Section 4.7.1 - Orders for development

This section includes general advice and procedures associated with legal orders under the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 [TCPA90]. These orders will be undertaken by the relevant Local Planning Authority (LPA):

The relevant LPA will be:

• the District or Borough Council for all applications other than 'County Matters';
• the County Council for 'County Matters' which includes applications for mineral extraction, waste disposal and its own applications.

Wider advice on the planning process and responding to planning applications is included in Section 11.

Relevant legislation

Town and Country Planning Act 1990

Section 247. Highways affected by development: orders by Secretary of State

Section 257. Footpaths and bridleways affected by development: orders by other authorities

Section 261. Temporary stopping up of highways for mineral workings

Order making process

LPAs can undertake orders to divert and extinguish public rights of way where it is necessary for development to take place. Orders must be made by the relevant LPA.

Orders can be either temporary or permanent and can only be granted where it is necessary to close or divert the route to enable development (for which planning permission has been given), to be carried out.

• Temporary orders will only be appropriate where the path will revert to exactly the same position and width as before the development commenced. The conditions must provide that the identified temporary route will be maintained and available for use at all times until the permanent route is reinstated. Temporary orders can often be quite long (measured in years) and can only be considered for development associated with mineral workings.
• Permanent orders are normally used where development is permanent, i.e. where a new building is to be constructed across the existing route.

The authority for a permanent closure or diversion, or a temporary diversion (in the case of minerals permissions only) can only be granted under s247 and s257 of the TCPA90.

• Section 247 Orders relate to routes with vehicular rights and are only made by the Secretary of State.
• Section 257 Orders apply to footpaths and bridleways and are made by the relevant LPA.

In all cases:

• the Order Making Authority should claim its’ costs from the applicant.
• the highway authority should be consulted about any application likely to affect the highway.

Orders for 'County Matters'

Orders for 'County Matters' includes minerals or waste and will be processed by the County Council using the following guidelines.

The diagram below sets out the procedure for handling minerals applications but can also apply to waste applications (substitute minerals with waste). The relevant County Council unit CDU will consult with the rights of way unit in order to identify if there are any modification applications or other considerations relating to the site. Further information on planning applications relating to 'County Matters' can be found here.

The authority for any temporary closure other than for minerals development can only be granted under section 14 of the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984. Such orders are not strictly temporary diversion orders, in that powers to prevent interference with the highway do not apply to any route to which the normal route is temporarily diverted. Section 14 Orders [RTRA84] are normally made by the County Council [Section 10].