LOCAL PLANNING AUTHORITY
What is a Local Planning Authority (LPA)?
A LPA is the public authority whose duty through legislation is to carry out specific planning functions for a particular area.
This includes responsibility for determining planning applications, making Local Development Orders (LDOs), producing Local Plans, undertaking planning enforcement, supporting Neighbourhood Planning.
A LPA is normally a Council department, and by law LPAs must act independently of other Council departments in carrying out its functions.
What is a Local Development Order (LDO)?
A LDO is a planning document which provides permission for specified types of development.
Planning legislation allows a Local Planning Authority (LPA) to make a LDO.
A separate planning application is not needed for a development covered by a LDO.
LPAs must consult on draft LDOs.
LDOs are usually time-limited to cover the length of time it may take for a development to be built.
How is a LDO different from a regular planning application? What is an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA)?
For LDOs ‘permission’ is effectively granted upfront. However, the same amount of assessment and scrutiny on whether development proposals are acceptable is undertaken by LPAs in making LDOs.
But this happens earlier in the process from a regular planning application.
Planning applications are normally consulted on soon after they are submitted, and assessment work is undertaken after consultation responses have been received.
For a LDO much of the assessment work is carried out before consultation, and further assessment takes place after consultation as the responses are reviewed.
This is the case for the proposed data centre campus development.
An EIA is required by law for certain types of large developments, and/ or developments that potentially could have significant environmental effects.
It identifies any significant effects such as pollution, ecological impacts.
An EIA sets out measures that can be used to mitigate or prevent those effects.
The proposed data centre campus needs an EIA.
The product of an EIA is an Environmental Statement which sets out any significant effects and mitigation measures.
The Environmental Statement will be consulted on together with the LDO documents.
LOCAL DEVELOPMENT ORDER PROCESS
STAGE 1
Preparation
This includes evidence gathering, drafting documents including the proposed LDO document itself and Statement of Reasons (setting out the reasons for making the LDO).
This stage also includes undertaking EIA assessments.
Consultation
LPAs must consult on LDOs (minimum 28 days). This includes consulting with ‘prescribed bodies’ (bodies set out in legislation) e.g. Environment Agency and Natural England, for London boroughs - the Mayor of London. Consultation will also take place at the same time on the Environmental Statement (minimum 30 days).
This also includes any person who would have been consulted on a planning application seeking planning permission (including affected residents).
Documents will be available to view at the LPA’s principal offices and on the LPA’s website.
Notices will be published in a local newspaper, and site notices displayed.
If/when the LPA consider it appropriate to make a LDO for the proposed data centre development - the Council’s Strategic Planning Committee (SPC) will need to approve the draft LDO and other documents for consultation before any decision to adopt it can be made.
The LPA would produce a report which would go to SPC for approval. The SPC is a public meeting.
Considerations of representations
LPAs need to carefully review and consider any consultation responses (also referred to as representations).
If a LPA considers it appropriate to take forward a LDO to adoption, it will need to make any changes that it considers are needed following the review of consultation responses.
If significant changes are needed to documents the LPA may need to consult again.
The LPA will need to report the consultation responses and how these have been taken into account when seeking approval for adoption.
Adoption
If/when a LPA considers it appropriate to adopt a LDO, approval is needed.
For the proposed data centre development this would be from the Council’s Strategic Planning Committee (SPC).
The LPA would produce a report for SPC to approve at its public meeting.
If the approval is received and the LPA adopts the LDO, it must send a copy of the adopted LDO, Statement of Reasons and any Environmental Statement to the Secretary of State.
It must place a copy of the LDO and Statement of Reasons on the planning register, and set out a timetable for future changes to the LDO or make clear where a LDO is time limited.
The Secretary of State cannot ‘call in’ a LDO (make a decision on it themselves) while it is undergoing the above process, but they can order revisions, or revoke a LDO once adopted.
