Site Licence meaning

Haytop Country Park Ltd v Amber Valley Borough Council [2025] EWCA Civ 1442 What are the practical implications of this case? The ruling underlines that site licensing is to be undertaken on the basis that it dovetails with the planning system. Licence conditions cannot expand, override, or undermine the limits of extant planning permissions, nor the results of planning enforcement; together, these create the ‘planning baseline’ which the licensing authority is both entitled and obliged to factor in. Where an enforcement notice has conclusively found that operational works (for example, hardstandings or terraces) are unlawful and must be taken up, a site licence ought not to sanction plots reliant upon, or effectively reinstating, those works. An operator wishing to move away from the planning baseline must pursue a new application under the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 (TCPA 1990), rather than seeking to rely on licence conditions. Class B rights under the Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) (England) Order 2015, SI 2015/596 only arise where...

AP Wireless v On Tower UK Ltd [2024] UKUT 00429 (LC) What are the practical implications of this case? This decision clarifies that an assignee of an electronic communications agreement entered into by licence before 28 December 2017 will take the benefit of the Code rights granted by that arrangement, yet will not, merely by completing an assignment, become a contracting party. The rationale is that, although the benefit transfers on assignment, the corresponding burden under the agreement does not automatically move with it. To attain party status, the assignee must effectively step into the assignor’s position for all purposes, in all respects, acquiring every advantage under the agreement while also assuming every burden and obligation. In practice, this requires the assignee to covenant with either the assignor or the Site Provider to perform, and to be bound by, the agreement’s obligations, or alternatively to give an indemnity. Once the assignee accepts both the benefit and the burden of the agreement in this way, they will be treated as...

AP Wireless II (UK) Ltd v On Tower (UK) Ltd [2025] EWCA Civ 971 What are the practical implications of this case? The Court of Appeal has provided fresh guidance on managing telecoms arrangements when reviewing agreements already in place. The crucial first step is to establish whether an existing arrangement is a lease or a licence and, accordingly, whether the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954 (LTA 1954) or the Electronic Communications Code (the ‘Code’) applies when considering renewal or termination. For those representing Operators or Site Providers who intend to commence the renewal or bring their current telecommunications arrangements to an end, it is essential to determine at the outset whether the arrangement is a lease or a licence. A licence falls within the Code and requires service of the prescribed notice in accordance with the Code. In light of this ruling, arrangements described as being for a ‘minimum term’ and thereafter capable of termination on notice must be treated as licences, with the consequences of those...

Trespass Trespass describes the unauthorised presence of a person upon land in another’s possession. Ownership of land extends to the airspace above it, so any incursion into that airspace will, in principle, amount to a trespass. In Baron Bernstein, an aeroplane passing overhead to take photographs was held not to trespass, on the footing that the landowner’s rights over airspace reach only the height needed for the ordinary use and enjoyment of the land and its structures. However, in Kelsen, a sign projecting just eight inches into the airspace above the land was found to be a trespass. In Anchor Brewhouse, the High Court confirmed that the problems created by aircraft, etc., are wholly distinct from an invasion of airspace by a structure erected on adjoining land, where the legal position is more certain and settled. The latter is a trespass in law. Remedies The adjoining landowner may claim damages and obtain an injunction where appropriate. As trespass is actionable per se in law, an injunction and...

Wayleave and the Electronic Communications Code Over the past ten years, the telecommunications sector has expanded at a remarkable rate, driven by the pressure to deliver reliable, far-reaching communications networks. Operators such as BT, Vodafone and Sky cannot roll out these networks without access to install equipment on privately owned sites. They also need the freedom to modernise apparatus to match rapid technological progress, and to share kit so they can satisfy rising demand and preserve consumer choice. While enabling operators to work efficiently is essential, site providers will equally want robust safeguards for their own interests. This Practice Note highlights provisions that can be built into a telecommunications wayleave to strengthen the site provider’s position... A telecommunications wayleave agreement A wayleave is a consent or licence through which a person with an interest in land permits another party to exercise a right over that land. It is distinct from an easement or a lease. A wayleave does not create an interest in the land, does not...

Protected areas and protected sites Under section 55(1) of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 (TCPA 1990), development is taken to include carrying out building, engineering, mining or other works in, on, over or beneath land, as well as any material change to the use of buildings or other land. Anyone who has acquired, or is considering acquiring, land for development, or who plans to undertake development activity, must first assess whether the land is a protected site or supports protected species. It is the developer’s duty to establish whether proposed works could impact a protected area or site. They should check, in advance, whether their proposals are likely to affect any such areas or sites at all. Protected areas and protected sites include: national parks—areas designated for their natural beauty and for the opportunities they provide for open-air recreation, with regard to their character and their relationship to centres of population. See Practice Note: Biodiversity and nature—protected sites Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty—tracts...

The Contract comprises the completed Standard Building Contract Without Quantities for use in Scotland 2016 published by the SBCC subject to the following amendments: Recitals and Articles updated: contractor to provide a master programme and Schedule of Information Requirements; CDP responsibility accepted; Principal Contractor duties priced; arbitration deleted; Schedule of Amendments prevails; Third Party Agreements duties. Contract Particulars: arbitration entries removed; Rectification Period set at 12 months; fluctuations and certain PII/guarantee entries deleted. Conditions: key definitions revised (Practical Completion, Copyright Material, Design sub‑contractors, Funder, Site); Scottish jurisdiction; approvals mean principles only; entire agreement; variations in writing. Design/materials/programming: contractor accepts ER/CP; quality and non‑deleterious materials; programme reporting; site risk; drawings/info supply; tighter discrepancy notices. Time/defects: mitigate and advise on delay; narrower Relevant Events; Practical Completion clarified; stronger rectification, consequential damage and indemnity; phased as‑built/occupation information. IP/confidentiality/BIM: broader licence, moral rights waivers and delivery; confidentiality reinforced; BIM where adopted. Management/sub‑contracting: access, approved Site Manager, meetings; prescribed sub‑contracts; collateral warranties/third‑party rights; CDM duties; insurance...

1 Definitions Completion – denotes the Date of Entry or, if later, the day the Price is paid and the purchase of the Property [ and Business ] is finalised under the Missives; Business – denotes the [ insert number ] [ star, ] [ , hotel ] [ , restaurant ] [ , café ] [ , bar ] [ , public house ] enterprise conducted by the Seller at the Property, providing [ [ describe accommodation type eg rooms, apartment or hotel ] ] [ , the sale of food and beverage ] [ , weddings ] [ , conference centre ] [ , leisure centre ] [ , spa ] [ , golf course ] [ , hairdresser ] [ , on-site staff accommodation ] together with all other activities, including those ancillary, incidental to, or connected with such business; Conclusion Date – means, unless stated otherwise, the first date on which the Missives bring about a concluded contract; Date of...

Crane oversail licence Permitting a tower crane to be used in relation to the Works at [ insert ] This Deed is dated [ date ] and made between: Parties [ insert name of adjoining owner ] (company registration number [ insert ]), with its registered office at [ insert ] (' Adjoining Owner '); [ insert name of adjoining tenant ] (company registration number [ insert ]), whose registered office is at [ insert ] (' Adjoining Tenant '); [ insert name of contractor ] (company registration number [ insert ]), whose registered office is at [ insert ] (' Contractor '); and [ insert name of developer ] (company registration number [ insert ]), whose registered office is at [ insert ] (' Developer '). Recitals The Developer has appointed the Contractor to undertake and complete the Works at the Site. The Adjoining Owner holds the legal title to the Adjoining Property [...

Paragraph 7(2) of Schedule 4 to the Electricity Act 1989 (EA 1989) states that: When a right granted by a wayleave is exercised and damage is caused to land or moveables, any person with an interest in that land or those moveables may claim compensation from the licence holder for the damage. Likewise, where using such a right disrupts someone’s enjoyment of any land or moveables, that individual may recover compensation from the licence holder for the disturbance. The EA 1989 empowers entities permitted to generate, transport or supply electricity to obtain a wayleave to place an electric line on, under or over private land, together with access rights for inspection, maintenance and replacement...