APPENDIX 2

Statutory Controls
COOMBE COUNTRY PARK

Statutory Controls 1
www.coventry.gov.uk/coombe
www.coventry.gov.uk/coombe
Statutory Controls
Development control - Planning
The main principle of the planning system in
England is that ownership of land gives no right
other than the bare right to go on using the land
as the existing use. There is no automatic right
to develop it or change the use of the land.
Planning permission is required for the carrying
out of any development of land. Development is
defined in s.55and s336(1) of the Town and
Country Planning Act (TCPA) as ‘the carrying
out of building, engineering, mining or other
operations in, on, over or under the land’ or ‘the
making of any material change of use of
buildings or other land’ . There are some
exclusions which are not counted as
development: these are listed in s55 of the
1990 TCPA.
The usual way to obtain approval is to make
formal applications to the local planning
authority (LPA) to carry out the desired
development. Day -to- day responsibility for the
administration of land use control lies with LPA’s
Making a planning application for development,
does not preclude the need for other types of
permission to be obtained if relevant e.g. Listed
building Consent, Conservation Area Consent.
There are four types of planning
applications:
• Outline applications are broad proposals
where the LPA can grant outline planning
permission. This is essentially agreement in
principal subject to subsequent LPA approval
of ‘reserved matters’. Reserved matters are
defined to mean siting, design, external
appearance, means of access, the
landscaping of the site.
• Full applications requiring all details to be
submitted.
• Temporary applications for temporary
issues.
• Retrospective applications for retrospective
issues.
After considering the application the LPA
can decide to:
• Grant permission (consent endures with
land for 5 years pending start or 3 years for
submission of reserved matters)
• Grant planning permission with conditions
(applicant can appeal)
• Refuse planning permission (applicant can
appeal)
If development is carried out without permission
the LPA can invoke a variety of enforcement
procedures and penalties. Application forms
and advice available from LPA.
Scheduled Monuments
Statutory protection of ancient monuments is
secured by the Ancient Monuments and
Archaeological Areas Act 1979. A monument is
defined as meaning:
• Any building, structure or work, whether
above or below the surface of the land, and
any cave or excavation;
• Any site comprising the remains of any such
building, structure or work, or of any cave or
excavation and;
• Any site comprising, or comprising the
remains of, any vehicle, vessel, aircraft or
other moveable structure or part thereof
which neither constitutes nor forms part
of any work which is a monument within
paragraph above.
The degree of protection given to a monument
under the 1979 Act depends upon whether it is
classified as a ‘scheduled monument’ or as an
‘ancient monument’. The Act gives the greatest
protection to scheduled monuments, ie those
listed on the schedule maintained by the
Secretary of State. Consent is required for any
works to a scheduled monument or to any part
of it;
• Which will result in its demolition, destruction
or damage.
• For the purpose of removing, repairing or
making alterations or additions
Statutory Controls 1

• Any flooding/tipping operations on land
where there is a scheduled monument.
It is an offence to carry out works without
scheduled monument consent. Applications
should be made directly to the Secretary of
State. There is no opportunity to challenge
inclusion of a monument on the schedule. If
scheduled monument is applied for and the
monument is also a listed building and /or in a
conservation area, neither listed building
consent nor conservation area consent need be
obtained.
Scheduled monument consent is not required
for the execution of works within certain classes
defined by the Act. The procedure for
applications is prescribed in the Ancient
Monuments Regulation 1981 (SI 1981,No
1301).
Listed Buildings
Statutory provisions are contained in the
Planning ( Listed Buildings and Conservation
Areas) Act 1990. Listed building control is
applicable to buildings of special architectural or
historical interest recommended by the DofE
and English Heritage and approved and
designated by the Secretary of State. Control is
intended to prevent the unrestricted demolition,
alteration or extension of a listed building
without the express consent of the local
planning authority (LPA) or Secretary of State.
Control extends to any works likely to affect the
character of a building.
The following types of work require building
consent:
• demolition or removal of whole or part of
a building or a building or structure in the
cartilage of a listed building.
• alterations to the exterior and/or interior of a
listed building which would affect its special
character including painting the exterior a
different colour.
• extensions of whatever size, to a listed
building.
2 Statutory Controls
• works already carried out to a listed building
for which listed building consent was not
obtained.
Exceptions to the above include any listed
ecclesiastical building, and any listed building
which is also a scheduled ancient monument, in
which case scheduled monument consent is
required.
The procedure for obtaining listed building
consent is set out in s10 of the Planning Act
1990 and in the Town and Country Planning
Regulations 1990. Applications should be made
to the LPA . The application must give sufficient
details to enable the impact of the works on the
building to be assessed at this one stage. If
given, listed building consent does not imply
planning permission.
Conservation Areas
Under the Planning Act 1990 every local
planning authority must determine whether their
area contains any ‘areas of special architectural
or historical interest, the character or
appearance of which is desirable to protect or
enhance, and shall designate those areas as
Conservation Areas’. Not every part of that area
need have something of historic interest in it. A
register of conservation areas is kept by the
LPA. Demolition of part or whole of an unlisted
building within a conservation area requires
conservation area consent. Conservation area
consent can have conditions attached. Trees in
conservation areas are protected: a person
proposing to cut, top or lop a tree in a
conservation area (other than a tree already
protected by a Tree Preservation Order) is
required to give the local planning authority six
weeks prior notification of his intention to do so.
Green Belts
Green belt policy in this Country is based on the
Green Belt Act 1938 (London and Home
Counties) and is interpreted by Planning Policy
Guidance note 2 January 1995. The main aim
of green belt policy is to prevent urban sprawl
by keeping land open. Green belts help to
ensure development takes place in areas
allocated in development plans. Within the
Green belt there is a presumption against
inappropriate development. Inappropriate
development includes the construction of new
buildings; exceptions are listed in the Act and in
PPG2. The re-use of buildings with suitable
safeguards may be permitted since the
openness of the green belt is not compromised
by a building already there.
Planning Agreements ( Section 106)
Section 106 of the Town and Country planning
Act 1990 was the statutory authority which
enabled local planning authorities to enter into
planning agreements with landowners to
regulate the development or use of land.
Following the passing of the Planning and
Compensation Act 1991 the original Section
106 of the 1990 Act has been entirely replaced
by new Sections 106, 106a and 106b. From
25/10/91 the power to enter into planning
agreement under the 1990 Act has been
repealed and replaced by the power to enter
into a ‘planning obligation’.
New provisions relating to planning obligations
do not affect planning agreements entered into
under original S106 of the 1990 Act. Planning
agreements can be in the nature of negative
covenants and can be enforced by the LPA
against successors in title. They are legal
agreements and can only be repealed or
modified by mutual consent of the applicant or
successor and the LPA.
The scope and content of the original section
106 agreements was determined through
discussion with the applicant and the local
planning authority prior to the submission of the
planning application. Planning permission could
only be granted after the section 106
agreements had been formalised. The
obligations required by the local planning
authority were to be reasonable and were set
out in government circular 22/83 to ensure this:
Obligation needed to enable the development to
go ahead
Payments to meet the cost of such provisions
so directly related to the project that the
development ought to be permitted without it
Designed in the case of mixed development to
secure an acceptable balance of uses.
The new section 106 enables the developer to
enter into a planning obligation which may be
done either by agreement with the authority, or
by the developer giving a unilateral undertaking.
Section 106a enables a person bound by a
planning obligation to apply to the local planning
authority for its modification or discharge.
Section 106b enables a person bound by an
obligation to appeal to the Secretary of State
where the planning authority refuse or fail to
determine an application for its modification or
discharge.
Reservoir
Administration of the Reservoirs
Act 1975
General
The Act recognises four types of person or
organisation with distinct functions and
responsibilities:
• Undertakers
• Enforcement Authority
• Qualified civil engineer
• The Secretary of State.
The flow charts on page 5 indicate some of the
main activities of these persons or
organisations.
Undertakers
The Undertakers are generally the owners or
the operators of the reservoir and have ultimate
responsibility for the safety of the reservoir.
They are required to keep a record of each
reservoir on a prescribed form (SI 1985 No
177, Schedule 2) and employ “qualified civil
engineers” for specified functions. Some of the
Undertakers’ duties concerning large raised
reservoirs are indicated on flow charts 1, 2 and
3 in section A5, and were also summarised in
Phillips (1990).
Enforcement authorities
In the 1975 Act the duties and powers of the
authorities to ensure that the legislation is
enforced have been considerably strengthened
over the 1930 Act. Phillips (1989) provided a
Statutory Controls 3
summary of the differences. Enforcement is
now dealt with by designated local authorities
which have a duty to ensure that the law is
observed and Undertakers comply with the Act.
Under the Act nearly all technical duties are
carried out by the qualified civil engineer, and
Enforcement Authority duties are mainly of an
administrative and legal nature with only a small
technical content. The Enforcement Authority’s
Statutory Controls 3 routine and principal
enforcement duties concerning large raised
reservoirs are indicated in the flow chart on
page 5.
Reservoir Act 1975 functions in Scotland have CHART 2
been devolved to the Scottish Parliament and
the Scottish Executive has the administrative Procedures for periodic inspection and supervision of measures in the interests of safety
lead there. From the same date, the functions in (Schematic only; refer to Reservoirs Act for details)
relation to Wales were devolved to the National
Assembly for Wales and its officials have the
administrative lead there.
All three executives will continue to work closely
with one another to preserve as far as possible
the coherence throughout Great Britain of
reservoir safety arrangements under the Act.

Qualified civil engineers

The design and supervision of construction, the

supervision of measures in the interests of
safety, inspection of reservoirs and the ongoing
supervision of reservoirs are the responsibility
of qualified civil engineers. A qualified civil
engineer is a civil engineer appointed to one
of the panels set up by the Secretary of State
after consultation with the Institution of Civil
Engineers. This is covered in Section 4 of
the Act. The implications of devolution for the
panels of engineers remain under consideration
at the time of publication of this Guide. Should
any significant changes to the panels be
proposed, Section 4(4) of the Act provides for
notice to be given to panel engineers.

Secretary of State

Under the Reservoirs Act 1975, the Secretary of

State has various functions in relation to:
the oversight of Enforcement Authorities (see
flow chart 4 in section A5) the appointment of
qualified civil engineer (see A3.4 above); and
the making of Statutory Instruments under the
provisions of Section 5 of the Act (see part C of
this Guide for the text of those issued to date
which are current).

Since the coming into force of the Act, the

administrative lead on reservoir safety has been
taken by the former Department of the
Environment (now the Department of the
Environment, Transport and the Regions), in
consultation with the Scottish Office and the
Welsh Office.

From 1 July 1999, the Secretary of State’s

4 Statutory Controls Statutory Controls 5


Fishery
Current legislation
The Salmon and Freshwater Fisheries Act 1975
lays down the present basic legislative
framework within which salmon and freshwater
fisheries in England and Wales are regulated.
Other important provisions are contained in the
Import of Live Fish (England and Wales) Act
1980, the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981,
the Salmon Act 1986, the Water Resources Act
1991 and the Environment Act 1995
Geographically, the current salmon and
freshwater fisheries legislation covers England
and Wales together with adjacent coastal
waters up to six miles from the coast.
The Salmon and Fresh Water Fisheries Act
1975
The Salmon and Fresh Water Fisheries Act
1975 is split into six parts, 1/3/4/5 of which are
relevant to Coombe Country Park.
Part 1 is headed ‘ Prohibition of Certain Modes
of Taking or Destroying Fish etc’ and its main
effects are to:
• Prohibit certain methods for the purpose of
taking or killing salmon, trout or freshwater
fish;
• Make it an offence, except in certain
circumstances, knowingly to take or sell
immature fish or fish which are about to
spawn;
• Make it an offence to discharge polluting
effluent which is injurious to fish, their
spawning grounds, spawn or food of fish;
and
• Prohibit certain methods of taking or
destroying fish, including explosives,
poisons and firearms.
Part 3 is titled ‘ Times of Fishing and Selling
and Exporting Fish’ and together with schedule
1, its main effects are to:
Establish close seasons and close times during
6 Statutory Controls
which fishing is generally prohibited; and
make it an offence to sell or export salmon or
trout other than rainbow trout caught in the
United kingdom during certain periods.
Part 4 is headed Fishing licences and its main
effects are to:
• Require the Environment Agency to regulate
fishing for salmon and trout by a system
of licences and, unless excused by the
Minister, to regulate fishing of fresh water
fish and eels by licences;
• Make it an offence to fish without an
appropriate licence
Part 5 is titled ‘Administration and enforcement’
and its main effects are to:
• Prohibit the introduction of any fish or spawn
of fish into inland waters unless written
consent is obtained from the Environment
Agency;
• Provide powers to water bailiffs ; and
• Provide for the prosecution of offences and
lays down penalties.
Import of Live Fish Act 1980
This Act provides the power to:
Make orders prohibiting the import, either
absolutely or except under licence, of any live
fish or eggs of fish of a species that is not
native to England and Wales and which might
compete with, displace, prey on or harm the
habitat of any freshwater fish, shellfish or
salmon;
Since the introduction of the single EU market,
the Act can no longer be used to restrict imports
from other Member States but it can be used to
prohibit the keeping or release of non-native
species.
To date, two Orders have been made to this
Act:
• The Prohibition of Keeping Live Fish (Cray-
fish) Order 1996; and
• The Prohibition of Keeping or Release of Section 47 which gives the Minister the power
Live to pat grant-in-aid in respect of the Agency’s
fisheries function; and
Fish ( Specified Species) Order 1998.
Coombe Country Park is licenced to hold Section103(3) amends the Act to provide for the
Zander Stizostedion lucioperca under making of byelaws regulating fisheries
restriction.
Section 104 provides for the introduction of
The Wildlife and Countryside Act fixed penalties for fisheries offences;
Section 14 of the Act makes it an offence to: Section 105 and schedule 15 gives effect to a
number of other provisions relevant to fisheries
Release or allow to escape into the wild any including the compulsory fitting of gratings to
animal of a kind which is not ordinarily resident fishery intakes and outfalls.
in and is not a regular visitor to Great Britain in
a wild state; Wildlife and Environmental Conservation
SSSI Citation & Site Management agreement
Release or allow to escape into the wild any are show in appendices 4 and 5.
animal included in Part 1 to Schedule 9 of the
Act which lists various non-native species which
have become established in the wild, including
zander, catfish and certain species of crayfish.
The Water Resources Act 1991
The main provisions of the Water Resources
Act 1991 that relate to fisheries are;
Sections 115/116/142 , which provide for the
making and amendment of orders, and gives
Ministers powers to modify enactments relating
to the Environment Agency.
Sections 210-212 and Schedules 25/26 confer
powers on the Agency to make and enforce
byelaws, set out the purpose for which fishery
byelaws may be made, the procedures that
must be followed in making them and provide
for the payment of compensation to those
disadvantaged by certain byelaws.
The Environment Act 1995
The Environment Act 1995, which established
the Environment Agency, includes the following
provisions on salmon and freshwater fisheries.
Section 6(7) which defines the area in which the
Agency carries out it duites;
Section 13 which provides for the establishment
of a rregional and local fishery advisory
committees;
Statutory Controls 7
Site Grade

Main Abbey Complex 1

Gate piers 2
East Lodge 2
West Lodge 2*
Stable block 2
Garden wall 40m N/W of front garden 2
Steps 2
Menagerie/Woodlands wall 2
Tennis court 2*
Boat house 2
Menagerie 2*
2 Cottages and Out buildings 30m from N front 2

Grade 1 - These buildings are of exceptional interest (2% of listing)

Grade 2* - These are particularly important buildings of more than special interest, but not in the
outstanding class (4% of buildings)

Grade 2 - These are buildings of special interest, but are not sufficiently N important to be counted
among the elite.

8 Statutory Controls