Town and Country Planning Act 1954

69 Interpretation

(1) In this Act, except where the context otherwise requires, the following expressions have the meanings hereby assigned to them respectively, that is to say—

• " the Act of 1953 " means the Town and Country Planning Act, 1953;

• " claim holding " has the meaning assigned to it by section two of this Act;

• " compensation calculated on the basis of equivalent reinstatement " means compensation calculated in accordance with Rule (5) of the Rules set out in section two of the Acquisition of Land (Assessment of Compensation) Act, 1919;

• " compensation calculated on the basis of prevailing use " means compensation with respect to the calculation of which any of the following provisions of the principal Act applies, that is to say, subsection (5) of section eighty-two, subsection (4) of section eighty-four, the said subsection (4) as applied by regulations made under section ninety, or subsection (4) of section eighty-five;

• " compensation on the basis of existing use " means compensation with respect to the assessment of which the following provisions apply, that is to say, the provisions of the Acquisition of Land (Assessment of Compensation) Act, 1919, as modified by sections fifty-one, fifty-three and fifty-four of the principal Act, not being compensation calculated on the basis of equivalent reinstatement or on the basis of prevailing use, and excluding any compensation for disturbance or for severance or injurious affection;

• " compulsory acquisition " does not include the vesting in a person by an Act of Parliament of property previously vested in some other person ;

• " established claim " and " claim area " have the meanings assigned to them by section one of this Act;

• " in the same capacity," in relation to entitlement both to a claim holding and to an. interest in land, means entitled in one only of the following capacities, that is to say, beneficially, or as trustee of one particular trust, or as personal representative of one particular person;

• " interest in land " means only an interest in fee simple or a tenancy;

• " the Minister " (subject to subsection (8) of this section) means the Minister of Housing and Local Government;

• " new development " has the meaning assigned to it by section sixteen of this Act;

• " planning decision " has the meaning assigned to it by section sixteen of this Act;

• " prescribed " means prescribed by regulations under this Act;

• " previous apportionment " in relation to an apportionment for any of the purposes of this Act means an apportionment made before the apportionment in question, being—

  (a)

  an apportionment for any of the purposes of this Act as made, confirmed or varied by the Lands Tribunal on a reference thereto ; or

  (b)

  an apportionment for any of the purposes of this Act which might have been referred to the Lands Tribunal by virtue of any provision of this Act but in the case of which the time for such a reference has expired without its being so required to be so referred, or which was so referred but in the case of which the reference was withdrawn before the Tribunal gave their decision thereon ; or

  (c)

  an apportionment made by or with the approval of the Central Land Board in connection with the approval by the Board of an assignment of part of the benefit of an established claim under subsection (2) of section two of the Act of 1953 ;

• " principal Act " means the Town and Country Planning Act, 1947;

• " public authority possessing compulsory purchase powers ", in relation to the compulsory acquisition of an interest in land, means the person or body of persons effecting the acquisition, and, in relation to any other transaction relating to an interest in land, means any person or body of persons who could be or have been authorised to acquire that interest compulsorily for the purposes for which the transaction is or was effected, or a parish council or parish meeting on whose behalf a county council could be or have been authorised as aforesaid ;

• " rentcharge " includes any annual sum charged on land, not being rent incident to a reversion;

• " royalty ", " full restoring lease " and " ironstone district " have the meanings assigned to them by the Mineral Workings Act, 1951;

• " tenancy " means a tenancy created either immediately or derivatively out of the freehold, whether by a lease or underlease, by an agreement for a lease or underlease, or by a tenancy agreement, or in pursuance of any enactment, but does not include a mortgage term or any interest arising in favour of a mortgagor by his attorning tenant to his mortgagee, and references to the granting of a tenancy shall be construed accordingly;

• " unexpended balance of established development value " means an amount ascertained in accordance with sections seventeen and eighteen, and " original unexpended balance of established development value " has the meaning assigned to it by section seventeen, of this Act;

• " valuable consideration " does not include marriage or a nominal consideration ;

• " will " includes a codicil.

(2) Subject to the preceding subsection and except where the context otherwise requires, expressions used in this Act and in the principal Act have the same meanings in this Act as in that Act.

(3) As respects references in this Act to planning decisions—

(a) in relation to a decision altered on appeal by the reversal or variation of the whole or any part thereof, such references shall be construed as references to the decision as so altered.;

(b) in relation to a decision upheld on appeal, such references shall be construed as references to the decision of the local planning authority and not to the decision of the Minister on the appeal;

(c) in relation to a decision given on an appeal made by virtue of subsection (3) of section sixteen of the principal Act in default of a decision by the local planning authority, such references shall be construed as references to the decision so given ;

(d) the time of a planning decision, in a case where there is or was an appeal, shall be taken to be or have been the time of the decision as made by the local planning authority, whether or not that decision is or was altered as aforesaid on that appeal, or, in the case of such a decision as is mentioned in the last preceding paragraph, the time when by virtue of subsection (3) of section sixteen of the principal Act notification of a decision by the local planning authority is deemed to have been given.

(4) References in this Act to the local planning authority, in relation—

(a) to a planning decision made on behalf of that authority by another authority, by virtue of the delegation of any functions of the local planning authority to that other authority; or

(b) to compensation payable under section twenty-two of the principal Act by another authority, by virtue of the transfer to that other authority of any liability of the local planning authority,

shall be construed as references to that other authority.

(5) For the purposes of this Act a development charge—

(a) shall be deemed not to have been determined if the determination thereof ceased to have effect by virtue of subsection (2) of section seventy-three of the principal Act, or if, by virtue of subsection (1) of section one of the Act of 1953, the charge is not payable, or if any sum paid in respect of the charge became repayable under subsection (5) of section one of the Act of 1953 ;

(b) shall be deemed to have become payable notwithstanding any agreement of the Central Land Board to a postponement of the payment of the charge, if the whole or part of the charge would have been payable but for that agreement;

and references in this Act to a determination of the Central Land Board that a development charge was payable, or as to the amount of a development charge, shall, in a case where the Board subsequently varied their determination, be construed as references to that determination as so varied.

(6) References in this Act to a contract are references to a contract in writing, or a contract attested by a memorandum or note thereof in writing signed by the parties thereto or by some other person or persons authorised by them in that behalf, and, in relation to an interest in land conveyed or assigned without a preliminary contract, are references to the conveyance or assignment; references to an option are references to an option in writing or attested as aforesaid; and references to the making of a contract or to the grant of an option are references to the execution thereof or (if it was not in writing) to the signature of the memorandum or note by which it was attested.

(7) References in this Act—

(a) to a person from whom title is derived by another person include references to any predecessor in title of that other person;

(b) to a person deriving title from another person include references to any successor in title of that other person ;

(c) to deriving title are references to deriving title either directly or indirectly.

(8) References in this Act to the Minister, in relation to any time before the third day of November, nineteen hundred and fifty-one, but on or after the thirtieth day of January, nineteen hundred and fifty-one, shall be construed as references to the Minister of Local Government and Planning, and, in relation to any time before the said thirtieth day of January, shall be construed as references to the Minister of Town and Country Planning.

(9) References in this Act to any other enactment shall, except where the context otherwise requires, be construed as references to that enactment as amended by or under any other enactment, including this Act.