§ Mr. Gerald BowdenTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will now implement the provisions of section 30 of the Planning and Compensation Act 1991.
§ Mr. YeoSection 30 of the Planning and Compensation Act 1991 enables appeals costs to be awarded, in an inquiry or hearing, where the unreasonable behaviour of one of the principal parties causes the cancellation of the inquiry or hearing, so that other parties incur wasted expenditure in making their preparations to be represented in the proceedings. These provisions are to be brought into force from 2 January 1992.
To complement these provisions we shall also bring into force provisions, which are already in the Town and Country Planning Act 1990, enabling appeals costs to be awarded in appeal "hearing" cases, as well as inquiries.
The practical effect of these changes, and the various planning proceedings to which they apply, are fully 68W explained in a new circular issued today by my Department and the Welsh Office. The draft guidance in this circular was recently the subject of public consultation involving a wide range of interested bodies.
We think these new cost arrangements should bring an increased sense of discipline to planning appeal proceedings. In the past, it has sometimes been too easy for a developer to maintain a planning appeal right up to the last moment, before an inquiry was due to begin, only to withdraw it without any liability to meet the wasted expense inevitably incurred by the planning authority and other interested appeal parties. These new provisions will help to deter any developers who may continue to think they can get away with such unreasonable behaviour.