Reply interwoven with original for context.
On 04 January 2006 15:58, Julie Richardson wrote:
Before you get too carried away, section 53 of the 2004 Act
gives the "appropriate authority" power - through regulations
- to make provision for the payment of a charge or fee to a
local planning authority in respect of the performance of any
of their functions. The appropriate authority for England is
our very own First Secretary of State who has made only one
set of Regulations since these powers came into force in
August 2004. The link to the relevant SI is below but it
does not cover applications for tree works.
http://www.opsi.gov.uk/si/si2005/20050843.htm
So this is a long-winded way of saying that I don't think you
have the power to charge for this service. You may wish to seek your
own legal advice!
In seeking that advice, you might like to mention section 93 of the
Local Government Act 2003, which gives a discretionary power to charge
for all sorts of things to a 'Best value authority'. I believe a number
of authorities have made use of this to charge for pre-application
meetings in relation to development.
Section 95 is also interesting in these days of falling income. I've
been wondering if we can start providing arboricultural advice on a
commercial basis. I believe the "appropriate person" has made
regulations giving us power to trade as a result of our CPA results.
--
Chris Hastie
Strategy Officer (Arboriculture)
Warwick District Council
http://www.warwickdc.gov.uk/trees
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