Amendments proposed to the Countryside and Rights of Way Bill - continued	House of Commons
back to previous text

   

Mr David Heath

(pp)

Line     949,     at end insert—

'( ) after the definition of "navigation authority" there is inserted—

    "nursery school or pre-school playgroups" means an institution providing education and care of children of an age below statutory school age and registered as providing such services with the relevant authority.'.

   

Mr David Heath

(qq)

Line     952,     at end insert 'and, in relation to a nursery school or pre-school playgroup, means the person or body of persons responsible for the management of the nursery school or pre-school playgroup.'.

---

   

Mr Gordon Prentice
Mr David Lepper
Mr Huw Edwards
Mrs Helen Brinton
Mr David Kidney
Chris McCafferty

NS1

To move the following Schedule:—

'SCHEDULE

Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty

Purpose of aonbs

    1.—(1) Section 87 of the National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act 1949 ("the 1949 Act") is amended as follows.

    (2) At the beginning there is inserted—

    "( ) This section and sections 87A to 88D have effect for the purpose of conserving and enhancing the natural beauty of the areas specified in subsection (1).".

Requirement for relevant authorities to have regard for aonbs

    2. After section 87 of the 1949 Act there is inserted—

    "87A.—(1) In exercising or performing any functions in relation to, or so as to affect, land in an aonb, any relevant authority shall have regard to the need to conserve and enhance the natural beauty of that area.

    (2) For the purpose of this section 'relevant authority' means—

(a) any Minister of the Crown,
(b) any public body,
(c) any statutory undertaker, or
(d) any person holding public office.

    (3) In subsection (2)—

'public body' includes—
(a) any local authority as defined in section 11A(6),
(b) any joint planning board within the meaning of section 2 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990, and
(c) any joint committee appointed under section 102(1)(b) of the Local Government Act 1972; and
'public office' has the meaning given in section 11A(4).".

Duty of local planning authority in relation to aonbs

    3. After section 88 of the 1949 Act there is inserted—

    "88A.—(1) Subject to subsection (3), it shall be the duty of every local planning authority whose area consists all or part of an aonb to promote the conservation and management of the aonb or so much thereof as is included in their area.

    (2) Subject to subsection (3), and in pursuance of its duty under subsection (1), every local planning authority whose area consists all or part of an aonb shall also seek to foster the economic and social wellbeing of communities within the aonb, but without incurring significant expenditure in doing so.

    (3) Subsections (1) and (2) shall not apply to local planning authorities in respect of an aonb for which a conservation board has been established in accordance with section 88B of this Act.

    (4) In this section 'local planning authority' has the meaning given in the Town and Country Planning Act 1990.".

Conservation boards for aonbs

    4. After section 88A of the 1949 Act there is inserted—

    "88B.—(1) The Secretary of State, acting on the recommendation of the appropriate countryside body, may by order establish a board (to be known as a 'Conservation Board'), the function of which shall be to promote the conservation and management of an aonb and perform such other functions as may be specified in the order.

    (2) In pursuance of its duty under subsection (1), a conservation board shall also seek to foster the economic and social wellbeing of communities within its area, but without incurring significant expenditure in doing so.

    (3) Before making an order under this section the Secretary of State shall consult—

(a) the appropriate countryside body;
(b) every local authority whose area consists of or includes the whole or any part of the area of an aonb;
(c) such other local authorities as he considers appropriate;

    and shall be satisfied that there is a broad measure of agreement amongst those consulted that a conservation board should be established.

    (4) A conservation board shall be a body corporate and shall consist of—

(a) such number of local authority members as may be specified in the relevant order; and
(b) such number of members to be appointed by the Secretary of State after consultation with the appropriate countryside body as may be so specified so as to reflect both national and local community interests.

    (5) The powers of a conservation board shall include the power to do anything which in the opinion of the board is calculated to facilitate, or is conducive or incidental to, the accomplishment of the functions mentioned in subsection (1).

    (6) A conservation board shall also have the powers of ownership and acquisition of land set out in Schedule III to this Act.

    (7) In this section and in section 88C 'appropriate countryside body' means—

(a) in relation to an aonb in England, the Countryside Agency; and
(b) in relation to an aonb in Wales, the Countryside Council for Wales.".

AONB management plans

    5. After section 88B of the 1949 Act there is inserted—

    88C.—(1) Every local planning authority to which section 88A(1) applies and every conservation board shall prepare, publish and adopt an aonb management plan (to be known as an 'aonb Management Plan').

    (2) The aonb Management Plan shall be published in draft form for consultation purposes.

    (3) Written submissions will be accepted for a period of six weeks beginning on the date of publication.

    (4) Submissions will be taken into account by the local planning authority and the conservation board in producing the final Management Plan.

    (5) Where two or more local planning authorities have a duty under section 88(1) in relation to the same aonb they shall prepare, publish and adopt a plan jointly.

    (6) A conservation board or local planning authority which is proposing to publish, adopt or review any plan under this section shall give notice of the proposal and send a copy of the plan together (where appropriate) with any proposed amendments of the plan to—

(a) the Secretary of State;
(b) the appropriate countryside body; and
(c) every local authority whose area consists of or includes the whole or any part of the area of an aonb;

    and shall take into consideration any observations made by a body or authority mentioned in paragraphs (b) or (c).

    (7) A conservation or local planning authority shall review its conservation management plan at intervals of not more than five years.".

Conservation board finances

    6. After section 88C of the 1949 Act there is inserted—

    "88D.—(1) A conservation board shall have power in respect of every financial year beginning after the establishment of that board to issue levies to the councils by whom local authority members fall to be appointed to it.

    (2) A levy issued by virtue of this section shall be issued in accordance with regulations made under section 74 of the Local Government Finance Act 1988 (power to make regulations authorising a levying body to issue a levy) and accordingly a conservation board shall be deemed to be a levying body with the meaning of that section.

    (3) The amount of levies issued by a conservation board in respect of any financial year shall be equal to the sum required by the board to meet the expenditure necessarily incurred in the discharge of its functions determined in accordance with regulations made under that section 74.

    (4) The Secretary of State may make grants to a conservation board for such purposes, of such amounts and on such terms and conditions as he thinks fit, and accordingly sections 72 and 73 of the Environment Act 1995 shall apply as if references in that section to a National Park Authority were references to the board.

    (5) A conservation board shall not by virtue of this section be a local authority within the meaning of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 (which equates a levying authority with a local authority.)".

Powers of conservation boards in relation to land etc.

    7. After Schedule 2 to the 1949 Act there is inserted—

"SCHEDULE 3

Powers of Conservation Boards in Relation to Land Etc.

    1.—(1) Subject to sub-paragraph (2) below, the following provisions, that is to say—

(a) sections 120 (except subsection (3)), 122 and 123 of the Local Government Act 1972 (powers of local authorities to acquire and dispose of land), and

(b) sections 128, 130 and 131 of that Act (general provisions in relation to land transactions),

    shall have effect as if, for the purposes of those provisions, a conservation board were a principal council and the relevant aonb were the board's area.

    (2) Section 16 of the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1976 (obtaining information about land) shall apply in relation to a conservation board as if the board were a local authority for the purposes of that Act.

    (3) Section 33 of the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1982 (enforceability by local authorities of certain covenants relating to land) shall have effect as if references to a principal council included references to a conservation board and as if the relevant aonb were that board's area; and for the purposes of this paragraph the reference in subsection (1) of that section to section 111 of the 1972 Act shall have effect as a reference to section 88B of this Act.

    (4) This paragraph shall be without prejudice to any power conferred on a conservation board by virtue of paragraph 2 below.

    2.—(1) 244A of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 ("the 1990 Act") (powers of joint planning boards) there shall be inserted the following section—

    "244B.—(1) A conservation board shall have the same power to acquire land by agreement as the local authorities mentioned in subsection (1) of section 227 have under that subsection.

    (2) Sections 227, 229, 232, 233 and 235 to 242 shall apply with the necessary modifications as if a conservation board were a local authority to which those sections applied and as if the aonb in relation to which it carries out functions were the board's area.

    (3) In this section "conservation board menas a board established under section 88B of the National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act 1949.".

    (2) Every such reference in the 1990 Act to the acquisition or appropriation of land for planning purposes as falls to be construed in accordance with section 246 of that Act shall be taken (so far as it would not otherwise do so) to include a reference to an acquisition or appropriation of land under any power conferred by virtue of subparagraph (1) above.

    (3) The following provisions of the 1990 Act, that is to say—

(a) sections 251(1), 258(1), 260(1), 261, 271, 272 and 274 (extinguishing rights of way and other rights),
(b) sections 275 and 276 (extension and modification of functions of statutory undertakers), and
(c) section 324(6) (rights of entry),
shall have effect as if a conservation board were a local authority for the purposes of that Act.

    (4) The reference to a local authority in section 66(2) of the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 (which refers to the powers of a local authority under sections 232, 233 and 235(1) of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990) shall include a reference to a conservation board.".

Amendments to the Town and Country Planning Act 1990

    8. After section 52 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 ("the 1990 Act") there is inserted—

    "52A.—(1) Where a local planning authority is exercising its functions under or by virtue of this Chapter in preparing proposals to make, alter, replace or repeal a development plan they shall—
(a) in respect of any land in an area for which an aonb management plan has been adopted under section 88C of the National Park and Access to the Countryside Act 1949, incorporate the provisions of that management plan so far as they are material to the formulation of the development plan unless relevant considerations dictate otherwise, and
(b) in respect of any land in an area for which a conservation board has been established under section 88B of that Act, consult the board.

    (2) If a conservation board objects to proposals for the making, alteration, replacement or repeal of a development plan and the objection is not by writing withdrawn then—

(a) in the case of a structure plan, the Secretary of State shall cause an examination in public to be held under section 35(3)(b), and
(b) in the case of a local plan, the local planning authority shall cause a local inquiry or other hearing to be held under section 42,

    unless the proposals are withdrawn".

    9. After section 71 of the 1990 Act there is inserted—

    "71A.—(1) Where it appears to a local planning authority that an application for planning permission is likely to affect any land in an area for which a conservation board has been established under section 88B of the National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act 1949, they shall—
(a) give notice of the application to the board, and
(b) in determining the application, take into account any representations made by the board.

    (2) Subsection (1) does not affect any other duties of a local planning authority under or by virtue of this Part.

    (3) So far as the relevant provisions of an aonb management plan adopted pursuant to section 88C of the 1949 Act are not incorporated in a development plan, due regard shall be given to those provisions in making any determination under section 70 in respect of or relating to any proposed development in an area for which that management plan has been adopted and to which that development plan applies.".

    10. In section 77 of the 1990 Act—

(a) after subsection (3), there is inserted—

    "(3A) Where an application has been made for development and, in the opinion of a conservation board established under section 88B of the National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act 1949, the development will materially affect an aonb or any part of it, but the local planning authority disputes that opinion, then the local planning authority shall give notice of the application to the Secretary of State.";
(b) in subsection (4), after "71(1) and (2)", there is inserted "71A"; and
(c) in subsection (5) for "if either the applicant or the local planning authority wish," there is substituted ", if the applicant, or the conservation board or the local planning authority wish,".'.

Prepared 16 May 2000