The Planning Inspectorate- Wales

Guidance for S17 applications and S18 appeals

Disregarding the acquisition and the underlying scheme (the "no scheme world")

Section 17(4) of the 1961 Act requires the decision maker to certify the alternative development (if any) for which planning permission would have been granted "in respect of the land in question, if it were not proposed to be acquired by an authority possessing compulsory purchase powers". For this reason, the purpose for which land is being acquired must always be disregarded, as must any other purpose involving public acquisition. It is not sufficient to ignore the fact of acquisition-the underlying public purpose of the scheme must also be disregarded. This principle was settled by the House of Lords in Grampian Regional Council and others -v- Secretary of State for Scotland and others [1983] 1 WLR 1340.

Section 17(7) of the 1961 Act provides that a certificate may not be refused for a particular class of development solely on the grounds that it would be contrary to the relevant development plan. The purpose of this provision is to avoid the whole purpose of the certificate system being defeated, where land is allocated in the development plan for the use for which it is being acquired. It follows that the decision maker must ignore development plan policies with no function beyond the acquisition scheme-for example, policies that earmark land for a road or school. But he may take account of broader policies if the classes of alternative development suggested by the applicant or appellant would have been objectionable in the "no scheme world".