members of, the council of [F20the area], and in the case of a National Park Committee for a National Park comprised in [F21two or more planning areas] the members of the Committee shall (subject as aforesaid) be appointed by such of the councils of [F21those areas] as may be agreed between those councils or as in default of agreement may be determined by the Secretary of State and a majority of the members of the Committee shall be members of those councils, and—

(a)so much of section 102(3) above as regulates the proportion of members of a committee shall not apply to a National Park Committee; and

(b)section 102(5) shall apply to a member of a National Park Committee appointed under this paragraph as being a member of a [F22county or metropolitan district council] as it applies in relation to a member of a committee appointed under that section who was at the time of his appointment a member of the appointing authority or one of the appointing authorities.

National Park OfficerE+W

15Every joint planning board, special planning board or National Park Committee established for a National Park shall after consultation with the Countryside Commission appoint an officer, to be known as a National Park Officer, for the purposes of the functions exercisable by them as respects the Park by virtue of [F23section 2 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990] or this Part of this Schedule.

16A National Park Officer appointed by a National Park Committee shall be an officer of [F24the council of the planning area] by whom the Committee was established or, if it was established by two or more such councils, such one of them as they may agree or as, in default of agreement, may be determined by the Secretary of State.

17A National Park Officer appointed by a joint board or special planning board or a National Park Committee shall not be employed for any purpose other than one mentioned in paragraph 15 above, except after consultation between the authority by whom he is employed and the Countryside Commission and, in the case of a National Park Officer appointed by a National Park Committee, except with the Committee’s consent.

National Parks PlansE+W

18Every joint planning board, special planning board or National Park Committee established for a National Park shall—

(a)within three years of 1st April 1974 or of being established, whichever is the later, prepare and publish a plan to be known as a National Park Plan formulating their policy for the management of the Park and for the exercise of the functions exercisable by them as respects the Park; and

(b)review at intervals of not more than five years a National Park Plan published under this paragraph, making any amendments to it which they consider expedient, and publish a report on their review and any such amendments.

19Every such board or committee established for a National Park shall in preparing or reviewing a National Park Plan send a copy of the proposed plan or review to the Countryside Commission and to any district planning authority whose area is wholly or partly comprised in the Park and take into consideration any observations of the Commission or any such authority thereon and shall send the Secretary of State a copy of a National Park Plan published under paragraph 18 above and of the report on any review or amendments so published.

InterpretationE+W

20The functions to which this Part of this Schedule applies are all functions of a county council or district council as local planning authority under the 1949 Act, the 1968 Act [F25and the Town and Country Planning Act 1990, the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 and the Planning (Consequential Provisions) Act 1990] and any enactment amending any of those Acts.

21In this Part of this Schedule “additional countryside functions” means functions other than those mentioned in paragraph 20 above, which, in the opinion of the council or councils concerned, or where the functions are ones which may be conferred by an order or determination of a Minister, of that Minister, relate to the countryside and are appropriate for reference to a board or committee concerned with matters relating to the countryside.

[F2621AIn this Part of this Schedule “planning area” means a metropolitan district or a non-metropolitan county.]

Construction of References to the Countryside CommissionE+W

21BIn this Part of this Schedule, references to the Countryside Commission shall, in relation to a National Park in Wales, be construed as references to the Countryside Council for Wales.