Member Article

The removal of the Crown’s immunity from English planning law will make buying and developing such land much easier, says Shoosmiths’ planning law team. Crown Immunity dated back to the 1960s and included government departments such as the MOD, Her Majesty’s private estates, the Duchies of Lancaster and Cornwall and the Crown Estate Commissioners. In the past the Crown had only to consult with local planning authorities before carrying out development. Now, like all other developers, the Crown must obtain planning consent and will face public scrutiny in the application and appeal process just like any private development. The provisions of the new Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act would make the purchase of Crown land less complicated. This will be significant as more Crown land is being turned over to meet Government plans for increased affordable housing. The purchase of Crown land will now be a less complicated process as it will be easier to establish a planning permission for a future use before the land ceases to be Crown land. It also removes an immunity that was considered to be unfair by individuals affected by Crown development, although in practice the Crown had voluntarily complied with public consultation procedures for some time, so the end results may not be that different. There are some exceptions to this removal of immunity, including when development is needed urgently and is of national importance in the case of war for example. There will also be a new use class covering secure residential accommodation such as prisons, immigration removal centres, secure hospitals and local authority hostels. And an amendment to the Town and Country Planning Order 1995 grants the Crown a series of permitted development rights along the lines of those already enjoyed by local authorities and statutory undertakers.