C O N T E X T 1 3 7 : N O V E M B E R 2 0 1 4 9 who appears to have a ‘special knowledge or interest’ in the listed building (or buildings of architectural or historic interest more generally). A heritage partnership agreement must be in writing and contain provision for review at specified intervals as well as provision for possible variation and termination. A single agreement may relate to more than one listed building, which opens up the possibility of a single agreement to cover a network of listed buildings across administrative boundaries. The Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) (Heritage Partnership Agreements) Regulations 2014 (made by the secretary of state under new section 26B of the 1990 act) provide for further specified details to be included in heritage partnership agreements, as well as for the consultation and wider publicity that must take place before the agreements are entered into or subsequently varied. These statutory agreements will undoubtedly be of great use to local planning authorities and a number of public sector and other organisations with large landholdings that include listed buildings on which regular repair and maintenance are carried out. The intention is to cut down significantly the number of applications for individual listed building consent required for routine works by trusted bodies, as well as to provide statutory backing to agreements relating to continuing maintenance and access. The act places on a statutory footing the voluntary heritage management agreements previously piloted between English Heritage and a number of national heritage bodies (including the Canal & River Trust) in respect of certain large listed buildings which require regular, continuing repair and maintenance. Listed building consent orders The new section 26C of the 1990 act enables the secretary of state to make an order granting listed building consent for certain classes of works to listed buildings of any description in England, subject to specified conditions. These consent orders would operate in the same ways as permitted development rights under the planning regime or class consents under the scheduled monument regime, removing the need for an individual application for listed building consent for those works covered in the order. A consent order may give the local planning authority an opportunity, in specified cases, to require details of works covered by the consent order to be approved by them.Therefore a consent order may grant unconditional listed building consent for some works while making the detail of other works subject to prior approval of the local planning authority.This prior approval would, presumably, not relate to the principle of whether the works should be carried out (otherwise the works would not be included in the consent order and would require full listed building consent) but rather to the details of the work, akin to the type of approval given by local planning authorities under some classes of permitted development rights (such as the erection of telecoms apparatus). English Heritage and the Canal & River Trust are currently working on a pilot listed building consent order to cover routine maintenance works to the trust’s listed canal locks and bridges. Equivalent powers are given to local planning authorities to make ‘local listed building consent orders; in respect of listed buildings within their administrative area only under new section 26D.These are equivalent to the powers of local planning authorities to make local development orders under the planning regime. The Planning (Local Listed Building Consent Order) (Procedure) Regulations 2014 have also been enacted (under the new Schedule 2A inserted into the 1990 act), setting out the prescribed process for the preparation and adoption of local consent orders. In considering whether to make a consent order, the secretary of state or any local planning authority must have special regard to the desirability of preserving the listed buildings covered by the order as well as their setting and any special features. The secretary of state must consult English Heritage before making a national consent order. Certificates of lawfulness of proposed works A new section 26H of the 1990 act enables anyone to apply to a local planning authority for a certificate of lawfulness for proposed works which do not affect the special interest of a listed building (that is, works that fall outside section 7(1) of the 1990 act altogether and do not, therefore, require listed building consent). The detailed procedure for making an application for a certificate is contained in the Planning (Listed Buildings) (Certificates of Lawfulness of Proposed Works) Regulations 2014. The new section 26K also gives a right of appeal to the secretary of state against refusal or the failure to determine an application for a certificate within 28 days. A certificate will provide developers with the certainty that their works are lawful without actually having to apply for a full listed building consent. One would clearly be useful in a conveyancing context to enable the vendor of a property to prove to a prospective buyer beyond doubt that no listed building consent should have been obtained for minor works. Again, this proposal would mirror the system of certificates of lawful proposed development or use in the planning regime. Removal of conservation area consent Finally, Schedule 17 introduces a new section 196D into theTown and Country Planning Act 1990 to replace the need for conservation area consent with the requirement to obtain planning permission to demolish a building in a conservation area. Where a developer wishes to demolish and then replace a building in a conservation area as part of the same scheme, rather than making separate applications for conservation area consent and planning permission, a developer will now only need to make a single application for planning permission. Tom Deards is a solicitor in the legal department of the Canal and River Trust.
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