Moved by
Lord Tope
39: After Clause 1, insert the following new Clause—
“Greater London: option to make planning application directly to Mayor of London
In the Town and Country Planning Act 1990, after the new section 62A insert—
“62B When application may be made directly to Mayor of London
(1) In Greater London, a relevant application that would otherwise have to be made to the local planning authority may (if the applicant so chooses) be made instead to the Mayor of London if the following conditions are met at the time it is made—
(a) the local planning authority concerned is designated by the Secretary of State for the purposes of section 62A; and
(b) the development to which the application relates (where the application is within subsection (2)(a)), or the development for which outline planning permission has been granted (where the application is within subsection (2)(b)), is of a description described in subsection (2)(c), (d), (e) or (f).
(2) In this section “relevant application” means—
(a) an application for planning permission for the development of land in Greater London, other than an application of the kind described in section 73(1); or
(b) an application for approval of a matter that, as defined by section 92, is a reserved matter in the case of an outline planning permission for the development of land in Greater London,
in either case where the development is development—
(c) for the purposes of provision of a school that is or will be the subject of an academy arrangement made under section 1 of the Academies Act 2010;
(d) by an electricity undertaker which is not permitted development for the purposes of a development order made under section 57(1);
(e) prescribed by the Secretary of State as an application of potentially strategic importance in an order made under section 2A(4); or
(f) otherwise prescribed by the Secretary of State.
(3) Where a relevant application is made to the Mayor of London under this section, the Mayor may direct that he is to be regarded as the local planning authority for the purposes of determining the application, and the Mayor may determine it accordingly.
(4) Where a relevant application is made to the Mayor of London under this section, an application under the Planning Acts referred to in section 62A(3) (“the connected application”) may (if the person making such an application so chooses) be made instead to the Mayor of London.
(5) If the connnected application is made to the Mayor of London under subsection (4) but the Mayor considers that it is not connected with the relevant application concerned, the Mayor may—
(a) refer the connected application to the local planning authority, or hazardous substances authority, to whom it would otherwise have been made, and
(b) direct that the connected application—
(i) is to be treated as having been made to that authority (and not to the Mayor under this section), and
(ii) is to be determined by that authority accordingly.
(6) Section 38(1) (delegation of functions by the Mayor) shall apply to the Mayor of London’s functions under this section.
(7) Section 2E (section 2A and planning obligations under section 106) shall apply to any direction given under subsection (3).
(8) Section 2F (representation hearings) shall apply to any application in relation to which a direction has been given under subsection (3).””