The Town and Country Planning (Former RAF Airfield Wethersfield) (Accommodation for Asylum-Seekers etc.) Special Development Order 2024

2 Interpretation

(1) In this Order— “the 2015 Order” means the Town and Country (General Permitted Development) (England) Order 2015; “adjoining owner or occupier” means any owner or occupier of any land adjoining the Order land; “approved document” means any document listed in Schedule 1 (documents submitted by the Home Secretary), subject to sub-paragraph (2) of condition 19 (full OMP: establishment and review), or any document in respect of which the Secretary of State has given subsequent approval, and where the Secretary of State— gives subsequent approval in respect of a replacement for an approved document, the approved document is the document in respect of which such subsequent approval was most recently given; gives variation approval in relation to an approved document, the approved document is the version of that document that reflects the cumulative effect of all the amendments to it in respect of which the Secretary of State has given such approval, and if both subsequent approval as described in paragraph (a) and variation approval have been given in relation to an approved document, the approved document is the document or version that reflects the cumulative effect of all approvals, of either kind, that have been given, and references to any particular approved document are to be construed according to the same principles; “authorised development” has the meaning given in article 4(1) (grant of temporary planning permission); “CEMP” means a construction and environmental management plan submitted and approved in accordance with condition 13 (construction and environmental management plan); “construction” includes installation, provision, operation, maintenance, improvement or alteration, decommissioning or removal (demolition), or any other building or engineering operations, and “constructed” is to be construed accordingly; “contamination expert” means a person— with suitable knowledge, skills and experience in relation to the assessment and mitigation of relevant contamination risks, and who is a registered Specialist in Land Condition, or holds another qualification indicating a similar level of expertise in relation to such risks; “existing” means, in relation to anything on the Order land, that it was present on the Order land on 10th April 2024; “full OMP” means an operational management plan submitted and approved in accordance with sub-paragraph (1) of condition 19; “the Home Secretary” means the Secretary of State for the Home Department; “initial OMP” means the initial operational management plan for the authorised development, which comprises the documents listed in Part 2 of Schedule 1; “the Map” means the document numbered Figure 2 in Part 1 of Schedule 1; “Multi-Agency Forum” means the group to be established by the Home Secretary under condition 25 (Multi-Agency Forum); “Order land” has the meaning given in article 1(4); “reinstatement works” means development for which planning permission is granted by article 4(1)(c); “relevant contamination risk” means a risk to human health or the environment posed by hazardous substances including gases, vapour concentrations and radiological contamination in, on, under or over the Order land; “relevant duty” means a duty imposed by an enactment (other than this Order) that applies to the Home Secretary when the Home Secretary carries out relevant functions; “relevant functions” means providing, or arranging for the provision of, accommodation and support under section 4 (accommodation), section 95 (persons for whom support may be provided) or section 98 (temporary support) of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999; “relevant ordnance risk” means a risk to human health or the environment associated with the presence of unexploded ordnance in, on, under or over the Order land; “relevant person” means a person who— is male, is at least 18 years old and no more than 64 years old, has no dependants within the meaning of section 94(1) of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 (interpretation of Part VI), and is— an asylum-seeker within the meaning of that section, or otherwise receiving accommodation or support under section 4 of that Act; “relevant risk” means a relevant contamination risk or a relevant ordnance risk; “remedial step” means any step, the taking of which by the Home Secretary secures compliance with a duty imposed on the Home Secretary, by an enactment (other than this Order) or a rule of common law, to prevent or mitigate a relevant risk; “resident service user” means a service user who is accommodated on the Order land; “the Secretary of State” means, except in the definition of “Home Secretary”, the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government; “service user” means a person in respect of whom the Home Secretary carries out relevant functions; “site operator” means the person designated as such under condition 1 (site operator); “subsequent approval” means the Secretary of State’s approval, after the date on which this Order is made, in respect of a plan, report, scheme or programme that this Order requires or permits the Home Secretary to submit for the Secretary of State’s approval, where— the plan, report, scheme or programme is submitted for such approval for the first time, or approval is sought in respect of a replacement for such a plan, report, scheme or programme under sub-paragraph (3) of condition 2 (approved documents); “unsuitability criterion” means any of the criteria specified, on pages 17 to 22 of the Home Office publication “Allocation of asylum accommodation policy”, version 11.0, dated 12th February 2024, as making a person potentially unsuitable (either generally, or in certain circumstances) to be accommodated on an “ex-MoD site”, or to share a room; “variation approval” means the Secretary of State’s approval in respect of an amendment, proposed by the Home Secretary, to the details of a matter set out in an approved document. (2) A reference in this Order to a numbered “condition” is to the paragraph that is so numbered in Schedule 3 (conditions subject to which planning permission is granted). (3) A reference in this Order to the height of a building or other structure is a reference to its height when measured from ground level, and in this paragraph “ground level” means— (a) the level of the surface of the ground adjoining the building or structure; (b) if the level of the surface of the ground where the building or structure is situated or is to be situated is not uniform, the level of the highest part of the surface of the ground adjacent to it.