The term 'town planning' first appeared in 1906 and was first used in British legislation in 1909.[1]:1 The roots of the UK town and country planning system as it emerged in the immediate post-war years lay in concerns developed over the previous half century in response to industrialisation and urbanisation. The particular concerns were pollution, urban sprawl, and ribbon development. These concerns were expressed through the work of thinkers such as Ebenezer Howard and the philanthropic actions of industrialists such as the Lever Brothers and the Cadbury family, and architects such as Raymond Unwin, PRIBA, and Patrick Abercrombie.
The 1947 act, in effect, nationalised the right to develop land. It required all proposals, with a few exceptions, to secure planning permission from the local authority, with provision to appeal against refusal. It introduced a development charge to capture the planning gain which arises when permission to develop land is granted. This was abolished by the Town and Country Planning Act 1954 passed under subsequent Conservative government.[3]Green belts were added in 1955 via a government circular. Furthermore, the 1947 Act introduced a requirement, which still exists, on local authorities to develop forward looking policy documents such as local plans or unitary development plans to outline what kind of development is permitted where, and to mark special areas on Local Plan Maps (today referred to as policies map). It did not introduce a formal system of zoning as used in the United States. Counties developed structure plans that set broad targets for the wider area. Structure plans were always problematic and were often in the process of being replaced by the time they were formally adopted.
Over the years, the planning system has undergone a number of alterations, which were consolidated in the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 (TCPA 1990). Section 106 substantially re-wrote section 52 from the former act, settling the concept of agreements (known as "planning obligation agreements," or more commonly "Section 106 agreements"), under which the developer is subject to detailed arrangements and restrictions beyond those that a planning condition could impose, or by which they make agreed financial contributions beyond the immediate building works to offset development effects on the local community. This was soon amended to allow a developer to self-impose obligations to preempt objections to planning permission. This prevents the planning authority from blocking a permission by merely failing to negotiate.
Minor variations were allowed to planning permissions, recognising that information provided for planning permission does not provide enough detail for actual construction. Working drawings are required first, and architects often make small changes to accommodate a building's technical requirements. Also, plans might change on site to overcome unforeseen problems. Legality of minor amendments was challenged in 2006, and central government advice to many local authorities was that any variation to a planning permission should require planning approval.
The Localism Act 2011 introduced wide-ranging changes to the planning system in England. The bill introduced legal provision under which local communities (led by parish councils or neighbourhood forums) could develop neighbourhood plans. Similar to development management documents produced by the local authority, neighbourhood plans have statutory weight, so that they are considered in the determination of planning applications.
Online access
Historically, planning applications were submitted in paper form to designated Council offices and displayed for a statutory period at public libraries or offices. In December 1995, the London Borough of Wandsworth created a website that published electronic images of planning application documents. This technology greatly improved access to application-related documents for all participants in the planning process. Within ten years, most planning authorities within the UK followed suit.[4] These sites are often known as 'Public Access'. Other access methods now include routing inquiries through a centrally-hosted public or privately hosted website, such as UKPlanning[5] or the national Planning Portal.[6]
Appeals
An applicant may appeal against a refusal of planning permission. A neighbour who objects to an application has no right of appeal, but may appeal to the local authority ombudsman if they can make a case of maladministration by the local authority. In such a case the ombudsman has no powers to enforce a retraction of the permission, but it may sanction the local authority.[7] Appeals can be made:
In England, to the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government.
In England and Wales the appeal is heard by a planning inspector, while in Scotland this role is filled by a reporter.[9] There has often been talk[by whom?] of making the inspectors independent of government ministers, as in the Planning Appeals Commission in Northern Ireland.[8]
Use classes
This section needs to be updated. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information.(September 2020)
The requirement to obtain planning permission extends not only to new construction, but also some changes of use of a property. To simplify this the Government from time to time publishes a Use Classes Order. Planning permission is not normally required for a change of use within a Class but change of use to a different Use Class generally requires permission. Separate Orders are made in respect of England, Scotland and Wales.
In all cases the appropriate Class is determined by the 'primary purpose' of the use and a use may have other elements that are different but ‘ordinarily incidental’. For example, a restaurant may have some takeaway sales. The use of some properties is also limited by conditions imposed on the original planning permission.
Use Classes England
Use Classes in England were extensively revised on 1 September 2020 (he revisions do not apply to Wales). The new Order introduced a new Class E encompassing most business, retail and similar uses replacing the previous Classes A1, A2, A3 and B1, B2 as well as parts of the old Class D (such as health uses and day nurseries). The new Class reads[10]
Class E. Commercial, Business and Service
Use, or part use, for all or any of the following purposes—
(a)for the display or retail sale of goods, other than hot food, principally to visiting members of the public, (b)for the sale of food and drink principally to visiting members of the public where consumption of that food and drink is mostly undertaken on the premises, (c)for the provision of the following kinds of services principally to visiting members of the public— (i)financial services, (ii)professional services (other than health or medical services), or (iii)any other services which it is appropriate to provide in a commercial, business or service locality, (d)for indoor sport, recreation or fitness, not involving motorised vehicles or firearms, principally to visiting members of the public, (e)for the provision of medical or health services, principally to visiting members of the public, except the use of premises attached to the residence of the consultant or practitioner, (f)for a creche, day nursery or day centre, not including a residential use, principally to visiting members of the public, (g)for— (i)an office to carry out any operational or administrative functions, (ii)the research and development of products or processes, or (iii)any industrial process, being a use, which can be carried out in any residential area without detriment to the amenity of that area by reason of noise, vibration, smell, fumes, smoke, soot, ash, dust or grit.
It also introduced a new Class F1 and F2 replacing those uses from the previous Class D1 and D2 that had not been swept up into Class E. Class F2 is unusual in that it separates certain small local shops from Class E. The Order reads
Class F.1 Learning and non-residential institutions
Any use not including residential use— (a)for the provision of education, (b)for the display of works of art (otherwise than for sale or hire), (c)as a museum, (d)as a public library or public reading room, (e)as a public hall or exhibition hall, (f)for, or in connection with, public worship or religious instruction, (g)as a law court.
Class F.2 Local community
Use as— (a)a shop mostly selling essential goods, including food, to visiting members of the public in circumstances where— (i)the shop’s premises cover an area not more than 280 metres square, and (ii)there is no other such facility within 1000 metre radius of the shop’s location, (b)a hall or meeting place for the principal use of the local community, (c)an area or place for outdoor sport or recreation, not involving motorised vehicles or firearms, (d)an indoor or outdoor swimming pool or skating rink.”.
As before, a number of uses are deemed sui generis (in themselves) and planning permission is required for any change of use to or from such uses. The list excludes. Theatres. Amusement arcades/centres or funfairs. Launderettes. Petrol filling stations. Hiring, selling and/or displaying motor vehicles. Taxi businesses. Scrap yards (or for the storage/distribution of minerals and/or the breaking of motor vehicles). Any work registerable under the Alkali, etc. Works Regulation Act 1906 (as amended)). Hostels (providing no significant element of care. Waste disposal installations for the incineration, chemical treatment or landfill of hazardous waste. Retail warehouse clubs. Nightclubs. Casinos. Betting offices/shops. Pay day loan shops. Public houses, wine bars, or drinking establishments (previously Class A4). Drinking establishments with expanded food provision (previously Class A4. Note a restaurant Is Class E). Hot food takeaways (Previously Class A5. Hot food to eat in is of course a restaurant, Class E). Venues for live music performance. Cinemas. Concert halls. Bingo halls Dance halls.)
Prior to September 2020 the Use Classes for England and Wales were:
D2: assembly and leisure (cinemas, swimming baths, gymnasiums)
Classes A3 to A5 were formed in the 2005 amendment by a split of the previous A3 class 'Food and Drink', though this split was not effected in Wales; jurisdiction over secondary planning legislation being by then a matter for the Assembly.
A key part of planning control is exercised in the UK by preventing any significant development of property without permission by the local authority. In Part III of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990, under section 59 the Secretary of State delegates to public bodies the right to grant planning permission.
Elements of the modern system
The Town and Country Planning (Control of Advertisements) (England) Regulations 2007
A long list of other unconsolidated Acts and Regulations also affect UK planning. For example, the Localism Act 2011 abolished the Infrastructure Planning Commission for national projects, set up by the Planning Act 2008 and recentralised control in the hands of the Secretary of State.
Criticism
The aim of recent reforms to the planning system was to simplify and speed up the production of plans.[citation needed] The financial costs and time delays associated with the new system are significant and the Barker Review of Housing Supply (2004) on the planning system suggested some of the requirements were unnecessary and delaying the delivery of sustainable and social housing, and recommended early revisions to the regulations.[13]HM Treasury noted the recommendation to redirect a portion of Section 106 financial contributions as a "planning gain supplement"" for wider community needs and has responded by an act of Parliament that will levy "a tax on the increase in the value of land resulting from the grant of permission for development".[14]
Planning Green Paper
Planning white paper (Scotland): Modernising the planning system
In British town planning, the green belt is a policy for controlling urban growth. The term, coined by Octavia Hill in 1875, refers to a ring of countryside where urbanisation will be resisted for the foreseeable future, maintaining an area where local food growing, forestry and outdoor leisure can be expected to prevail. The fundamental aim of green belt policy is to prevent urban sprawl by keeping land permanently green, and consequently the most important attribute of green belts is their openness.
In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, Cadw in Wales, and the Historic Environment Division of the Department for Communities in Northern Ireland. The classification schemes differ between England and Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland. The term has also been used in the Republic of Ireland, where buildings are protected under the Planning and Development Act 2000, although the statutory term in Ireland is "protected structure".
Planning permission in the United Kingdom is the planning permission required in the United Kingdom in order to be allowed to build on land, or change the use of land or buildings. Within the UK the occupier of any land or building will need title to that land or building, but will also need "planning title" or planning permission. Planning title was granted for all pre-existing uses and buildings by the Town and Country Planning Act 1947, which came into effect on 1 July 1948. Since that date any new "development" has required planning permission.
The alcohol licensing laws of the United Kingdom regulate the sale and consumption of alcohol, with separate legislation for England and Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland being passed, as necessary, by the UK Parliament, the Northern Ireland Assembly, and the Scottish Parliament respectively.
In the United Kingdom, Planning Policy Guidance Notes (PPG) were statements of the Government's national policy and principles towards certain aspects of the town planning framework. They were material considerations in the determination of planning applications. Under the provisions of the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004, PPGs were gradually being replaced by Planning Policy Statements (PPS). In recent years prior to their withdrawal they applied to England only.
The Town and Country Planning Act 1990 is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom regulating the development of land in England and Wales. It is a central part of English land law in that it concerns town and country planning in the United Kingdom. Repealed in parts by the Planning and Compensation Act 1991, it is now also complemented by the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004.
A local development framework is the spatial planning strategy introduced in England and Wales by the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004 and given detail in Planning Policy Statements 12. In most parts of the two countries, maintaining the framework is the responsibility of English district councils and Welsh principal area councils.
The Planning Inspectorate is an executive agency of the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government of the United Kingdom Government with responsibility for making decisions and providing recommendations and advice on a range of land use planning-related issues across England. The Planning Inspectorate deals with planning appeals, nationally significant infrastructure projects, planning permission, examinations of Local Plans and other planning-related and specialist casework.
The Town and Country Planning Act 1947 was an Act of Parliament in the United Kingdom passed by the Labour government led by Clement Attlee. It came into effect on 1 July 1948, and along with the Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act 1947 was the foundation of modern town and country planning in the United Kingdom.
A development plan sets out a local authority's policies and proposals for land use in their area. The term is usually used in the United Kingdom. A local plan is one type of development plan. The development plan guides and shapes day-to-day decisions as to whether or not planning permission should be granted, under the system known as development control. In order to ensure that these decisions are rational and consistent, they must be considered against the development plan adopted by the authority, after public consultation and having proper regard for other material factors.
Development Management (DM), formerly known as planning control, or development control, is the element of the United Kingdom's system of town and country planning through which local government or the Secretary of State, regulates land use and new building, i.e. development. It relies on a "plan-led system" whereby development plans are produced, involving various stages of public consultation prior to being adopted. Subsequently, development that requires planning permission, which is granted or refused with reference to the development plan as the starting point, then other material considerations are taken into account.
The Town and Country Planning (England) Order 2015 is a statutory instrument, applying in England, that grants planning permission for certain types of development without the requirement for approval from the local planning authority.
The Town and Country Planning Order 1987 is a Statutory Instrument, applying in England and Wales, that specifies various "Use Classes" for which planning permission is not required for a building or other land to change from one use within that class to another use within that same class. The UCO 1987 was made by the Secretary of State under authority granted by sections 22 and 287 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1971, which have subsequently been replaced by sections 55 and 333 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990.
Minerals Planning Guidance Notes (MPGs) were statements of the British government’s policy on minerals and planning issues and provide advice and guidance to local authorities and the minerals industry on policies and the operation of the planning system with regard to minerals.
A tree preservation order (TPO) is a part of town and country planning in the United Kingdom. A TPO is made by a local planning authority to protect specific trees or a particular area, group or woodland from deliberate damage and destruction if those trees are important for the amenity of the area. In Scotland TPOs can also be used to protect trees of historic or cultural significance. TPOs make the felling, lopping, topping, uprooting or otherwise willful damaging of trees without the permission of the local planning authority a legal offence, although different TPOs have different degrees of protection.
The New Towns Acts were a series of Acts of the Parliament of the United Kingdom to found new settlements or to expand substantially existing ones, to establish Development Corporations to deliver them, and to create a Commission to wind up the Corporations and take over their assets and liabilities. Of these, the more substantive acts were the New Towns Act 1946 and the Town Development Act 1952. "The New Towns Act [1946] was intended to pre-emptively direct urban growth and infrastructural development into new towns, thereby decentralising population and economic opportunity while inhibiting urban sprawl."
Town and country planning in Wales is based on the land use planning system which applies in England. However, the system in Wales has some distinctive features which have arisen because substantial responsibility for town and country planning has been devolved to the Welsh Government (WAG). In particular, Wales now has a Spatial Plan and Welsh Ministers have a duty under the Government of Wales Act 2006 to promote sustainable development.
Planning gains are ways that local authorities in the United Kingdom can secure additional public benefits from developers, during the granting of planning permission.
In the United Kingdom, the term conservation area almost always applies to an area of special architectural or historic interest, the character of which is considered worthy of preservation or enhancement. It creates a precautionary approach to the loss or alteration of buildings and/or trees, thus it has some of the legislative and policy characteristics of listed buildings and tree preservation orders. The concept was introduced in 1967, and by 2017 almost 9,800 had been designated in England.
Planning use classes are the legal framework which determines what a particular property may be used for by its lawful occupants. In England and Wales, these are contained within the text of Town and Country Planning Order 1987.
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