General development orders: opinion of appropriate nature conservation body
74.—(1) Where it is intended to carry out development in reliance on the permission granted by a general development order, application may be made in writing to the appropriate nature conservation body for their opinion as to whether the development is likely to have a relevant effect.
(2) The application must give details of the development which is intended to be carried out.
(3) On receiving such an application, the appropriate nature conservation body must consider whether the development is likely to have such an effect.
(4) Where they consider that they have sufficient information to conclude that the development will, or will not, have such an effect, they must notify the applicant and the local planning authority in writing of their opinion.
(5) If the appropriate nature conservation body consider that they have insufficient information to reach either of those conclusions, they must notify the applicant in writing indicating in what respects they consider the information insufficient, and the applicant may supply further information with a view to enabling them to reach a decision on the application.
(6) The opinion of the appropriate nature conservation body, notified in accordance with paragraph (4), that the development is not likely to have a relevant effect is conclusive of that question for the purpose of reliance on the planning permission granted by a general development order.
(7) In this regulation and in regulation 75 “a relevant effect” means such an effect as is mentioned in regulation 73(1)(a) or (2)(a).