# The Town and Country Planning (Mayor of London) Order 2008, Article 7: Direction that the Mayor is to be the local planning authority


(1) Subject to paragraphs (4) and (5), the Mayor may give to the local planning authority a direction under section 2A of the 1990 Act if he considers that—
(a) the impact criterion is met;
(b) the development or any of the issues raised by the development to which the application relates has significant effects that are likely to affect more than one London Borough; and
(c) there are sound planning reasons for issuing a direction.
(1A) For the purposes of paragraph (1), the impact criterion is met if—
(a) for a Category 3J application, the development or any of the issues raised by the development to which the application relates would have an impact on the implementation of the spatial development strategy;
(b) in any other case, the development or any of the issues raised by the development to which the PSI application relates is of such a nature or scale that it would have a significant impact on the implementation of the spatial development strategy.
(2) The direction must state that the Mayor is to act as the local planning authority for the purpose of—
(a) determining the application; and
(b) where relevant, determining any connected application.
(3) In deciding whether to give a direction the Mayor must take account –
(a) where the application relates to development which falls within Category 1A or Category 3J of the Schedule, of the extent to which the council of the London Borough in which the development is or is to be situated is achieving, and has achieved the applicable development plan targets for new housing, including affordable housing;
(b) in relation to all applications, of the extent to which the council of the London Borough is achieving, and has achieved any other targets set out in the development plan which are relevant to the subject matter of the application.
(4) Where an application for development which falls within Category 1A or Category 3J of the Schedule is referred to the Mayor, paragraph (1)(b) does not apply.
(5) A direction under paragraph (1) may not be given after—
(a) in the case of a Category 3J application, the end of the period referred to in article 5(1B)(b)(i);
(b) where paragraph (6) applies, the end of the period of 14 days beginning with the date on which the Mayor received the applicant’s request;
(c) in any other case, the end of the period referred to in article 5(1)(b)(i).
(6) This paragraph applies where—
(a) the authority has failed to provide the statement referred to in article 5(1)(a)(iii) within the relevant period specified in article 34(2) of the DMPO; and
(b) the applicant has requested the Mayor in writing to give a direction under section 2A of the 1990 Act.
(7) In giving reasons for making a direction the Mayor must specify how the matters set out in paragraph (3) have affected his decision.
(8) A local planning authority must place on Part 2 of the register required to be kept by article 40 of the DMPO (register of applications and biodiversity gain plans) a copy of any direction it receives under this article within 14 days of receiving it.

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Source: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2008/580/article/7 (the official version)
Page: https://openlegislation.uk/town-and-country-planning-mayor-of-london-order-2008/article-7
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives.