Local Development Orders
Planning and Environment, Public Law and Judicial Review
Two members of Cornerstone Barristers have been separately instructed by local authorities to advise on the content of proposed Local Development Orders under section 61A of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 and on the procedure to be followed in having them adopted. Paul Shadarevian is advising on a prospective LDO for London Gateway deep-sea container port, whilst Emma Dring is advising on a group of planned LDOs to encourage economic growth in the energy, offshore engineering and ports sectors in the Great Yarmouth and Lowestoft Enterprise Zone.
Local Development Orders were introduced by the Planning and Compensation Act 2004. They grant permission for development specified in the order in the same way that the General Permitted Development Order 1995 does, except that LDOs operate at the local level. They can be adopted in respect of all or part of a local authority’s area and provide greater certainty for developers. They also speed up delivery and streamline development by removing the need for a planning application. LDOs are a particularly useful tool in areas which require regeneration or to support Enterprise Zones, but can in principle be used in any area to respond to local circumstances. As such they are a valuable element of the localism agenda.