The Town and Country Planning (Trees) Regulations 1999

PART V AMENDMENT OF REGULATIONS, REVOCATIONS AND SAVINGS

Amendment of the Town and Country Planning General Regulations 1992

17.  The Town and Country Planning General Regulations 1992(1) are amended—

(a) in regulation 2 (application of provisions of the 1990 Act)—

(i) in paragraph (1), by the substitution for “11 below” of “11A below”; and

(ii) in paragraph (2), by the substitution for “regulation 11” of “regulations 11 and 11A”;

(b) in regulation 11 (other consents)—

(i) by the insertion after “they shall” of “, subject to paragraph (2) and regulation 11A,”;

(ii) at the end, by the addition of the following—

“(2) Where the consent sought under Part VIII is under a tree preservation order, the application shall be determined by the interested planning authority.

(3) Notwithstanding anything in section 101 (arrangements for the discharge of functions by local authorities) of the Local Government Act 1972(2), no application may be determined under paragraph (2)—

(a) by a committee or sub-committee of the interested planning authority if that committee or sub-committee is responsible (wholly or partly) for the management of any land to which the application relates; or

(b) by an officer of the interested planning authority if his responsibilities include any aspect of the management of any land to which the application relates.”; and

(c) after regulation 11, by the insertion of the following—

“Applications by interested planning authorities under tree preservation orders

11A.— (1) Before determining an application under regulation 11(2) the interested planning authority shall publicise it by posting a notice in at least one place on or near the land to which the application relates for not less than 21 days.

(2) A notice under paragraph (1) shall—

(a) identify the tree or trees to which the application relates (if necessary by reference to a plan);

(b) specify the work for which consent is sought;

(c) state the interested planning authority’s reasons for making the application;

(d) state the place at which a copy of the application may be inspected;

(e) state the address to which representations may be sent; and

(f) state the date (being not less than 21 days from the date on which the notice is first displayed) by which representations shall be made,

and shall be sited and displayed in such a way as to be easily visible and legible by members of the public.

(3) Where a notice under paragraph (1) is, without any fault or intention of the interested planning authority, removed, obscured or defaced before the date referred to in paragraph (2)(f), the authority shall be treated as having complied with the requirements of paragraph (1) if they have taken reasonable steps to preserve the notice and, if necessary, replace it.

(4) In determining an application under regulation 11(2), the interested planning authority shall take into account any representations made by the date specified in the notice under paragraph (1) of this regulation.

(5) The interested planning authority shall give notice of their decision to every person who made representations which the authority were required to take into account.”

Revocation and savings

18.—(1) Subject to paragraph (2), the Town and Country Planning (Tree Preservation Order) Regulations 1969(3), the Town and Country Planning (Tree Preservation Order) (Amendment) and (Trees in Conservation Areas) (Exempted Cases) Regulations 1975(4), the Town and Country Planning (Tree Preservation Order) (Amendment) Regulations 1981(5), the Town and Country Planning (Tree Preservation Order) (Amendment) Regulations 1988(6), and so much of article 2 of, and the Schedule to, the Electricity Act 1989 (Consequential Modifications of Subordinate Legislation) Order 1990(7) as relates to the Town and Country Planning (Tree Preservation Order) Regulations 1969, are hereby revoked.

(2) Nothing in paragraph (1) shall affect any order made before the date on which these Regulations come into force (whether the order is confirmed before that date or not).

(1)

S.I. 1992/1492.

(2)

1972 c. 70.

(3)

S.I. 1969/17.

(4)

S.I. 1975/148.

(5)

S.I. 1981/14.

(6)

S.I. 1988/963.

(7)

S.I. 1990/526.

(8)

Under section 199(1), tree preservation orders generally do not take effect until confirmed, but a direction may be given under section 201 for an order to take provisional effect immediately.

(9)

Where the Order is to be made under the sections cited and section 300 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990, all those provisions should be cited, as should the fact of the consent of the appropriate authority. As to the circumstances in which the consent of the Forestry Commission is required (and should be cited) see section 200(1) of that Act.

(10)

Subsection (6) of section 198 exempts from the application of tree preservation orders the cutting down, uprooting, topping or lopping of trees which are dying, dead or have become dangerous, or the undertaking of those acts in compliance with obligations imposed by or under an Act of Parliament or so far as may be necessary for the prevention or abatement of a nuisance. Subsection (7) of that section makes section 198 subject to section 39(2) of the Housing and Planning Act 1986 (c. 63) (saving for effect of section 2(4) of the Opencast Coal Act 1958 on land affected by a tree preservation order despite its repeal) and section 15 of the Forestry Act 1967 (c. 10) (licences under that Act to fell trees comprised in a tree preservation order).

(11)

See section 263 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990.

(12)

S.I. 1995/418.

(13)

1991 c. 59, see section 72.

(14)

1989 c. 29.

(15)

1986 c. 31.

(16)

1984 c. 12.

(17)

Section 79 was amended by the Planning and Compensation Act 1991 (c. 34), section 18 and Schedule 7, paragraph 19.