Wednesday 23 November 2011

New requirement for payment under Habitat Regulations...

With effect from 1 November 2011 any new residential or tourist accommodation will have to provide mitigation for recreational impacts on protected European Wildlife Sites.  This affects areas within 10km of the Exe Estuary and Dawlish Warren. 


for more information, please refer to http://www.teignbridge.gov.uk/index.aspx?articleid=15162

New legislation...

The General Permitted Development Order and the Advert Regulations have been amended with a start date of 1 October 2011 for electric vehicle charging points and 1 December 2011 for micro-generation updates:


Amendment of the Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) Order 1995


2.
—(1) The Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) Order 1995(1) is amended as follows.
(2) In Part 2 of Schedule 2 (minor operations), after Class C insert—

“Class D
Permitted development

D. The installation, alteration or replacement, within an area lawfully used for off-street parking, of an electrical outlet mounted on a wall for recharging electric vehicles.
Development not permitted

D.1 Development is not permitted by Class D if the outlet and its casing would—

(a) exceed 0.2 cubic metres;
(b) face onto and be within two metres of a highway;
(c) be within a site designated as a scheduled monument; or
(d) be within the curtilage of a listed building.

Conditions

D.2
Development is permitted by Class D subject to the conditions that when no longer needed as a charging point for electric vehicles—

(a)the development shall be removed as soon as reasonably practicable; and
(b)the wall on which the development was mounted or into which the development was set shall, as soon as reasonably practicable, and so far as reasonably practicable, be reinstated to its condition before that development was carried out.

Class E
Permitted development

E. The installation, alteration or replacement, within an area lawfully used for off-street parking, of an upstand with an electrical outlet mounted on it for recharging electric vehicles.


Development not permitted


E.1 Development is not permitted by Class E if the upstand and the outlet would—

(a) exceed 1.6 metres in height from the level of the surface used for the parking of vehicles;
(b) be within two metres of a highway;
(c) be within a site designated as a scheduled monument;
(d) be within the curtilage of a listed building; or
(e) result in more than one upstand being provided for each parking space.


Conditions

E.2
Development is permitted by Class E subject to the conditions that when the development is no longer needed as a charging point for electric vehicles—

(a) the development shall be removed as soon as reasonably practicable; and
(b) the land on which the development was mounted or into which the development was set shall, as soon as reasonably practicable, and so far as reasonably practicable, be reinstated to its condition before that development was carried out.”.


(3) In Part 12 of Schedule 2 (development by local authorities), for Class A substitute—

“Class A
Permitted development

A The erection or construction and the maintenance, improvement or other alteration by a local authority or by an urban development corporation of—

(a)any small ancillary building, works or equipment on land belonging to or maintained by them required for the purposes of any function exercised by them on that land otherwise than as statutory undertakers;
(b)lamp standards, information kiosks, passenger shelters, public shelters and seats, telephone boxes, fire alarms, public drinking fountains, horse troughs, refuse bins or baskets, barriers for the control of people waiting to enter public service vehicles, electric vehicle charging points and any associated infrastructure, and similar structures or works required in connection with the operation of any public service administered by them.



Interpretation of Class A

A.1
For the purposes of Class A “urban development corporation” has the same meaning as in Part 16 of the Local Government, Planning and Land Act 1980(2) (urban development).

A.2 The reference in Class A to any small ancillary building, works or equipment is a reference to any ancillary building, works or equipment not exceeding 4 metres in height or 200 cubic metres in capacity.”.

(4) For Part 40 of Schedule 2 (installation of domestic microgeneration equipment) substitute Part 40 as set out in the Schedule to this Order.

Thursday 10 November 2011

Planning committees and the call-in process...

Planning applications are determined either by Planning Committees or by officers under powers delegated to them by the council's constitution. Most applications are determined under these delegated powers. The Planning Committees usually only make decisions on planning applications for major developments, those proposals that raise significant public concern, or those 'called in' by a District Councillor.


The call-in process
District Councillors may "call in" applications they feel should go to Committee. If you have serious concerns about an application, you may wish to contact your local councillor about this as soon as you are notified of the application. Call-ins need to submitted at the earliest opportunity, this is in order that the Planning Department has the time to schedule in the application for a committee meeting so that a decision can be made within the statutory eight-week timescale that the department has to determine planning applications.


Call-in forms will state why the application has been called in and whether the application is to be called in if officers are minded to grant or minded to refuse an application. Call-in forms are published on the website along with the plans and other supporting documents.


Once officers have made their assessment of the application, they will then make their recommendation as to whether or not the application should be granted. Whether or not the application goes to Committee will usually depend on both this recommendation and the call-in. For example, if the recommendation is going to be to grant permission and there exists a call-in from a councillor to Committee if the recommendation is to grant, then that application will go to Committee. It is therefore normally only when officers have fully assessed an application and made their recommendation, that we know if an application needs to be heard at Committee. There are cases where there are call-ins from two councillors, one if the recommendation is grant and another if the recommendation is refuse, and these applications will go to Committee.