The Town and Country Planning (Development Management Procedure) (Wales) Order 2012

Made: 10 March 2012

Laid before the National Assembly for Wales: 13 March 2012

Coming into force: 30 April 2012

The Welsh Ministers, in exercise of the powers conferred on the Secretary of State by sections 59, 61(1), 61A, 62, 65, 69, 71, 74, 77, 78, 79(4), 188, 193, 196(4), 293A and 333(7) of, and paragraphs 1 and 2 of Schedule 1A, and Schedule 4A to, the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 now exercisable by them and in exercise of the powers conferred on the National Assembly for Wales by sections 88 and 122(3) of the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004 , also now exercisable by them , make the following Order:

PART 1 — Preliminary

Title, commencement and application

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• (1) The title of this Order is the Town and Country Planning (Development Management Procedure) (Wales) Order 2012 and it comes into force on 30 April 2012.

• (2) This Order applies to all land in Wales, but where land is the subject of a special development order , whether made before or after the commencement of this Order, this Order will apply to that land only to such extent and subject to such modifications as may be specified in the special development order.

• (3) Nothing in this Order applies to any permission which is deemed to be granted under section 222 of the 1990 Act (planning permission not needed for advertisements complying with regulations).

• (4) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Interpretation

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• (1) In this Order—

• “the 1990 Act” (“Deddf 1990”) means the Town and Country Planning Act 1990;

• “the 2004 Act” (“Deddf 2004”) means the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004;

• “the 2015 Act” (“Deddf 2015”) means the Planning (Wales) Act 2015;

• “access” (“mynediad”), in relation to reserved matters, means the accessibility to and within the site for vehicles, cycles and pedestrians in terms of the positioning and treatment of access and circulation routes and how these fit into the surrounding access network and “site” means the site or part of the site in respect of which outline planning permission is granted or, as the case may be, in respect of which an application for such a permission has been made;

• “any other information” (“unrhyw wybodaeth arall”) has the meaning in the EIA Regulations;

• “appearance” (“ymddangosiad”) means the aspects of a building or place within the development which determine the visual impression the building or place makes, including the external built form of the development, its architecture, materials, decoration, lighting, colour and texture;

• “building” (“adeilad”) includes any structure or erection, and any part of a building, as defined in this article, but does not include plant or machinery or any structure in the nature of plant or machinery;

• “community consultee” (“ymgynghorai cymunedol”) means—each county or county borough councillor representing an electoral ward in which the land to which the proposed application relates is situated; andeach community council in whose area the land to which the proposed application relates is situated;

• “dwellinghouse” (“tŷ annedd**”) does not include a building containing one or more flats, or a flat contained within such a building;

• “EIA application” (“caisAEA”) has the meaning in the EIA Regulations;

• “EIA development” (“datblygiadAEA”) has the meaning in the EIA Regulations;

• “EIA Regulations” (“RheoliadauAEA”) means the Town and Country Planning (Environmental Impact Assessment) (Wales) Regulations 2017;

• “electoral ward” (“ward etholiadol”) means any area for which a councillor is elected to a county council or a country borough council in Wales;

• “electronic communication” (“cyfathrebiad electronig”) has the meaning given in section 15(1) of the Electronic Communications Act 2000 (general interpretation) ;

• ...

• “erection” (“codi”), in relation to buildings as defined in this article, includes extension, alteration or re-erection;

• “environmental information” (“gwybodaeth amgylcheddol”) has the meaning in the EIA Regulations;

• “environmental statement” (“datganiad amgylcheddol”) has the meaning in the EIA Regulations;

• “flat” (“fflat”) means a separate and self-contained set of premises constructed or adapted for use for the purpose of a dwelling and forming part of a building from some other part of which it is divided horizontally;

• “floor space” (“arwynebedd llawr”) means the total floor space in a building or buildings;

• “full statement of case” (“datganiad achos llawn”) means and is comprised of —a statement in writing containing full particulars of the case—the applicant proposes to put forward in relation to the application referred to the Welsh Ministers pursuant to a direction under section 77 of the 1990 Act; orthe appellant proposes to put forward in relation to the appeal under section 78 of the 1990 Act; andcopies of any supporting documents the applicant or the appellant proposes to refer to or put forward in evidence;

• “further information” (“gwybodaethbellach”) has the meaning in the EIA Regulations;

• “householder application” (“cais deiliad tŷ”) means an application for—planning permission for the enlargement, improvement or other alteration of a dwellinghouse, or development within the curtilage of such a dwellinghouse, orchange of use to enlarge the curtilage of a dwelling house,for any purpose incidental to the enjoyment of the dwellinghouse but does not include—any other application for change of use,an application for erection of a dwellinghouse, oran application to change the number of dwellings in a building;

• “landscaping” (“tirlunio”), in relation to a site or any part of a site for which outline planning permission has been granted or, as the case may be, in respect of which an application for such permission has been made, means the treatment of land (other than buildings) for the purpose of enhancing or protecting the amenities of the site and the area in which it is situated and includes—screening by fences, walls or other means;the planting of trees, hedges, shrubs or grass;the formation of banks, terraces or other earthworks;the laying out or provision of gardens, courts, squares, water features, sculpture or public art; andthe provision of other amenity features;

• “layout” (“llunwedd”) means the way in which buildings, routes and open spaces within the development are provided, situated and orientated in relation to each other and to buildings and spaces outside the development;

• “major development” (“datblygiad mawr”) means development involving any one or more of the following—the winning and working of minerals or the use of land for mineral-working deposits ;waste development;the provision of dwellinghouses where—the number of dwellinghouses to be provided is 10 or more; orthe development is to be carried out on a site having an area of 0.5 hectares or more and it is not known whether the development falls within sub-paragraph (c)(i);the provision of a building or buildings where the floor space to be created by the development is 1,000 square metres or more; ordevelopment carried out on a site having an area of 1 hectare or more;

• “mining operations” (“gweithrediadau mwyngloddio”) means the winning and working of minerals in, on or under land, whether by surface or underground working;

• “minor commercial application” (“cais masnachol bach”) means an application for planning permission for the enlargement, improvement or other alteration of an existing building of no more than 250 square metres gross external floor space at ground floor level, or part of that building, currently in use for any of the purposes set out in Schedule 1A to this Order which is an application for—the change of use from any of the purposes set out at paragraph 1 in Schedule 1A to this Order to any of the purposes set out in either paragraph 2 or paragraph 3 of that Schedule;the change of use from any of the purposes set out at paragraph 2 in Schedule 1A to this Order to any of the purposes set out in paragraph 3 of that Schedule; orthe carrying out of building or other operations to a shop front;

• “outline planning permission” (“caniatd cynllunio amlinellol”) means a planning permission for the erection of a building, which is granted subject to a condition requiring the subsequent approval of the local planning authority with respect to one or more reserved matters;

• “reserved matters” (“materion a gedwir yn l”, “materion a gadwyd yn l”) in relation to an outline planning permission, or an application for such permission, means any of the following matters in respect of which details have not been given in the application—access;appearance;landscaping;layout; andscale, within the upper and lower limit for the height, width and length of each building stated in the application for planning permission in accordance with article 3(4);

• “scale” (“graddfa”) means the height, width and length of each building proposed within the development in relation to its surroundings;

• “Schedule 1 development” (“datblygiad Atodlen1”) and “Schedule 2 development” (“datblygiad Atodlen2”) have the meanings in the EIA Regulations;

• “scoping direction” (“cyfarwyddyd cwmpasu”) has the meaning in the EIA Regulations;

• “scoping opinion” (“barn gwmpasu”) has the meaning in the EIA Regulations;

• “section 73 application” (“cais adran 73”) means an application for planning permission under section 73 of the 1990 Act for the development of land without complying with conditions subject to which a previous planning permission was granted;

• “by site display” (“drwy arddangos ar y safle”) means by the posting of the notice by firm affixture to some object, sited and displayed in such a way as to be easily visible and legible by members of the public; and

• “specialist consultee” (“ymgynghorai arbenigol”) means, where the development to which a proposed application for planning permission relates falls within a category set out in the Table in Schedule 4, the authority, person or body mentioned in relation to that category;

• “waste development” (“datblygiad gwastraff”) means (a) any operational development designed to be used wholly or mainly for the purpose of treating, storing, processing or disposing of refuse or waste materials or (b) material change of use to the treatment, storage, processing or disposal of refuse or waste materials.

• (2) In this Order and in relation to the use of electronic communications or electronic storage for any purpose of this Order which is capable of being carried out electronically—

• (a) the expression “address” (“cyfeiriad”) includes any number or address used for the purpose of such communications or storage, except that where this Order imposes any obligation on any person to provide a name and address to any other person, the obligation is not fulfilled unless the person on whom it is imposed provides a postal address; and

• (b) references to documents, maps, plans, drawings, certificates or other documents, or to copies of such things, include references to such documents or copies of them in electronic form.

• (3) Paragraphs (4) to (7) apply where an electronic communication is used by a person for the following purposes—

• (a) fulfilling any requirement in this Order to give or send any application, notice or other document to any other person; or

• (b) lodging an application, certificate or other document referred to in article 22(3) with a local planning authority,

and in those paragraphs, “the recipient” (“y derbynnydd”) means the person mentioned in sub-paragraph (a) of this paragraph or the local planning authority, as the case may be.

• (4) The requirement is not taken to be fulfilled, or (as the case may be) the application or other document is not taken to have been lodged, unless the document transmitted by the electronic communication is—

• (a) capable of being accessed by the recipient;

• (b) legible in all material respects; and

• (c) sufficiently permanent to be used for subsequent reference.

• (5) In paragraph (4), “legible in all material respects” (“darllenadwy ym mhob modd perthnasol”) means that the information contained in the notice or document is available to the recipient to no lesser extent than it would be if sent or given by means of a document in printed form.

• (6) Where the electronic communication is received by the recipient outside the recipient's business hours, it is taken to have been received on the next working day; and for this purpose “working day” (“diwrnod gwaith”) means a day which is not a Saturday, Sunday, Bank Holiday or other public holiday.

• (7) A requirement in this Order that any application, notice or other document should be in writing is fulfilled where the document meets the criteria in paragraph (4), and “written” (“ysgrifenedig”) and cognate expressions are to be construed accordingly.

PART 2 — Applications

Applications for outline planning permission

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• (1) Where an application is made to the local planning authority for outline planning permission, the authority may grant permission subject to a condition specifying reserved matters for the authority's subsequent approval.

• (2) Where the local planning authority who are to determine an application for outline planning permission are of the opinion that, in the circumstances of the case, the application ought not to be considered separately from all or any of the reserved matters, they must within the period of one month beginning with the receipt of the application notify the applicant that they are unable to determine it unless further details are submitted, specifying the further details they require.

• (3) Where layout is a reserved matter, the application for outline planning permission must state the approximate location of buildings, routes and open spaces included in the development proposed.

• (4) Where scale is a reserved matter, the application for outline planning permission must state the upper and lower limit for the height, width and length of each building included in the development proposed.

• (5) Where access is a reserved matter, the application for outline planning permission must state the area or areas where access points to the development proposed will be situated.

Applications for approval of reserved matters

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• (1) An application for approval of reserved matters must—

• (a) be made in writing to the local planning authority on a form published by the Welsh Ministers (or a form substantially to the like effect);

• (b) include the particulars specified or referred to in the form;

• (c) be accompanied by such plans and drawings as are necessary to deal with the matters reserved in the outline planning permission;

• (d) except where the application is made by electronic communications or the local planning authority indicate that fewer are required, be accompanied by 3 copies of the form; and

• (e) except where they are submitted by electronic communications or the local planning authority indicate that fewer are required, be accompanied by 3 copies of any plans, drawings and information accompanying the application.

• (2) Any plans or drawings required to be provided by paragraph (1)(c) must be drawn to an identified scale and, in the case of plans, must show the direction of north.

• (3) Where an application is made using electronic communications the provisions of article 32 apply.

Applications for planning permission

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• (1) Subject to the following provisions of this article, an application for planning permission must—

• (a) be made in writing to the local planning authority on a form published by the Welsh Ministers (or a form substantially to the like effect);

• (b) include the particulars specified or referred to in the form;

• (c) except in the case of a section 73 application or where the application is made pursuant to section 73A(2)(c) (planning permission for development already carried out) of the 1990 Act , be accompanied, whether electronically or otherwise, by—

• (i) a plan which identifies the land to which the application relates;

• (ii) any other plans, drawings and information necessary to describe the development which is the subject of the application;

• (iii) except where the application is made by electronic communications or the local planning authority indicate that fewer are required, 3 copies of the form; and

• (iv) except where they are submitted by electronic communications or the local planning authority indicate that fewer are required, 3 copies of any plans, drawings and information accompanying the application.

• (2) Any plans or drawings required to be provided by paragraph (1)(c)(i) or (ii) must be drawn to an identified scale and, in the case of plans, must show the direction of north.

• (3) Subject to paragraphs (3) to (5) of article 3, in the case of an application for outline planning permission, details need not be given of any reserved matters.

• (4) An application for planning permission for development consisting of mining operations or the use of land for mineral-working deposits must—

• (a) be made on a form provided by the local planning authority;

• (b) include the particulars specified or referred to in the form; and

• (c) comply with the requirements of paragraph (1)(c).

• (5) Where an application is made using electronic communications the provisions of article 32 apply.

Applications in respect of Crown land

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An application for planning permission in respect of Crown land must be accompanied by—

• (a) a statement that the application is made in respect of Crown land; and