DURATION OF PLANNING PERMISSION

HC Deb 17 June 1981 vol 6 cc1139-40

12 midnight

Mr. Giles Shaw

I beg to move amendment No. 8, in page 8, line 40, leave out from 'minerals' to end of page 9, line 29, and insert 'shall be subject to a condition as to the duration of the development. (2) Except where a condition is specified under subsection (3) of this section the condition in the case of planning permission granted or deemed to be granted after the date of the commencement of section 7 of the Town and Country Planning (Minerals) Act 1981 is that the development must cease not later than the expiration of the period of sixty years beginning with the date of the permission. (3) An authority granting planning permission after the date of the commencement of the said section 7 or directing after that date that planning permission shall be deemed to be granted may specify a longer or shorter period than sixty years, and if they do so, the condition is that the development must cease not later than the expiration of a period of the specified length beginning with the date of the permission'.'

Mr. Deputy Speaker

With this it is convenient to take Government amendments Nos. 9 to 12 and 27 to 31.

Mr. Shaw

The amendments are purely drafting. Doubts have been expressed about the clarity of the existing text, and in particular whether some of the subsections in part duplicate each other. The clause is therefore redrafted in a clearer and more succinct way.

Mr. Chapman

I appreciate that amendment No. 8 reduces the length of the Bill, and we should all be grateful for that, but it might be possible to make it even shorter. The new subsection (2) says that where there is no specified duration of development it shall be assumed to be 60 years, but subsection (3) says that the authority granting planning permission may specify a longer or shorter period". Why not simply say that it shall specify a period, whether it is less than 60 years, 60 years, or more? Why bother to say that if the period is not specified it is 60 years, but that the authority may specify a period of more or less than 60 years? It seems unnecessary.

Mr. Shaw

Although the provision appears to my hon. Friend to be unnecessary, it is what has been agreed as the most flexible way in which we can express this point. We do not wish to write into the Bill such a condition as to make it difficult for the operators to operate flexibly. But I note my hon. Friend's point, and we might consider the matter at some other time.

Amendment agreed to.

Amendments made: No. 9, in page 9, line 32, leave out '(1) to', and insert '(2) and'. No. 10, in page 9, line 32 at end add— '(4A) The condition in the case of planning permission granted or deemed to have been granted before the commencement of section 7 of the Town and Country Planning (Minerals) Act 1981 is that the development must cease not later than the expiration of the period of sixty years beginning with the date of the commencement of that section.'.

No. 11, in page 9, line 33, leave out subsection (5).

12, in page 9 line 49 at end add— '(6A) Where planning permission for development consisting of the winning and working of minerals is granted by the mineral planning authority, any condition to which it is subject by virtue of this section is to be regarded for the purpose of section 36 of this Act as a condition imposed by a decision of the local planning authority, and may accordingly be the subject of an appeal under that section.'.—[Mr. Giles Shaw.]