§ Mr. Hunterasked the Secretary of State for the Environment when he proposes to introduce the changes to the town and county planning general development orders which were announced in the recent White Paper, "Lifting the Burden".
§ Mr. William Powellasked the Secretary of State for the Environment when he proposes to introduce the changes to the town and country planning general development orders which were announced in the recent White Paper, "Lifting the Burden".
§ Mr. TraceyThe necessary orders, made by my right hon. Friend, have been laid before Parliament today. They make amendments to the general development orders 1977 to 1985, and to the special development order of 1985 which deals with national parks, areas of outstanding natural beauty, conservation areas and the Broads. An order made by the Secretary of State for Scotland, amending the Scottish general development order 1981 in broadly similar ways has also been laid before Parliament today. All the new orders will come into operation on 1 March 1986.
Several of the changes to the planning system being made by these new orders were announced in our White Paper, "Lifting the Burden," last July. Extensive public consultation has taken place on most of them as part of our review of the general development order, which began in 1983 and which is continuing. The amendments remove specific planning controls which can be lifted without 370W significant risk to the environment. But one or two of the amendments increase or maintain control where necessary.
The amendments to the general development order mostly introduce or extend permitted development rights for several categories of minor development, so reducing or removing the need for specific planning applications to local planning authorities, as follows.
The limits of the existing right to extend industrial buildings are raised from 20 per cent. to 25 per cent. of cubic content, subject to a permitted increase in floor space of 1000 sq m. rather than the present 750 sq m. These increases will not apply in national parks, AONBs, conservation areas in England and Wales and the Broads.
A new exemption for warehouse extensions, based on the same limits is also introduced. In areas to which the SDO applies the right to extend will be limited to not more than 10 per cent. of cubic content subject to a limit of 500 sq m. on the increase in aggregate floorspace.
A new relaxation in the existing size limits on operational building erected by electricity undertakings except in the SDO areas is introduced, together with an exemption for the Civil Avaition Authority's developments relating to air traffic control.
New exemptions are introduced for the improvement and restoration by the Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission for England of property in its care and also for certain minor developments within existing amusement parks, such as the erection of new rides and sideshows, subject to various precise limits.
House occupiers will be able without specific planning permission to erect satellite dish antennas of up to 90 cm. in diameter on or at the front of their houses, as well as at the rear as now, but this relaxation will not apply in the SDO areas (or, in Scotland in the national scenic areas and conservation areas), where present controls will remain in operation. The requirements for listed building consent will also remain unchanged.
The amendments also introduce a new permission for small scale exploratory operations for minerals, and for the removal of material from small, temporary mineral working deposits. Parts of these new permissions will be subject to a new power of direction which will accelerate the process by which mineral planning authorities may intervene to impose full planning controls in certain specified circumstances.
Various other minor procedural changes are being introduced, including a reduction in the requirement upon planning authorities in England and Wales to notify the Department of Transport or the Welsh Office as appropriate of development proposals involving access to certain roads.
One substantive increase in planning controls is proposed. Class VI of the G.DO—class V of the Scottish GDO—has sometimes been used to circumvent normal planning controls on the excavation of minerals and on the tipping of waste and spoil on agricultural land; and bonafide agricultural engineering operations on large scale can sometimes present planning problems. The amendments to class VI will greatly reduce the scope for problems and abuses in this area.
The remaining proposals for class VI outlined in the Department's consultation paper of 23 January 1984 are still under active consideration. We propose to introduce further changes, and to consolidate the GDO, and our conclusions will be announced as soon as possible. I 371W understand that the Secretary of State for Scotland is considering introducing similar arrangements to aid consolidation of the Scottish GDO at about the same time.
Our overall aim in making these changes in planning legislation is to reduce the burden on both developers and planning authorities, without putting at risk the essential protection which the planning system provides both in general and in areas of special significance.