Know your Use Class - 2005

Its official title is rather dry – the Town and Country Planning (Use Classes) (Amendment) (England) Order 2005 – but the Government announcement about the Order’s intended effect is rather more colourful.

The Minister for Planning Keith Hill indicated that the changes to the Use Classes Order 1987 are required to tackle high street blight – "These changes will give local authorities more control to manage town centre development while minimising the negative impacts of a proliferation of pubs, takeaways or nightclubs."

The amendments to the Use Classes Order have focused particularly on the potential for improving Use Classes on the high street by removing the ability of bars, takeaways and restaurants to change Use without planning permission.