Explanatory note

This Order amends the Town and Country Planning General Development Order 1977.

Class III of Schedule 1 to the 1977 Order, as amended by S.I. 1981/245, grants planning permission for certain changes of use by reference to classes of use specified in the Town and Country Planning (Use Classes) Order 1972. The 1972 Order is now replaced by the Town and Country Planning (Use Classes) Order 1987, and this Order substitutes a new Class III of Schedule 1 to the 1977 Order based on the new classes of use set out in the 1987 Order.

The new Class III permits premises used for the sale of food and drink (class A3 of the 1987 Order) or for the sale or display of motor vehicles to be used as shops (as specified in class A1 of the 1987 Order). It also permits certain changes between classes B1 (business), B2 (general industrial) and B8 (storage and distribution) provided the amount of floorspace in the building used for the purposes of the undertaking does not exceed 235 square metres.

The significant changes made by the 1987 Order reflected in this Order are the creation of the new food and drinks class (A3) and the creation of the new wider business class (B1) comprising office uses, use for research and industrial processes formerly within the light industrial class. As a result the scope of planning permission granted by Class III of the 1977 Order is wider.