Spon's Landscape Handbook

Derek Lovejoy Partnership

• Publisher: Taylor & Francis
• Year: 2013
• ISBN:
  9781135158941
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Architecture
• Subtopic: Aménagement urbain et paysager

There have been such great changes in legislation, official guidance, the British Standards and the techniques used in landscape and external works since the third edition was written ten years ago that the Handbook has been totally rewritten for this edition.
This new edition of the Handbook provides a guide to planning and landscape law, a review of computer-aided design techniques for landscape designers, together with guidance on data to be collected during first site visits. The opportunity has been taken to change the format of the work sections to comply with SMM7 to make it easier to find specific items and to read in conjunction with the current edition of Spon's Landscape and External Works Price Book. The SMM7 sections are now divided into four parts - General Guidance, British Standards, Data and Outline Specification. Diagrams, typical drawings and photographs illustrate each section. The useful bibliography has been updated and revised.

Current Legislation

1

The legislation in this book is current up to Autumn 1996.

It covers the main town and country planning legislation for England, Wales and Scotland. Readers will appreciate that the legislation abstracted is the editor’s choice; it does not set out to be complete in any way, and the omission of any legislation must not be construed as meaning that it is of no importance to landscape designers. The legislation of the European Union and Northern Ireland has hot been covered.

In order to be consistent with Spon’s Landscape and External Works Price Book, the same subheadings have been kept. This will also enable the reader to note new legislation by referring to the current Price Book. The final section notes Department of the Environment circulars, Planning Policy Guidance Notes (PPGs), Mineral Policy Guidance Notes (MPGs) and Regional Policy Guidance Notes (RPGs), together with a few other useful publications.

1.1 A Very Brief Introduction to the Law

Acts or statutes are the main arm of the legal system. Each Act has a title, the year it received Royal Assent and a chapter number. The last two are a quick and infallible way of identifying a specific Act. For example, the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 chapter 8 can be identified by merely quoting 1990 c. 8; all marginal or footnotes within Acts refer to other Acts in this way.

Statutory Instruments – that is, regulations or orders – are produced by ministers or government departments, who are empowered to do so by a clause or clauses within the relevant Act. For example s.333 1990 c. 8 allows the Secretary of State to make regulations or orders. Statutory Instruments (Sis) also have a shorthand method of identification. For example, Town and Country Planning (Use Classes) (Amendment) Order 1995/297 can be referred to as 1995/297. As for Acts, Sis are always referred to in this abbreviated way in footnotes within other legislation.

The UK does not have a totally unified legal system, although much of the law applies to England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. Scotland, for example, has the Town & Country Planning Act (Scotland) Act 1972 c. 52 as the principal Act, although it has been amended by subsequent Acts.

There are also local Acts, or even by-laws, which may affect those involved in the planning or landscape work; these should be checked with the local authority.

The Department of the Environment’s Regional Policy Guidance Notes, Planning Policy Guidance Notes and Mineral Policy Guidance Notes are growing in importance as the practical interpretation of legislation that many local planning authorities turn to when pursuing their local policies.

1.2 Acts and Statutory Instruments

1.2.1 Town and Country Planning

England

Town and Country Planning Act 1990 c. 8

This is currently the principal Act. It is a consolidation Act, which with a few minor exceptions came into force on 24 August 1990. On that date the former principal Town and Country Planning Act 1971 was repealed; many other Acts were also repealed (see Planning (Consequential Provisions) Act 1990 below). Most of the sections formerly in the Town and Country Planning Act 1971 are embodied in the 1990 Act; it contains 15 parts and 17 schedules, while for clarity some parts are further divided into chapters.

The extracts cover sections likely to be of most use to landscape designers:

Part I Planning Authorities

Defines the general policy functions delegated to local planning authorities, and lists authorities dealing with specific areas such as National Parks (NPs), Enterprise Zones (EZs), Urban Development Areas (UDAs) and Housing Action Areas (HATs).

Part II Development Plans

Chapter I: Unitarv Development Plans (UDPs) and metropolitan areas (including London). It requires the Local Planning Authorities (LPAs) to prepare and adopt and where necessary alter UDPs, and makes provision for ioint UDPs. (Many local authorities have these in place, and have held public inquiries allowing the alteration stage to take place).

Chapter II: Structure and local plans: non-metropolitan areas

Part III Control Over Development

ss. 55–69	Includes a definition of development and new development, the requirement to obtain planning permission, and the methods by which it may be granted. It requires applicants to notify agricultural tenants of any relevant proposal, and LPAs to keep registers of planning applications available to the public.
ss. 70–75	Covers the determination of applications, and gives the LPAs power to impose conditions on the grant of permission and to alter or remove conditions previously imposed.
s. 76	Requires the LPAs to consider the needs of the disabled when applications involve public places.
ss. 77–81	Gives the Secretary of State (SOS) powers to deal with certain applications, and allows for the right of appeal to the SOS against a planning decision or the failure to make one within the allotted time.
s. 91	General conditions limiting the duration of planning permission.
s. 92	Covers ‘outline planning permission’ and ‘reserved matters’ (the latter is often where the landscape designer is approached to carry out the matters listed).
s. 106	Allows LPAs to enter into agreements relating to the use of the development of the land.

Part IV Compensation for Effects of Certain Orders and Notices

Part V Compensation for Restrictions on New Development in Limited Cases

Part VI Rights of Owners etc. to Require Purchase of Interest

Part VII Enforcement

Part VIII Special Controls

Chapter I Trees:

s. 197	Local planning authority’s duty to include provision for the preservation and planting of trees when granting planning permission.
s. 198	Local planning authority’s power to make Tree Preservation Orders for individual trees, groups of trees or woodlands: deals with control of tree work, and the action to be taken on dead or dangerous trees.
s. 199	Procedures applicable to Tree Preservation Orders.
s. 200	Forestry Commission land.
s. 201	Power of local planning authority to make provisional TPOs in urgent cases.
s. 202	Power of the Secretary of State to make TPOs.
ss. 203, 204, 205	Compensation in respect of TPOs.
s. 207	Enforcement of duty to replace trees.
s. 210	Makes it an offence to fell or damage trees subject to TPOs.
s. 211	Trees in conservation areas deemed to be subject to TPOs.
s. 212	Secretary of State’s power to disapply s.211.
s. 213	Enforcement of control over trees in conservation areas.
s. 214	Local planning authority’s duty to keep registers of trees subject to TPOs. These must be available for public inspection.

Chapter II Land adversely affecting amenity of the neighbourhood:

ss. 215–217

Gives the LPAs power to serve a notice requiring the owner or occupier to remedy the condition of the land.

Chapter III Advertisements:

s. 220	Allows the Secretary of State to make regulations to restrict or regulate the display of advertisements for the benefit of amenity or public safety. These regulations may provide for dimensions, appearance and the position and manners of fixing on site, as well as the consent of the local planning authority. They may also allow for an appeal procedure.
s. 221	Allows for specific regulations relating to different areas, including Conservation Areas, Experimental Areas and Areas of Special Control, as may be defined by the Secretary of State. It also makes provision for advertisements in place before this Act came into force.
s. 222	Any advertisements displayed that comply with the regulations made under s. 220 do not require planning permission.
s. 223	Where the removal of advertisements in place before 1 August 1948 is required, a claim may be made to the local planning authority for reimbursement of any reasonable expense incurred.
s. 224	Enforcement of control over advertisements: any person displaying an advertisement in contravention of the regulations and who does not remove it when required to do so by the local planning office is guilty of an offence.

Part IX Acquisition and Appropriation of Land for Planning Purposes

Part X Highways

ss. 247–261

Power of SOS to: authorize the stopping-up or diversion of a highway or the making of a secondary highway; prohibit the access of vehicles over minor highways to improve the amenity of the area; extinguish or transfer public rights of way on land acquired for planning purposes; compulsorily purchase land for providing or improving highways or alternative rights of way.

Part XI Statutory Undertakers

Part XII Validity

Part XIII Applications of the Act to Crown Land

Part XIV Financial Provisions

s. 303

Power of Secretary of State to make regulations for the payment of fees to the LPA for matters dealing with planning applications.

Part XV Miscellaneous and General Provisions

Deals with British Coal, ecclesiastical property and the Isles of Scilly.

ss. 320–323	Covers local planning inquiries, together with the procedures and time limits.
ss. 326–335	Settled land and land belonging to universities and colleges: procedure for serving notices and power of the SOS or an LPA to obtain information on their interest in the land.
s. 336	Interpretation of the terms used in this Act.

There are 17 schedules.

Planning (Consequential Provisions) Act 1990 c. 11

Lists the repeals, amendments, transitional and transitory matters and savings resulting from the new planning Acts. It is in force from 24 August 1990. The Acts that are wholly repealed include: the Town and Country Planning Acts of 1947, 1962, 1968, 1971 and 1984; the Town and Country Planning (Amendment) Acts of 1972 and 1977; the Local Authorities (Historic Building) Act 1962; the Local Government and Planning (Amendment) Act 1981; and the Planning Inquiries (Attendance of Public) Act 1982.

Town and Country Planning (Minerals) Act 1981 c. 36

An important Act for landscape designers involved in mineral working, restoration and rehabilitation, as it enhances the powers of the planning authorities to control the landscape of mineral workings and spoil heaps during and after extraction of minerals.

Housing and Planning Act 1986 c. 63

Parts of this Act that deal with planning matters include:

Part II	Simplified Planning Zones, amending the Town and Country Planning Acts 1971 and (Scotland) 1972;
Part V	Opencast coal workings;
Part VI,	which includes changes in dealing with listed buildings and conservation areas, local plans etc., and the control of advertisements in conservation areas.

Planning and Compensation Act 1991 c. 34

This is an important amendment Act relating to town and country planning law, and extends the powers set out in the Town and Country Planning Act 1990.

Note: Changes to the sections in 1990 c. 8 are given in the order of that Act and not in the order in the new Act. Many of these items also apply to Scotland as amendments to their principal Act, the Town and Country Pl...

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Half Title Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Contents
• Introduction to the Fourth Edition
• Note to readers
• Acknowledgements
• 1 Current legislation
• 2 Computers in landscape architecture
• 3 Pre-contract information
• 4 Guide to specification
• Suggested Further Reading
• Index