This guidance should have been issued to coincide with the changes to the General Development Procedure Order and the commencement of section 96A of the Town and County Planning Act 1990 on 1st October 2009. Click here http://info.speechlys.com/ ve/ZZQ002981C69VdvZS9/stype=click/OID=50912914472572/VT=0) to view a full copy of the Guidance.
A. Extending permissions
Applications for extension of time can only be made in respect of planning permissions granted before 1 October 2009 and which have not been implemented. The permission to be extended must be extant at the time of the application but if it should expire after the application date, it can still be extended. It is up to local planning authorities to decide what further information may be required in support of application but further information is likely to be required where changes in policy have occurred since the original grant of the permission or where assessments require updating.
An application for an extension of time is however a new application for a development consent under the 1999 Environmental Impact Assessment Regulations and where a development falls within the EIA criteria, a new screening opinion should be sought.
Any previously approved reserved matters approvals do not need to
be reapplied for following the grant of the extended permission
unless changes are required to those reserved matters approval.
Not all applications for extensions will succeed and local planning authorities may refuse to grant the extension where changes in their development plans or other material considerations indicate that the proposed development is no longer acceptable. If the extension is acceptable, an entirely new permission with a new number will be issued.
As most section 106 Planning Agreements/Undertakings are linked to specifically numbered planning permissions, simple deeds of variation will be necessary to substitute the new permission number.
B. Non-material amendments
The new section 96A allows non-material amendments to be made to an existing permission by a simplified application procedure with a faster decision time and as this is not a full application, a design and access statement will not be required. Unfortunately there is not a statutory definition of a non-material amendment as the guidance considers that it is for the local planning authority to decide, in the context of the scheme, whether the amendment applied for is non-material. Only those with an interest in the land (including mortgagees and those with options to acquire an interest) can apply for a non material amendment.
An application can include more that one amendment and this procedure can also be used to amend conditions.
C. Minor material amendments
A minor material amendment is defined in the Guidance as one "whose scale and nature results in a development which is not substantially different from the one which has been approved". Pre application discussions should be had with the local planning authority to establish whether the amendment required falls within this definition so as to avoid unnecessary work and cost on an application which doesn't fall within the definition. This new procedure uses the existing section 73 procedure (which is used to amend conditions) and so the permission must have a suitable condition which could be amended. For example if changes to the approved plans are required then, a condition requiring the development to be carried out in accordance with "the following approved plans" and, which also lists the plans, can be amended.
If however a permission doesn't include such a condition, one could be added through the use of the non-material amendment procedure above and then varied using the minor material amendments procedure.
Draft Supplementary Planning Guidance on the use of planning obligations in the funding of Crossrail (SPG)
Despite the Mayor issuing his consultation draft London Plan he has also published his amended draft supplemental Planning Guidance on the use of planning obligations in the funding of Crossrail to accompany his alterations to the current London Plan. The alterations propose the addition of a new Policy – Funding of Crossrail.
The SPG will enable the Mayor to provide guidance to boroughs when undertaking negotiations on planning obligations which will require contributions from developers towards the costs of funding Crossrail. The guidance will set out the criteria for indentifying those projects which should be subject to the additional contribution; standard charges and formulae for calculating the contributions and the period over which the contributions should be sought and arrangements made for review. Click here (http://info.speechlys.com/ve/ZZQ002981C69VdvZS9/stype=click/OID=10912914472549/VT=0) to view a full copy of the draft SPG.
Consultation on Permitted Development rights for small scale renewable and low carbon energy technologies
This consultation sets out the proposal to grant permitted development rights in England to specific smaller scale renewable energy and low carbon technologies and for electric vehicle charging infrastructure.
Renewable and low carbon technologies which are likely to be permitted for domestic premises are wind turbines and air source heat pumps.
Permitted installations on non domestic premises are proposed as wind turbines, air source heat pumps, ground source heat pumps, water source heat pumps, solar panels, flues for biomass systems and combined heat and power systems.
On agricultural or forestry land, housings for anaerobic digestion systems biomass boilers and hydro turbines will also be permitted.
In relation to electric vehicle charging points, it is proposed that that a new Class 2 to the General Permitted Development Order is inserted to permit charging points to be placed in both public and private car parking areas. Click here (http://info.speechlys.com/ve/Q002981C69VdvZS9/stype=click/OID=50912914472531/VT=0) to view a full copy of the consultation document.
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