IMPORTANT: New Legislation – relating to publicity of applications, availability of planning register, etc (24/12/2020) …

The following 1 new Statutory Instrument (SI) comes into force on 24/12/2020:

New Legislation:

  • December 2020: SI 2020 No. 1398 - The Town and Country Planning (Local Planning, Development Management Procedure, Listed Buildings etc.) (England) (Coronavirus) (Amendment) Regulations 2020 (pdf) (link).

Notes:

  • The above SI 2020 No. 1398 makes amendments to the following SIs:
    - EIA Regulations 2017.
    - Local Planning Regulations 2012.
    - The Town and Country Planning (London Spatial Development Strategy) Regulations 2000.
    - The Combined Authorities (Spatial Development Strategy) Regulations 2018.
  • In addition, the above SI 2020 No. 1398 replaces the "Expiry" provision within the earlier SI 2020 No. 505 with new "Expiry and saving provisions". This affects the amendments made by the earlier SI 2020 No. 505 to the following SIs:
    - DMPO 2015.
    - EIA Regulations 2017.
    - LBCA Regulations 1990.
  • The "Explanatory Memorandum" (link) to SI 2020 No. 1398 includes the following information:
    - "This instrument [SI 2020 No. 1398] amends a number of instruments in relation to town and country planning in response to the coronavirus pandemic.".
    - "Part 2 of this instrument [SI 2020 No. 1398] relates to local planning and spatial development strategies. It amends the Town and Country Planning (London Spatial Development Strategy) Regulations 2000 ..., the [Local Planning Regulations 2012], and the Combined Authorities (Spatial Development Strategy) Regulations 2018 ....".
    - "The amendments extend the duration of temporary modifications introduced earlier this year in response to the coronavirus pandemic. The existing temporary changes, which were due to expire at the end of December 2020, remove requirements on local planning authorities, the Mayor of London and mayoral combined authorities to make certain documents available for inspection at premises and to provide hard copies on request. The documents must, instead, be made available on the relevant authority’s website. Part 2 of this instrument [SI 2020 No. 1398] extends the duration of the temporary modifications until the end of 31 December 2021.".
    - "Part 3 of this instrument [SI 2020 No. 1398] alters the expiry date of the temporary amendments introduced earlier in the year in response to the coronavirus pandemic by [the earlier SI 2020 No. 505] to the [DMPO 2015], the [LBCA Regulations 1990] and the [EIA Regulations 2017].".
    - "The existing temporary changes which are due to expire at the end of December 2020 amended certain requirements placed on local planning authorities, the Secretary of State or an inspector dealing with an application or appeal (as the case may be) and an applicant or appellant for development requiring an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA). The amendments relate to requirements for publicity and the availability of documents at an address in the locality. The requirements are modified where there is an inability to comply with a particular requirement because it is not reasonably practicable to do so for reasons connected to the coronavirus pandemic.".
    - "This instrument [SI 2020 No. 1398] provides that the amendments made to the [EIA Regulations 2017] by Part 4 of [the earlier SI 2020 No. 505] expire on 24 December 2020 instead of 31 December 2020. This instrument [SI 2020 No. 1398] extends the duration of the remaining temporary amendments to publicity requirements until 30 June 2021 and the duration of temporary amendments to the requirements relating to the availability of documents at an address in the locality to 31 December 2021.".
    - "Part 4 of this instrument [SI 2020 No. 1398] temporarily amends the [EIA Regulations 2017] from 24 December 2020. It replicates the amendments made to regulation 2, 19 and 20, and with regard to the insertion of regulation 23A by [the earlier SI 2020 No. 505] to make minor corrections and to correct an omission (see new Regulation 19A). It also amends the requirements placed by regulation 25 of the [EIA Regulations 2017] on local planning authorities, the Secretary of State or an inspector dealing with an application or appeal (as the case may be) and an applicant or appellant for development requiring an EIA when additional information respecting an environmental statement is provided. The amendments to the [EIA Regulations 2017] in relation to publicity apply between 24 December 2020 and 30 June 2021 and the amendments in relation to the availability of documents apply between 24 December 2020 and 31 December 2021.".

Other Sources of Information:

  • Note: For more information about the earlier SI 2020 No. 505, please view this post.
  • May 2020: MHCLG "Coronavirus (COVID-19): planning update" (link).
  • December 2020: Explanatory Memorandum to SI 2020 No. 1398 (pdf) (link).
  • Ongoing (from March 2014 onwards): MHCLG "Planning practice guidance" (link).
    - Updated section: "Consultation and pre-decision matters" > "COVID-19" (link).

Updates to the Planning Jungle website: