Citation and commencement

1.  These Regulations may be cited as the Infrastructure Planning (Decisions) Regulations 2010 and shall come into force on 1st March 2010.

Interpretation

2.  In these Regulations—

“the Act” means the Planning Act 2008;

“application” means an application under the Act for an order granting development consent;

“conservation area” means an area for the time being designated under section 69 of the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 (designation of conservation areas)(2) and in Scotland under section 61 of the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservations Areas)(Scotland) Act 1997(3);

“hazardous substances” are those defined as such by regulation 3 of the Planning (Hazardous Substances) Regulations 1992(4) and in Scotland by regulation 3 of the Town and Country Planning (Hazardous Substances) (Scotland) Regulations 1993(5);

“listed building” has the same meaning as that given by section 1 of the Planning (Listed Building and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 (listing of buildings of special architectural or historic interest) and in Scotland in section 1 of the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservations Areas) (Scotland) Act 1997; and

“scheduled monument” means a monument included in the schedule of monuments compiled by the Secretary of State under section 1 of the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979(6).

Listed buildings, conservation areas and scheduled monuments

3.—(1) When deciding an application which affects a listed building or its setting, the decision-maker(7) must have regard to the desirability of preserving the listed building or its setting or any features of special architectural or historic interest which it possesses.

(2) When deciding an application relating to a conservation area, the decision-maker must have regard to the desirability of preserving or enhancing the character or appearance of that area.

(3) When deciding an application for development consent which affects or is likely to affect a scheduled monument or its setting, the decision-maker must have regard to the desirability of preserving the scheduled monument or its setting.

Deemed consents under section 34 of the Coast Protection Act 1949

4.—(1) This regulation applies in relation to an application where the decision-maker is considering whether to include in an order granting development consent a provision deeming consent under section 34 of the Coast Protection Act 1949(8) to have been given, by virtue of section 148 of the Act.

(2) When deciding an application to which this regulation applies, the decision-maker must have regard to—

(a)whether the development (whether being carried out or subsequently) causes or is likely to result in obstruction or danger to navigation; and if so,

(b)the nature and extent of any such obstruction or danger to navigation.

Deemed licences under the Food and Environment Protection Act 1985

5.—(1) This regulation applies in relation to an application where the decision-maker is considering whether to include in an order granting development consent a provision deeming a licence to have been issued under Part 2 of the Food and Environment Protection Act 1985(9), by virtue of section 149 of the Act.

(2) When deciding an application to which this regulation applies, the decision-maker must have regard to the need to—

(a)protect the marine environment, the living resources which it supports and human health; and

(b)prevent interference with legitimate uses of the sea.

(3) Without prejudice to the generality of paragraph (2), where it appears to the decision-maker that the application has been made with the view to the disposal of substances or articles, the decision-maker must have regard to the practical availability of any alternative methods of dealing with those substances or articles.

Hazardous substances

6.  When deciding an application in respect of development that would involve the presence of a hazardous substance on, over or under land to which section 12(2B) of the Planning (Hazardous Substances) Act 1990(10) applies (deemed hazardous substances consent: government authorisation) or for Scotland to which section 10(2B) of the Planning (Hazardous Substances) (Scotland) Act 1997(11) applies, the decision-maker must have regard to—

(a)any current or contemplated use of the land to which the application relates;

(b)the way in which other land in the vicinity is being used or is likely to be used; and

(c)any planning permission or development consent that has been granted for development of that other land in the vicinity.

Biological diversity

7.  When deciding an application for development consent the Panel or Council must have regard to the United Nations Environmental Programme Convention on Biological Diversity of 1992(12) and where the application is for development in Scotland the decision-maker must also have regard to any strategy designated under section 2(1) of the Nature Conservation (Scotland) Act 2004(13).

EXPLANATORY NOTE

(This note is not part of the Regulations)

The Planning Act 2008 (c.29) establishes the Infrastructure Planning Commission and provides for the making of orders granting development consent for certain types of nationally significant infrastructure projects. The decision-making function, depending on the circumstances is conferred on the Secretary of State, the Commission’s Council or a Panel of Commissioners. The Act creates a single consent regime, thereby removing the need for separate consents for each element of an application for consent.

The Regulations set out matters to which the Secretary of State, the Commission’s Council or a Panel of Commissioners (as the case may be) must have regard when deciding applications for development consent relating to—

(a)listed buildings, conservation areas and ancient monuments (regulation 3);

(b)deemed licences under Part 2 of the Food and Environment Protection Act 1985 (regulation 4);

(c)deemed consents under section 34 of the Coast Protection Act 1949 (regulation 5); and

(d)hazardous substances (regulation 6).

Where a decision is to be made by the Council or Panel, they must also have regard to the United Nations Environmental Programme Convention on Biological Diversity of 1992 (regulation 7). The convention can be accessed at http://www.cbd.int/convention.

An impact assessment has not been prepared for these Regulations as there is no additional impact on business, charities or the public sector beyond what was examined in the impact assessment which accompanied the Planning Bill when it was introduced in Parliament on 27th November 2007. That assessment can be found on the Communities and Local Government website (http://communities.gov.uk).