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The Town and Country Planning General Development Order 1959
In 1959 we saw a new version of the GDO produced. This contained forms and certificates to be used during any application. The actual 1959 order was rather brief. It was intended to be used in conjunction with the previous version of 1950 and the amendment in 1958. Combined it was also known as ‘The Town and Country Planning General Development Orders, 1950 to 1959‘.
This order applied to the whole of England and Wales.
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The 1959 Order therefore needs to be read with the Town and Country Planning General Development Order 1950 and the 1958 amending Order. Those instruments continued to form part of the combined framework until 1963.
SI 1959/1286 was laid before Parliament on 29th July 1959 and came into operation on 16th August 1959.
You can view the original version here.
Two further amending Orders followed in 1960. Both amended the 1950 Order within the combined GDO framework, and both are available below.
SI 1960/283 – The Town and Country Planning General Development (Amendment) Order 1960 – download here
SI 1960/1476 – The Town and Country Planning General Development (Amendment No. 2) Order 1960 – download here
This order was replaced by The Town and Country Planning General Development Order 1963, except articles 3 to 6.
1959 in the GPDO timeline
1959 GDO updated: 24th September 2026