A. W. & C. Barsby: Legal Research and Publishing

Chapter 3 - Planning variations

General note: there is no clear boundary between chapters 2 and 3 on the one hand and 4 on the other. The Hedgerows Regulations, for example, could be (and in some books are) treated as part of planning law, which is concerned with environmental factors.

3-1 PPG5 deals with SPZs. Link to ODPM for PPG5.

3-2 Some regulations, the Town and Country Planning (Simplified Planning Zones) Regulations 1992, SI 1992/2414, deal with the procedure for designating SPZs. They have since been amended.

3-4 There seems to be no information on the ODPM website about SPZs.

3-6 The ODPM also has power to designate areas as conservation areas (s. 69(3)).

3-13 Link to English Heritage.

3-16 If a building preservation notice is served, but the building is not ultimately listed, there may be a claim to compensation under ss. 29 onwards.

3-20 Planning permission for demolition will not be required, since this is controlled under the listed buildings legislation.

3-21 Link to the House of Lords for judgment in the Shimizu case. The requirements for notifying English Heritage and other bodies are complicated. More details can be added here on request.

3-23 Link to Planning Inspectorate for information on appealing against a refusal of listed building consent.

3-25 The full list of possible grounds of appeal is set out in s. 39, and includes the formal requirements relating to the service of the notice.

3-30 There are 7 National Parks - Dartmoor, Exmoor, the Peak District, the Lake District, the Yorkshire Dales, the North York Moors, and the Northumberland National Park. The Countryside Agency is in the process of designating another National Park in the area of the South Downs.

3-37 See also ODPM Circular 36/78 on Trees and Forestry. Link to HMSO for these Regulations. Link to ODPM for guide to tree preservation procedures.

3-38 It seems very unlikely that the law was intended to apply to trees which are not growing in the ground, whether they are bonsai trees or larger specimens, since the requirements for tree preservation orders include the preparation of a plan showing the location of the tree(s).

3-43 The legal basis for the appeal is that s. 78 of the Act is made to apply in these circumstances by Schedule 2 to the Regulations.

3-46 The duty to replace a dead or diseased tree does not apply to a tree which is covered by a tree preservation order because it is part of woodland.

3-48 Link to the Forestry Commission.

3-48 In the case of McInerney v Portland Port Ltd [2001] 1 PLR 104 the court decided that the exemption for gardens did not apply if a garden had fallen into disuse, even though there had been no specific change to another use.

3-50 What if a tree which cannot be felled without a Forestry Commission licence is also subject to a tree preservation order? The Commission must contact the local authority and if the latter object the application must be referred to the ODPM and dealt with under planning legislation.

3-53 The list is long one and should be consulted for its full effect. Link to HMSO for these Regulations. Link to ODPM for information on the process of environmental assessment. Link to the ODPM for information about the Directives.

3-57 The Schedule is in fact divided into two parts; Part IIdescribes the minimum information to be provided, Part I the information to be provided if reasonably required.

3-60 Link to ODPM for PPGs.

3-64 In limited circumstances the local authority may serve a "discontinuance notice", ending the deemed consent for an advertisement (reg. 8).