If immediately before the 1st April 1974 there is an existing joint planning board constituted by an order under section 1 of the M1Town and Country Planning Act 1971 for a National Park comprised in two or more existing counties and as from that date the Park will be comprised in two or more new counties, the Secretary of State shall make an order reconstituting the existing board for discharging the functions to which this Part of this Schedule applies and F1section 2 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 shall apply to a joint board so reconstituted and the order reconstituting it as it applies to a joint board constituted under that section and the order constituting it and shall so apply as if the area of the Park were a united district.

An order under the said section 1 constituting a new joint board for a united district consisting of the whole or part of a National Park and comprised in two or more new counties may confer on the board, in addition to the functions of a county planning authority under F2the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 and the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990, any other functions to which this Part of this Schedule applies.

If immediately before 1st April 1974 there is an existing joint planning board for a National Park comprised in two or more existing counties and on that date the Park will be wholly comprised in one new county, the Secretary of State shall by order reconstitute that board as a special planning board to discharge the functions to which this Part of this Schedule applies as respects the area of the Park, and any enactment relating to joint boards constituted by an order under F3section 2 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 shall apply to a special planning board reconstituted under this Part of this Schedule and to the order reconstituting it as it applies to a joint planning board constituted under that section and to the order constituting it and shall so apply as if the area of the Park were a united district, but with the substitution of references to the council of a new county for any references to the constituent authorities.

A board reconstituted under paragraph 3 above or constituted under paragraph 3A above shall be known as “a special planning board”.

The Secretary of State may by an order under paragraph 1 or 3 above, or by an order under the said F6section 2 relating to a united district consisting of the whole or part of a National Park, or by an order under this paragraph, confer on a joint or special planning board for a National Park or any part of a National Park any of the additional countryside functions as respects the Park or, as the case may be, any part of it.

The validity of anything done or purporting to have been done by a National Park Committee in pursuance of arrangements made by virtue of paragraph 5 above shall not be called in question in any legal proceedings, or in any proceedings under F11the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 which are not legal proceedings, on the ground that it ought to have been done by the authority or one of the authorities by whom the arrangements were made.

The National Park Committee for a Park comprised in two or more F12planning areas shall be appointed by the council of such of F13those areas as may be agreed between the councils of those counties or, in default of agreement, jointly by both or all those councils, and, where it is appointed by one of those councils, the expenses incurred by the Committee shall be defrayed by both or all those councils in such proportions as they may agree or as in default of agreement may be determined by the Secretary of State.

A National Park Committee may arrange with a district planning authority whose area comprises any part of the Park for the authority to discharge as respects a part of the Park within their area such of the functions exercisable by the Committee by virtue of paragraph 5 above as may be agreed between the Committee and the Countryside Commission or as in default of agreement may be determined by the Secretary of State.

Where a joint planning board, special planning board or National Park Committee is required to be established by being reconstituted or appointed under this Part of this Schedule for any area being or comprised in a National Park, the requirement shall be deemed to be complied with in any case approved by the Secretary of State after consultation with the Countryside Commission if the board or Committee is established for that area together with other land.

Not less than one third F14(to the nearest whole number) of the members of a joint planning board, special planning board or National Park Committee established for an area being or comprising the whole or any part of a National Park shall be persons appointed by the Secretary of State after consultation with the Countryside Commission:

The persons appointed in pursuance of paragraph 11 above shall hold office for such period not being less than one year nor more than three years as the Secretary of State may, after consultation with the Countryside Commission, determine and shall be eligible for reappointment.

Every joint planning board, special planning board or National Park Committee established for a National Park shall after consultation with the Countryside Commission appoint an officer, to be known as a National Park Officer, for the purposes of the functions exercisable by them as respects the Park by virtue of F23section 2 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 or this Part of this Schedule.

A National Park Officer appointed by a National Park Committee shall be an officer of F24the council of the planning area by whom the Committee was established or, if it was established by two or more such councils, such one of them as they may agree or as, in default of agreement, may be determined by the Secretary of State.

A National Park Officer appointed by a joint board or special planning board or a National Park Committee shall not be employed for any purpose other than one mentioned in paragraph 15 above, except after consultation between the authority by whom he is employed and the Countryside Commission and, in the case of a National Park Officer appointed by a National Park Committee, except with the Committee’s consent.

Every such board or committee established for a National Park shall in preparing or reviewing a National Park Plan send a copy of the proposed plan or review to the Countryside Commission and to any district planning authority whose area is wholly or partly comprised in the Park and take into consideration any observations of the Commission or any such authority thereon and shall send the Secretary of State a copy of a National Park Plan published under paragraph 18 above and of the report on any review or amendments so published.

The functions to which this Part of this Schedule applies are all functions of a county council or district council as local planning authority under the 1949 Act, the 1968 Act F25and the Town and Country Planning Act 1990, the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 and the Planning (Consequential Provisions) Act 1990 and any enactment amending any of those Acts.

In this Part of this Schedule “additional countryside functions” means functions other than those mentioned in paragraph 20 above, which, in the opinion of the council or councils concerned, or where the functions are ones which may be conferred by an order or determination of a Minister, of that Minister, relate to the countryside and are appropriate for reference to a board or committee concerned with matters relating to the countryside.

In this Part of this Schedule “planning area” means a metropolitan district or a non-metropolitan county.

In this Part of this Schedule, references to the Countryside Commission shall, in relation to a National Park in Wales, be construed as references to the Countryside Council for Wales.