Citation, commencement, interpretation and application

1.-(1) These Regulations may be cited as the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) (Amendment) (England) Regulations 2015 and come into force on 15th April 2015.

(2) In these Regulations, "the 1990 Regulations" means the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Regulations 1990(2).

(3) These Regulations apply in relation to England only.

Amendments to the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Regulations 1990

2.-(1) The 1990 Regulations are amended as follows.

(2) For regulation 5A(1) substitute-

"(1) This regulation applies where an application for planning permission for any development of land is made to a local planning authority, or the Secretary of State under section 62A of the principal Act, and the authority think or, as the case may be, the Secretary of State thinks that the development would affect-

(a)the setting of a listed building; or

(b)the character or appearance of a conservation area."

(3) For regulation 5A(3), substitute-

"(3) The local planning authority shall send to the Commission a copy of each notice under paragraph (2) in the following circumstances-

(a)where paragraph (1)(a) applies, the listed building is classified as Grade I or Grade II*; or

(b)where paragraph (1)(b) applies-

(i)the development involves the erection of a new building or the extension of an existing building; and

(ii)the area of land in respect of which the application is made is more than 1,000 square metres."

(4) In regulation 13(2), after "in their area", insert "and the conditions set out in paragraph (2A) are met".

(5) After regulation 13(2) insert-

"(2A) The conditions referred to in paragraph (2) are that the authority-

(a)have notified the Commission and the national amenity societies of the application in accordance with any direction issued by the Secretary of State under section 15(5) of the Act;

(b)have received an objection to the application from any of the bodies notified under sub-paragraph (a) within 21 days of the date of issue of the notice; and

(c)do not propose to refuse the application.

(2B) For the purposes of paragraph (2A)-

"national amenity societies" means the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings, the Ancient Monuments Society, the Council for British Archaeology, the Georgian Group, the Victorian Society and the Twentieth Century Society; and

"objection" means a written notice to the authority setting out the objector's reasons for objecting to the application and stating that the application should be referred to the Secretary of State."

(6) For regulation 13(3) substitute-

"(3) Any such application shall be in the form of an application to the local planning authority and shall be deemed to have been referred to the Secretary of State under section 12 of the Act when the conditions in paragraph (2A) are met.

(3A) The provisions of section 12 of the Act shall apply to the determination of the application by the Secretary of State."

(7) For regulation 13(7) substitute-

"(7) An application by the council of a county under paragraph (1) above, together with any accompanying representations required by this regulation, shall be made to the district planning authority who shall, where the conditions in paragraph (2A) are met, forthwith send it on the Secretary of State."

Transitional provision

3.  The amendments made to the 1990 Regulations by these Regulations do not apply in relation to any application made before 15th April 2015 and accordingly the 1990 Regulations, in the form in which they existed immediately before the coming into force of these Regulations, continue to apply in relation to those applications.

EXPLANATORY NOTE

(This note is not part of the Regulations)

These Regulations amend, in relation to England, the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Regulations 1990 (S.I. 1990/1519).

Regulation 2 reduces the requirement for a local authority to notify Historic England (the name used by the Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission for England) of an application for planning permission which they think would affect the setting of a listed building or the character or appearance of a conservation area. Notification is required only in the circumstances specified in regulation 2(3).

Regulation 2 also amends regulation 13 of the 1990 Regulations to provide for a local planning authority to refer their own applications for listed building consent to the Secretary of State for determination only where Historic England and the national amenity societies have been notified of the application in accordance with directions issued by the Secretary of State under section 15(5) of the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990, where any of them object to the application and where the authority do not propose to refuse it. Inserted regulation 13(2B) of the 1990 Regulations prescribes the content of an ‘objection' which will trigger the referral of the application to the Secretary of State.

A full impact assessment has not been produced for these Regulations as no impact on the private or voluntary sectors is foreseen.