Part 18 Class A: Development under local or private Acts or orders

Class A of Part 18 can grant planning permission for development authorised by a local or private Act of Parliament, an order approved by both Houses of Parliament, or an order made under sections 14 or 16 of the Harbours Act 1964. The instrument must specifically identify both the nature of the development and the land on which it may be carried out.

The right is relevant to a particular authorised project. It does not allow any work simply because an Act or order exists.

When detailed plans need prior approval

Before constructing, erecting, altering or extending a building, bridge, aqueduct, pier or dam, or forming or altering access to a highway used by vehicles, the developer must first obtain the appropriate authority’s approval of detailed plans and specifications under A.1. Paragraph A.2 limits the grounds on which that approval can be refused or conditioned.

Check the enabling instrument and other consents

Article 3(7) says that where the authorising Act or order makes the project subject to another consent or approval, the development is generally not treated as authorised until that approval is obtained. An exception applies where an Act passed or order made after 1st July 1948 provides otherwise. The terms of the particular instrument therefore matter.

Article 3(6) treats Class A of Part 18 differently from most GPDO rights for certain trunk or classified road access and visibility issues. That exception does not remove the Class A.1 requirement for prior approval of detailed plans where its listed works are proposed. An Article 4 direction may also need checking, subject to the qualified protection in Article 4(2)(d) for specified post-1948 authorisations.

Full wording and source

Read the current wording of Schedule 2 Part 18 and the general limits in Article 3. This section covers England. Wales has a separate GPDO.

Planning Geek can advise on the planning route and the authority responsible for prior approval. Contact us with the authorising instrument and drawings.

Text of Class A

The wording below is reproduced for convenience. Check the current official text linked above.

Class A – development under local or private Acts or Order

Permitted development

A. Development authorised by—

(a) a local or private Act of Parliament,

(b) an order approved by both Houses of Parliament, or

(c) an order under section 14 or 16 of the Harbours Act 1964 (orders for securing harbour efficiency etc, and orders conferring powers for improvement, construction etc of harbours),

which designates specifically the nature of the development authorised and the land upon which it may be carried out.

Conditions

A.1 Development is not permitted by Class A if it consists of or includes—
(a) the erection, construction, alteration or extension of any building, bridge, aqueduct, pier or dam; or

(b) the formation, laying out or alteration of a means of access to any highway used by vehicular traffic,

unless the prior approval of the appropriate authority to the detailed plans and specifications is first obtained.

A.2 The prior approval referred to in paragraph A.1 is not to be refused by the appropriate authority nor are conditions to be imposed unless they are satisfied that—

(a) the development (other than the provision of or works carried out to a dam) ought to be and could reasonably be carried out elsewhere on the land; or

(b) the design or external appearance of any building, bridge, aqueduct, pier or dam would injure the amenity of the neighbourhood and is reasonably capable of modification to avoid such injury.

Interpretation of Class A

A.3 For the purposes of Class A, “appropriate authority” means—

(a) in Greater London or a metropolitan county, the local planning authority;

(b) in a National Park, outside a metropolitan county, the county planning authority; and

(c) in any other case, the district planning authority.

Explore GPDO Part 18

Page first published: 16th August 2023. Page updated: 24th September 2026.