6 C O N T E X T 1 4 1 : S E P T E M B E R 2 0 1 5 officers which may be helpful when a decision is being made as to whether a direction is appropriate and in making planning decisions.10 Article 4 directions are generally used to control permitted development rights in a particular area, especially conservation areas, but there is nothing to prevent them being made in relation to an individual building.11 A period for consultation is usual before making the direction, but they can be made with immediate effect.The National Planning Policy Framework provides that the use of Article 4 directions should be limited ‘to situations where this is necessary to protect local amenity or the wellbeing of the area’.12However, the NPPF does not give any further guidance on the meaning of this phrase, so there is potential scope for using them to save community amenity buildings such as pubs. Article 4 directions have been used, for example, in respect of the Thimblemill pub in Smethwick, the Maiden Over in Earley, theWheatsheaf inTooting, and the Pear Tree in Hildersham. Some local authorities have been wary of adopting Article 4 directions because they may be liable to pay compensation to the developer if planning permission is refused,13 but this threat should not be overstated. When considering the use of the Article 4 direction to protect theThimblemill, Sandwell MBC noted that no such claims had been brought after Article 4 directions had been made in Sandwell or the neighbouring area of Dudley. National research by the English Historic Towns Forum (RPS Planning, 2008) also showed that no claims for compensation had been made in the 72 planning authorities studied. Local listing and policies In addition, NPPF paragraph 70 encourages local authorities to ‘plan positively’ for the provision and use of shared space and community facilities (including public houses) ‘to enhance the sustainability of communities’ and to ‘guard against the unnecessary loss of valued facilities and services’. Local authorities should also therefore consider introducing local planning policies to protect pubs from changes of use. For example, in July 2014Wandsworth Council announced its intention to introduce new supplementary planning guidance to protect pubs. It may be useful to undertake a survey of pubs in a local authority area, as this may establish a specific local need for an Article 4 direction or protective local planning policies.When Cambridge City Council did so, it discovered that the city had the fewest number of pubs per capita of any in the country. This led the council to introduce interim planning guidance on the protection of pubs in 2012. Alternatively a pub of architectural or historic interest which does not meet the criteria for listing may be placed on the ‘local list’ of non-designated heritage assets of local importance. Local plan policies and non-statutory designations can strengthen the hand of the authority when planning applications are being determined, as they would both be material considerations to be taken into account. The local listing of the Thimblemill was also one of the justifications for the Article 4 direction introduced to protect it. None of these measures can be guaranteed to protect a pub from demolition by a determined developer, as the case of the CarltonTavern shows.Westminster Council is to be congratulated for taking firm enforcement action.Whether the pub is in a conservation area, listed as an ACV, or subject to an Article 4 direction, enforcement action will need to be sufficient to outweigh any potential profit from unauthorised development. 9 Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) Order 1995/418, as amended 10 Historic pub interiors: advice for planners, available at www.camra.org.uk/ documents/10180/21554/ historic_pub_interiors_ advice_for_planners.pdf/ b47dcb4e-6a52-43bd9195-820cf45ee77a, accessed 21 January 2015 11 Department for Communities and Local Government, Replacement Appendix D to Department of the Environment Circular 9/95: General Development Consolidation Order 1995 (2012) paragraph 3 12 DCLG (2012) National Planning Policy Framework, paragraph 200 13 Section 108,TCPA 1990. See also DCLG, Replacement Appendix D to Department of the Environment Circular 9/95: General Development Consolidation Order 1995 (2012) Carolyn Shelbourn is a senior lecturer in the school of law at the University of Sheffield. The Chapel House in Heaton Chapel, Stockport which has since fallen victim to Tesco’s recent cull of underperforming stores (Photo: Peter Edwardson, closedpubs.blogspot.com)
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