Part 2 – Development in the area of a unitary authority
197.Paragraph 3 establishes Part 2 as the regime to apply in respect of development carried out in the area of unitary authorities (for example, those local planning authorities in London).
198.Paragraph 4 establishes the circumstances in which the planning conditions for which the Part provides apply, different conditions applying, in general, according to whether the development is in the area of a non-qualifying or qualifying authority.
199.Paragraph 5 provides for certain matters of detail to be the subject of requests for the approval of the non-qualifying unitary authorities and provides that the only grounds on which they can refuse a request is that the development to which it relates should and could reasonably be carried out elsewhere within Act limits, or that the design or external appearance of any building to which they relate ought to be modified to preserve the local environment or amenity, and is capable of being reasonably modified to do so.
200.Paragraph 6 provides for certain matters of detail to be the subject of requests for the approval of the qualifying unitary authorities and sets out the grounds on which such authorities can refuse a request. The list of operations and works includes construction works, minor constructions works, fences and walls, artificial lighting, waste and spoil disposal and borrow pits.
201.Paragraph 7 sets out construction arrangements over which a qualifying unitary authority shall have some control, including road transport, the handling of re-useable spoil and top soil, storage sites, construction camps, screening, artificial lighting, the suppression of dust and mud on the highway.
202.Paragraph 8 provides that for the disposal of waste or spoil, or the excavation of bulk materials from borrow pits, no disposal or excavation shall commence unless the nominated undertaker has first agreed with a qualifying unitary authority a scheme for the restoration of the land on which the disposal or excavation is to take place. The only ground on which the authority can refuse to agree such a scheme is that the scheme ought to be modified, and is reasonably capable of being so modified.
203.Paragraphs 9 and 10 provide for a qualifying unitary authority to grant approval before any Crossrail works are brought into use, other than for stations, depots and the tunnelled sections of Crossrail. That approval is to be granted if the authority considers that no reasonably practicable measures to mitigate the effect on the local environment or amenity are necessary, or it has agreed a scheme for such measures.
204.Paragraph 11 provides for any land used for construction purposes with respect to the scheduled works, where other restoration provisions of the Act do not apply to it, to be restored in accordance with a scheme agreed with the unitary authority. If no scheme is so agreed within 6 months of completion of the scheduled works concerned, the scheme is determined by the appropriate Ministers. This provision applies to both qualifying and non-qualifying unitary authorities.
