§ Mr. WigleyTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will take steps to ensure that outline planning permissions over 10 years old which have been commenced only technically shall be permitted to go ahead only if(a) the local planning authority or (b) the Secretary of State confirms their validity. [38563]
§ Sir Paul BeresfordThe Government do not consider it reasonable to impose a general time limit for completion as there could be many valid reasons why development could take longer than envisaged.
However, section 94 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 empowers a local planning authority to serve a completion notice in an individual case. Such a notice, which requires the confirmation of the Secretary of State, terminates a planning permission at the end of a specified period if the development is not completed.