legal-definition

Town and Country Planning Act 1990, 1990, Part VII, Section 171A

For the purposes of this Act —

  1. carrying out development without the required planning permission; or
  2. failing to comply with any condition or limitation subject to which planning permission has been granted

constitutes a breach of planning control.

www.legislation.gov.uk

legal-definition

Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000, section 85

In exercising or performing any functions in relation to, or so as to affect, land in an area of outstanding natural beauty in England, a relevant authority [ ] must seek to further the purpose of conserving and enhancing the the natural beauty of the area of outstanding natural beauty

www.legislation.gov.uk

legal-definition

GPDO Schedule 2 Part 8 Class A

Permitted development is development by railway undertakers on their operational land, required in connection with the movement of traffic by rail

www.legislation.gov.uk

Railway undertaker
Operational land

legal-definition

Town and Country Planning Act 1990 Section 263

1.

Subject to the following provisions of this section and to section 264, in this Act 'operational land' means, in relation to statutory undertakers -

  1. land which is used for the purpose of carrying on their undertaking, and

  2. land in which an interest is held for that purpose.

2.

Paragraphs a. and b. of subsection 1. do not include land which, in respect of its nature and situation, is comparable rather with land in general than with land which is used, or in which interests are held, for the purpose of the carrying on of statutory undertaking

www.legislation.gov.uk

general-definition

Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB)

An area of outstanding natural beauty (AONB) is land protected by the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000 (CROW Act). It protects the land to conserve and enhance its natural beauty.

www.gov.uk

general-definition

Operational Land

Operational land is a legal term with implications for planning permission and development rights.

Permitted development rights: Operational land often has special 'permitted development rights', allowing for certain types of construction and expansion without requiring full planning application

Reduced restrictions: The classification allows a public body or utility to perform works necessary for its undertaking with fewer regulatory hurdles

Google AI Overview

For the legal treatment of operational land see TCPA s263.

general-definition

Judicial review

Judicial review is a type of legal case where a judge (or judges) reviews the lawfulness of a decision or action made by a public authority.

The judge does not decide if the original decision made by the public authority was right or wrong; instead, they look at the process of the decision making and decide if it was lawful and if the correct processes were used.

www.bihr.org.uk

general-definition

Permitted development

Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) England Order 2015 (GPDO 2015) grants planning permission for certain types of development without consent from the local planning authority. Such development is called permitted development.

GPDO & railway undertakers
Railway undertaker

general-definition

Railway Undertaker

Greater Anglia is a (statutory) 'railway undertaker'.

In recognition of their special status, statutory undertakers have privileges regarding development and highways access. They are often exempt from planning permission for small works.

wikipedia.org

general-definition

Certificate of Lawful Proposed Use or Development (CLOPUD)

A Certificate of Lawful Proposed Use or Development (CLPUD also known as a CLOPUD) allows you to obtain a decision from the Local Planning Authority that a proposed use or works does not require planning permission and is lawful under section 192 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990.

planninghouse.co.uk

general-definition

Enforcement notice

An enforcement notice is a notice served against unauthorised development requiring the unauthorised development to be demolished.

planningaid.co.uk

general-definition

Environmental impact assessment screening opinion

A screening opinion states whether the [local planning] Authority or Secretary of State considers that an Environmental impact assessment (EIA) should be submitted for a future or current development proposal

www.havant.gov.uk

general-definition

Environmental impact assessment (EIA)

Environmental impact assessment (EIA) is the assessment of the environmental consequences of a plan, policy, program, or actual project prior to the decision to move forward with the proposed action. In this context, the term 'environmental impact assessment' is usually used when applied to actual projects by individuals or companies

en.wikipedia.org

general-definition

EIA Regulations

EIA Regulations are the Town & Country Planning (Environmental Impact Assessment) Regulations 2017 in England, which require developers to conduct an Environmental impact assessment (EIA) for projects with potentially significant environmental effects

Google AI Overview

analysis

Manningtree Station development plot was not operational. Manningtree Station development was NOT permitted development

Planning law lays out that

permitted development is development by railway undertakers on their operational land in connection with the movement of traffic by rail.

www.legislation.gov.uk

So was the Manningtree Station development permitted development?

The development plot was not operational (see below).
Hence Manningtree Station development was NOT permitted development.

Plot operational status is determined by the two subsections making upSection 263 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 (TCPA):

Subsection 1 of Section 263 of TCPA

Subject to the following provisions of this section and to section 264, in this Act 'operational land' means, in relation to statutory undertakers–

a.

land which is used for the purpose of carrying on their undertaking, and

b.

land in which an interest is held for that purpose.

www.legislation.gov.uk

Mott MacDonald writes:
In accordance with S.263 of the TCPA, GA's operational land comprises land which is used for the purpose of carrying on their undertaking and land in which an interest is held for that purpose.
And
The car park expansion site is currently unused, however, was transferred to GA with the intention of being used for future operational purposes pertaining to Manningtree Station.

We ask: Did Greater Anglia really have any choice whether or not to take on the plot together with the rest of its station? (Who else, if not Greater Anglia, would have/could have taken on a couple of acres of land locked sloping marshy waste land within a Greater Anglia train station?)

Subsection 2 of Section 263 of TCPA

Paragraphs a. and b. of subsection 1. do not include land which, in respect of its nature and situation, is comparable rather with land in general than with land which is used, or in which interests are held, for the purpose of the carrying on of statutory undertakings

www.legislation.gov.uk

In respect of its nature and situation Manningtree Station development plot hadnothing in common with land used, or in which interests are held, for the purpose of the carrying on anything at all at railway stations.

Mott MacDonald's 1,973 word tsunami leaves out subsection 2 of Section 263 TCPA. Had it not done so it would have been forced to ackowledge that Manningtree Station development plot is non operational. It would have been forced to ackowledge that its author's client could NOT deliver its car park expansion through permitted development rights. (And, like Brandon - see below - Manningtree would have been spared.)

(Greater Anglia generated a very similar near 2,000 word tsunami twenty months later. Directed at Breckland District Council, this one is about a proposed car park expansion over waste land at Greater Anglia's Brandon Station in Norfolk. Again, no subsection 2 of Section 263 of TCPA. Again, repeated assertions of permitted development rights. But, unlike Manningtree, this one was challenged & killed.)

analysis

Nothing in common with station land

In a 2017 letter to Tendring Council Greater Anglia describes the development plot as

scrubland, but also forms part of the natural water course

& the proposed works

extending the existing ground level car park into the unused scrubland along its rear boundary

Manningtree Station car park development plot was sloping marshy scrubland between the original car park and the station boundary beneath:

   

The plot had nothing in common with land used at railway stations. This is why it needed so much attention:

   
analysis

Brandon Station proposal: from overlooked law to High Court quash

March 2020

Greater Anglia wrote a letter to Breckland District Council to
provide detail of the planned construction of a car park facility to serve the railway station at Brandon and how it is wholly permissible

The letter quotes the following planning law:
Development by railway undertakers on their operational land required in connection with the movement of traffic by rail' is permitted development

Whether or not a plot is operational land (& thereby eligible for permitted development rights) is determined by the two subsections making upSection 263 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 (TCPA).

The letter rehashes subsection one:
In accordance with s263 of the TCPA, GA 's operational land comprises land which is used for the purpose of carrying on their undertaking and land in which an interest is held for that purpose.

The letter omits subsection two.

Over 1,000 words later, starting to wind down, the letter reasserts that the Brandon Station development is permitted development. It was not. (See below.)

April 2020

SAVE Britain's Heritage solicitor Susan Ring contacted Breckland District Council:

Special permitted development rights could not be used to deliver the car park expansion and that full planning permission was required.

Special development rights are available to railway operators on their station operational land, but

could not be used to expand the car park onto "waste land" outside the operational area of the station.

www.planningresource.co.uk

May 2020

Breckland District Council ignored Susan Ring & issued aCertificate of Lawful Proposed Use or Development (CLOPUD) to Greater Anglia to build at Brandon Station.

July 2020

Richard Harwood OBE KC writes

The High Court has quashed a certificate of lawfulness of proposed use or development (CLOPUD) for the construction of a new car park at Brandon railway station.

Breckland District Council had failed to consider lawfully whether the car park was entirely on operational land, since operations land does not include 'land which, in respect of its nature and situation, is comparable rather with land in general than with land which is used, or in which interests are held, for the purpose of the carrying on of statutory undertakings': Town and Country Planning Act 1990, s 26[3](2)

www.39essex.com

planningresource.co.uk writes

SAVE's case was not contested by Greater Anglia

www.planningresource.co.uk