§ Lords amendment: No. 7, in page 5, line 26, after "had" insert "required planning permission and"
§ Mr. MacfarlaneI beg to move, That this House doth agree with the Lords in the said amendment.
This is a minor drafting amendment which seeks merely to clarify the provisions of the subsection.
§ Question put and agreed to.
§
Lords amendment: No. 8, in page 5, line 28, at end insert—
( ) The condition referred to in subsection (2) above shall not be enforceable against any person who had a private interest in the land at the time when the agreement was made unless the local planning authority or planning authority by whom the agreement was made have notified him of the making of the agreement and of the effect of that subsection.
§ Mr. MacfarlaneI beg to move, That this House doth agree with the Lords in the said amendment.
The amendment meets an undertaking that I gave in Committee. The clause empowers the Crown to make an agreement with a local planning authority to ensure that a use of Crown land which results from development carried out by the Crown is discontinued when the Crown ceases to occupy the land. Subsections (3) and (4) already ensure that a purchaser from the Crown is made aware of the existence of such an agreement, but this does not necessarily bring it to the notice of a third party who already has an interest in the land. The amendment will make the arrangement unenforceable against such a person unless the planning authority has notified him that it has been made and of its effect. We consider that it is right that the necessary notice should be given by the authority—it is, after all, the body which benefits from the making of the agreement and therefore has the incentive to make sure that the necessary notice is given. We recognise that the authority is likely to need to rely on the Crown for information about the existence of any private interest, but we do not consider that this is likely to give rise to any difficulty.
§ Question put and agreed to.