Dress uniform (often referred to as Full Dress Uniform, to distinguish it from Mess Dress, and from semi-formal uniforms, such as the British Army's Service Dress), is the most formal military uniform, typically worn at ceremonies, official receptions, and other special occasions; with order insignias and full size medals. The uniform design may be distinct to a service (Marines, Army, Navy, Air Force, etc.), or to a Regiment or Branch of Service. Although they are often brightly colored, and adorned with ornaments (gold braid, lanyards, etc.), most originated as practical uniforms that, with the adoption of even more practical uniforms, have been relegated to ceremonial functions.
Although many services use the term dress generically for uniforms, allowing it to refer to more modern combat uniforms, with suitable modifiers (eg., the British Army's obsolete Battle Dress (BD), and the US Army's obsolete Battle Dress Uniform (BDU), the term Dress Uniform, without a prefixed modifier, is always assumed to refer to the full, ceremonial dress.
United Kingdom
British Army
A parade by officer cadets at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst
Most of the various uniforms worn by the British Army today, were, historically, combat uniforms. At the start of the 19th century, British Army Regiments of Foot, trained to fight in the manner dictated by a weapon (the musket) which demanded close proximity to the target, were not concerned with camouflage, and wore red coats (scarlet for officers and sergeants). The British infantry literally was a thin red line. Rifle regiments, fighting as skirmishers, and equipped with rifles, were more concerned with camouflage however, and wore dark green uniforms. Light Infantry regiments were also trained as skirmishers but wore red uniforms with green shakos. Whereas the infantry generally wore polished brass buttons and white carrying equipment, the Rifles wore black.
Heavy dragoons and Royal Engineers wore red (or later scarlet) coats. Most of the remainder of the British Army, however, including the Royal Regiment of Artillery, hussars, all but one Lancer regiment, and various support elements wore dark blue uniforms. These varied greatly in detail according to the arm of service or in many cases the individual regiment. From the Crimea War on, a narrow red stripe (piping) down the outside of each trouser leg was common to all red coated infantry units. Cavalry however wore stripes of regimental colour (white, yellow, blue/grey etc)on their riding breeches. Scottish Highland regiments did not wear trousers, favouring the kilt, and Scottish Lowland regiments adopted tartan trews. All Scottish regiments wore doublets of distinctive cut instead of the tunics of English, Irish and Welsh units.
Two Warrant Officers of the Bermuda Regiment in Number 1 Dress. Their uniforms are distinguished from the British Army's by the red cuffs and collars, but are only worn in exceptional situations in winter months by certain soldiers.[1]
Beginning with the Second Anglo-Afghan War of 1878, the British Army began adopting light khaki uniforms for Tropical service. This innovation arose from experience fighting irregular forces in India, say during the Indian Mutiny and Africa during the Anglo-Zulu War, the invention of smokeless gunpowder and the increasing effectiveness and usage of rifles. In 1902 a darker shade of Service Dress (SD) was adopted for field and ordinary use in Britain itself. The scarlet, blue and rifle green uniforms were retained for wear as full dress on parade and walking-out dress when off duty. When khaki web carrying equipment was introduced, the earlier, white or black leather carrying equipment was reduced to just the belt (and sometimes a bayonet frog), for wear with the dress uniform. As with the earlier uniforms, the officers' uniforms differed in quality and detail from those worn by the Other Ranks. Officers purchased their own dress uniforms from regimentally approved Saville Row tailors while other ranks were issued all orders of dress from government stocks.
With the outbreak of World War I in August 1914 all full dress and other coloured uniforms ceased to be worn by the British Army. After 1919 they were restored to the Household Cavalry and Foot Guards for ceremonial purposes but not to the bulk of the army. Officers were authorised to wear full dress for certain special occasions such as Court levees (formal presentations to the Monarch) and it was customary to wear these uniforms at social functions such as weddings. By 1928 bands were wearing full dress on occasions where they were not parading with the remainder of the regiment (who had only khaki service dress). The pre-1914 dress uniforms were still held in store and occasionally reappeared for historic displays. However there was no serious attempt to make them general issue again, primarily for reasons of expense. When (khaki) Battle Dress (BD) uniforms, which had a short blouse instead of a tunic, were adopted immediately prior to the Second World War, the older khaki Service Dress became a smart uniform for wear on the streets, and on moderately formal occasions.
After World War II the coloured, full dress uniforms were again reintroduced for ceremonial occasions by the Brigade of Guards and to a limited extent by regimental bands. Officers (and later senior non-commissioned officers) resumed wearing mess uniforms in traditional colours from about 1956 on. These are still worn, although regimental amalgamations have led to numerous changes from the pre-war models.
The BD uniform was eventually replaced in 1961 by green, cotton combat uniforms. After World War II the design of the Other Ranks' BD blouses had been modified for wearing collared shirts with ties (like the officers' pattern), and was used for a time, around the barracks, but eventually disposed of completely.
The red tunic uniforms worn by British infantry at Rorke's Drift painted by Alphonse de Neuville would soon be replaced in the field by khaki, and relegated to ceremonial use.
With the limited exceptions (Guards, bands, the Essex Yeomanry, The Rifles and a few others) noted, the unique regimental full dress uniforms finally disappeared after 1939. In most regiments they were replaced by a generic dark blue uniform known as No 1 Dress. This dated back to plain "patrol" uniforms worn by officers prior to 1914 as an informal "undress" uniform. An early version had been worn by some units in the 1937 Coronation of King George VI but had not been made general issue at the time. In the form adopted after World War II, most regiments were distinguished only by coloured piping on the shoulder straps, coloured hat bands, buttons and badges. However Scottish regiments retained their kilts or trews as well as the distinctive doublets (in "piper green" or dark blue) of the former scarlet uniform. Rifles had all dark green uniforms and cavalry retained a number of special features such as the crimson trousers of the 11th Hussars or the quartered caps of lancer regiments. A white, lightweight tunic (No 3 Dress) was also authorised for use in the Tropics, or during the summer months in warmer temperate climates (such as Bermuda). The blue "home service" helmets were not worn as part of the No 1 dress uniform, except by members of some bands or corps of drums which retained their old full dress uniforms, at regimental expense. English Rifle regiments were amalgamated into the Royal Green Jackets, which continued to wear a dark green dress uniform, and black buttons and belts. Recent changes have brought the Royal Green Jackets and The Light Infantry together into a single regiment The Rifles, which continues to wear dark green.
Berets were introduced initially into the Royal Tank Corps in the First World War and their use became more widespread in the British Army during and after the Second World War to replace side caps for wear with combat uniforms when protective headgear was not being worn. Originally, khaki was the standard colour for all units, but specialist units adopted coloured berets to distinguish themselves. For example Airborne forces adopted a maroon or red beret. This has since been adopted by many other parachute units around the world. The Commandos adopted a green beret. The Special Air Service (SAS) initially adopted a white beret quickly changing this to a beige or sand coloured one. From 1944 they wore the Maroon Airborne forces beret but the beige beret was re-adopted following the re-formation of the Regular SAS in Malaya.
Changing of the Guard, Buckingham Palace
Khaki was replaced as a generic colour for berets after the war by dark blue, and this is the colour worn by those units not authorised to use a distinctively coloured beret.
Berets fall mostly outside the scope of this article as a peaked cap, with a coloured hat band, is intended to be worn with the No 1 Dress uniform, berets are the most common form of headdress seen with other orders of dress and are worn in No1 and 2 dress by some Regiments and Corps (For a full list see British Army Uniforms). A khaki, peaked cap may also be worn by officers in some units with the No 2 khaki service dress.
The blue or green No 1 Dress was never universally adopted after its initial introduction in 1947. The reason was mainly one of economy, although it was sometimes criticised as being too similar to police and other civilian uniforms - lacking the immediately recognisable military status of both scarlet and khaki. Khaki No 2 dress being the most usual order of dress for parades and formal occasions.
As noted above, the practice of issuing other ranks in line regiments with full sets of both service dress and dress uniforms effectively ended in 1914 and was never completely returned to. Today, with the exceptions noted above, full dress or No 1 Dress uniforms are only held in limited quantities as common stock, and issued only to detachments on occasional special ceremonial occasions. Practices do however vary between units and traditional items of uniform are more likely to appear where tradition is particularly strong. The Royal Military Academy Sandhurst holds dark blue No 1 dress uniforms for the use of its cadets and the Royal Military Police retain this order of dress for general issue.
U.S. Marine Corps
The Marine Corps has a dress blue uniform, in addition to their green service uniform which is part of a long line of historical Marine Corps uniforms dating back to the American Revolution. The most formal of a Marine's uniforms outside of the elaborate evening dress uniforms of officers and senior enlisted, it is often referred to as "Dress Blues", due to its color (as distinguished from the green and khaki service uniforms), and can be worn in many forms. It is the only uniform of the United States military to use all of the colors of the nation's flag.
Dress Blue "A" has a long sleeve choker-collar midnight blue outer blouse, white barracks cover, with all medals and ribbons. Enlisted coats have a red trim and more buttons down the middle of the coat than officers.
Dress Blue "B" is the same as "A", but ribbons and marksmanship badges are worn instead of medals. Dress Blue "A" (with medals worn) is strictly reserved for official ceremonies, while Dress Blue "B" may be worn on leave or liberty.
Dress Blue "C" is the dress blue uniform worn with the long sleeve khaki shirt (without coat). Ribbons and badges may be worn.
Dress Blue "D" is the dress blue uniform worn with the short sleeve khaki shirt (without coat). Ribbons and badges may be worn
All the blue uniforms have the same trousers, cover, and black shoes. Officers, Staff Noncommissioned Officers, and Noncommissioned Officers wear blood stripes on their trousers. Blood stripes are 1.25" in width for NCOs and SNCOs, 1.5" for officers. General officers wear dark blue trousers in the same color as the coat, while all other ranks wear medium/sky-blue trousers.
A sword may be worn when the individual is in command of troops in formation—the Mameluke sword for officers, the NCO sword for NCOs and SNCOs. The sword is worn with the Sam Browne belt; the shoulder strap is worn only by officers with the blue coat. The Marine Corps is currently the only branch of the United States military which regularly allows enlisted members to carry a sword.
Prior to 1998, certain ceremonial Marine units, such as the Silent Drill Platoon, wore a blue/white dress uniform in which white trousers were substituted for blue while performing ceremonial functions. The blue/white version is now an authorized summer uniform for officers and SNCOs.
Another uniform, the obsolete Dress White uniform, was a white version of the standard dress coat and trousers, and resembled the Navy's Officer/CPO dress whites. No blood stripes were authorized, white shoes were worn, and SNCOs wore white and gold rank insignia. This uniform was superseded by the Blue/White Dress uniform in 2000.
Saturday, August 28, 2010
Mode series
The Mode series is a quartet of novels by Piers Anthony. Like many of Anthony’s other fictional works, it explores themes of violence, the abuse of power, sexism and male dominance, gender roles, the environment, integrity and personal honor, sapient animal life, parallel and alternative evolution, space travel, alternate dimensions, paradox, obscure concepts in physics and mathematics, sexual assault and abuse, child and adolescent sexuality, and suicide.
Though initially marketed as fantasy, the Mode series is similar to the Incarnations of Immortality and the Apprentice Adept series, blending fantasy and science fiction
Mode theory
Mode, in the series, is another word for "reality" or "universe." The Virtual Mode is like a three-dimensional plane that cuts across many realities. It requires five points, represented both by anchor modes and anchor persons, to hold it in place. When someone hears the call of the Virtual Mode, he may reach out with his mind and set his anchor point, thereby becoming an anchor person. When two or more persons act in tandem to attach the Virtual Mode, both will become anchors. Only anchor persons may travel freely on the Virtual Mode; other travelers must remain in contact with the anchors lest they become lost in one of the non-anchor modes. In addition, only objects from anchor modes may be transported on the Virtual Mode; any other materials will remain in their mode of origin. Once the anchor point is fixed, mode travelers may step in and out of the Virtual Mode at that point, thereby being able to interact fully in the anchor reality. Anchor persons may only travel ten feet across non-anchor modes before crossing the border into the next reality. Though each mode is only ten feet deep, it is infinitely wide; anchor persons may travel as far as they like to the side as long as they don’t cross the border. Each reality is like an individual sheet of mica, and when each individual plane is placed next to others, together they form the whole Virtual Mode. Each mode has its own rules which determine which aspects of science and magic will work there.
Only the death or purposeful release of an anchor person can free an anchor point. When that happens, the Virtual Mode is unstable until another person invokes their anchor. Few people are able to sense the Virtual Mode; only those who can may become anchor persons. In the series, those who invoke the Virtual Mode are typically individuals who have some great need for change in, or escape from, their current situation that only access to the Virtual Mode will provide. In addition, the Chip that invokes the Virtual Mode has different settings which determine the realities that will be included in any given Virtual Mode. Though it can be set to include only modes populated by human beings, the Virtual Mode in the novels is set instead to include sapience of any type, including non-living beings such as machines.
Novels
Virtual Mode
Author
Piers Anthony
Cover artist
Daniel R. Horne
Country
U.S.A.
Language
English
Series
Mode
Genre(s)
Fantasy
Publisher
Ace-Putnam
Publication date
February 1991
Media type
Print (Hardcover and Paperback)
Pages
323 (paperback edition)
ISBN
ISBN 978-0-441-86503-1 (paperback edition)
OCLC Number
24895560
Followed by
Fractal Mode
Virtual Mode
Colene, a teenage girl on the brink of suicide, must travel the Virtual Mode to reunite with the man of her dreams.
Colene, who appears to be bright and popular at school, secretly flirts with suicide and cutting herself for emotional release. Her deathwish prompts her to approach a strange man that she finds in a ditch on her way home from school, and her relationship with Darius begins.
Darius and Colene rapidly fall in love, but he regretfully leaves her when she cannot bring herself to accept that he is from a magical reality. After his departure, Colene realizes he was telling the truth, and, in despair, she prepares to commit suicide. Back in his own mode, Darius realizes that he loves Colene too much to give her up. He therefore uses a magical device called the Chip to create a Virtual Mode so he can travel back to Colene.
Colene quickly seizes the opportunity to become an anchor person and sets out along her side of the Virtual Mode. On her way, she befriends Seqiro, a telepathic stallion and, to Colene's joy and surprise, another anchor. As Sequiro joins her in traveling the Virtual Mode, she opens up to him and reveals the source of her depressive and suicidal nature; she had been raped at a party by several older boys, but did not report the incident out of fear of humiliation and because she had become drunk during the party. The two make rapid progress towards Darius’ mode until they are unexpectedly trapped in DoOon, home mode of the emperor Ddwng, who is the anchor for his world. Forced to suffer captivity thinly veiled as hospitality, Colene and Seqiro must wait for Darius to arrive.
Meanwhile, Darius has encountered another anchor—Provos, a strange older woman, while traveling toward Colene. Able to remember the future, she is able to help him avoid or defeat many hazards on the Virtual Mode. Eventually, they reach a series of beacons, which they follow to DoOon.
Darius and Colene reunite, but are almost immediately separated. Ddwng, who wants to coerce Darius into giving him the Chip, assesses his personality by sending him on a mission to another planet. Though Darius is reluctant to accede to the emperor’s request, Ddwng threatens Colene and Darius finally agrees.
Though Darius considers his promise binding, Colene prompts Seqiro to use his telepathy to trick Ddwng into freeing his anchor. He does, and Colene, Darius, Seqiro, and Provos slide through the modes to the new anchor, Oria.
Fractal Mode
Author
Piers Anthony
Cover artist
Daniel R. Horne
Country
U.S.A.
Language
English
Series
Mode
Genre(s)
Fantasy
Publisher
Ace/Putnam
Publication date
January 1992
Media type
Print (Hardcover and Paperback)
Pages
344 (paperback edition)
ISBN
ISBN 978-0-441-25126-1 (paperback edition)
Preceded by
Virtual Mode
Followed by
Chaos Mode
[edit] Fractal Mode
Colene and her companions must help Nona, a beautiful woman forced to hide her magical ability, to end the oppression binding her world.
Nona is the woman ordained to bring the anima, the force of female magic, to her home planet of Oria, which is part of a fractal universe. In order to summon the Megaplayers, a group of musical giants, to help her, she dances by a sea cliff and unwittingly becomes the new anchor person.
After Colene, Darius, Seqiro, and Provos arrive in Julia Mode, Nona and her friend Stave prompt them to report to the nearest despot castle. Though the despots attempt to discredit Darius, rape Colene, and steal Seqiro, the four companions escape captivity and rejoin Nona and Stave. They help Nona travel to Jupiter, where she again seeks the Megaplayers. Angus, a native of Jupiter, advises Nona on how to bring the anima and ferries the party back to Oria.
Nona, who must stand on a specific rad to summon the magic of the anima, has no idea how find the correct one. Colene and Provos travel back to Earth in order to learn enough nomenclature to allow Colene to help Nona number the rads. While in the Earth mode, Colene rescues an abused girl, Esta, and her uncle, Slick, from a life of crime and despair. Though Slick and Esta plan to flee the country together, a police pursuit forces them to seek refuge on the Virtual Mode.
Meanwhile, Darius, Seqiro, Nona, and Stave have been forced to hide from the despots in the underwater caves of the rabble, a community of quasi-humans who are able to transform their bodies. Though the rabble initially plan to force all four companions to remain until they breed with one thousand rabble each, they agree to free Darius, Seqiro, and Nona if Stave will remain for four thousand breedings. Nona promises to allow four thousand rabble to live on the surface after she brings the anima, whereupon they will release Stave.
Colene and her companions return to Oria and reunite with the rest of the anchor persons. Colene helps Nona find the correct rad while the others distract the despots, and Nona successfully invokes the anima, shifting the magic of Oria to favor women. Nona joins the party on the Virtual Mode, and they return to Provos’ anchor, where Provos plans to adopt Slick and Esta as son and granddaughter. Provos releases her anchor, and Colene, Darius, Seqiro, and Nona slide through the Virtual Mode to the newest anchor, Shale.
Chaos Mode
Author
Piers Anthony
Cover artist
Daniel R. Horne
Country
U.S.A.
Language
English
Series
Mode
Genre(s)
Science Fiction
Publisher
Ace/Putnam
Publication date
1993
Media type
Print (Hardcover and Paperback)
Pages
358 (paperback edition)
ISBN
ISBN 978-0-441-00132-3 (paperback edition)
Preceded by
Fractal Mode
Followed by
DoOon Mode
[edit] Chaos Mode
Colene, pursued by the relentless mind predator, must travel through the anchor modes with her companions in an attempt to escape its grasp.
Burgess, a hiver, acted as a diplomat to other hives. After he contacted a hive which suffered from the mental disease of bigotry, his own hive cast him out and forced him to flee across the plains. Bereft of his community, he eagerly becomes an anchor person and joins the companions of the Virtual Mode. Colene, Darius, Seqiro, and Nona are initially concerned that the new anchor person may be an alien monster, but Seqiro soon helps Nona to establish mental contact, and their fears are allayed. Colene soon realizes that this reality is the product of Earth’s alternative evolution, and she names the mode Shale and the new anchor Burgess.
Though the party plans to continue traveling the Virtual Mode, Colene is soon pursued by the mind predator which once attacked Provos. The anchor persons, attacked by the hivers near the anchor point, are forced to spend several days in Shale. While there, each of the humans learns to relate to Burgess, and Burgess declares the strange group to be his new hive. Though the companions encounter many hostile native creatures, they are eventually able to reach the anchor point and return to the Virtual Mode.
As the companions approach the Julia mode, the mind predator returns and attacks Colene. Only Burgess seems able to mitigate the effect, so he carries Colene while the pursuit continues. The party, once again forced to wait in an anchor mode, soon discovers that Oria is in a martial state due to the lack of strong magical leadership. Because Nona doesn’t want to remain and become queen, she enlists Angus’ help to recruit Amazons from a slightly larger anima world to become regents on Oria. Afterwards, Nona feels free to return to the Virtual Mode with the others.
As they travel toward Earth, Burgess’ health begins to fail, and the anchor persons plan to spend some time in the Earth mode while he recuperates. Colene and Nona enlist the help of Amos Forell to cure Burgess’ malady, which turns out to be a magnesium deficiency. In order to repay Amos, Darius and Seqiro help a troubled boy by spreading his despair to his unsympathetic community. While in the bad part of town, they are also able to seek revenge on the group of delinquents who mugged Darius in the first novel, as well as the boys who raped Colene. Colene reconciles with her parents, who agree to allow her to marry Darius, but she misses her own wedding while tiding Burgess through a bad reaction. Nona, however, acts as Colene’s proxy, so Darius and Colene do become legally married on Earth.
While passing through the modes of the telepathic animals, Colene is once again attacked by the mind predator. The companions, forced to seek refuge in Seqiro’s mode, discover a mare who has been mind-blasted, telepathically attacked and stripped of her memories. Colene heals the mare by imprinting her with the character of her imaginary friend, Maresy Doats. After defeating his rival Koturo, Seqiro becomes herd stallion. Though he would prefer to remain on the Virtual Mode, Seqiro is forced to free his anchor to relieve Colene of the mind predator’s pursuit. Colene, Darius, Nona, and Burgess slide through the modes until they reach the newest anchor mode, DoOon.
DoOon Mode
Author
Piers Anthony
Cover artist
Daniel R. Horne
Country
U.S.A.
Language
English
Series
Mode
Genre(s)
Science Fiction
Publisher
Tom Doherty Associates, LLC
Publication date
April 2001
Media type
Print (Hardcover and Paperback)
Pages
377 (paperback edition)
ISBN
ISBN 978-0-8125-7542-2 (paperback edition)
Preceded by
Chaos Mode
[edit] DoOon Mode
Colene and her companions must remain trapped in the DoOon Mode until they agree to deliver the Chip to Ddwng.
Because the Feline trio of Tom, Cat, and Pussy are in disgrace, they enter a dangerous contest to regain their social status. After the Felines and their Caprine companions win the competition, a no-holds-barred game of capture the flag, they are educated about Colene and Darius and trained to become the next mode anchors. The six nulls, along with four unknown individuals, become co-anchors as soon as Seqiro frees his anchor, and Colene, Darius, Nona, and Burgess are immediately captured by Ddwng.
The companions are taken to the primitive planet Chains, where they are forced to remain until Darius agrees to give the Chip to Ddwng. While there, Burgess and the humans form close bonds with the Felines and with Doe, the Caprine female. Colene persuades the predatory dragons of the world to prey on rats instead of nulls, and Darius agrees to give Ddwng the Chip in return for the continued safety of Chains and its inhabitants.
Once on the Virtual Mode, the party attempts to evade the pursuit of the four unknown anchor persons. Colene regains mental contact with Seqiro, but the mind predator soon finds her, and the group must return to Earth. When Colene discovers her mother Morna is the victim of hallucinations brought on by improper medical treatment, she and her companions force the insurance representative to approve RTMS, an experimental treatment, to cure Colene’s and Morna’s depression. Nona, Burgess, and Tom repay Amos Forell for his financial help by giving him one of Tom’s alien germs to claim as a scientific discovery. Colene returns after one week of her two-week treatment, and the anchor persons return to the Virtual Mode.
Unfortunately, the mind predator soon finds Colene, and the companions attempt to wait it out by staying in Oria. Though one of the regents tries to persuade Nona to stay and become queen, she is unwilling to leave the Virtual Mode. The mind predator remains tenacious, however, and Nona is forced to free her anchor. Nona, who has been engaging in sexual intercourse with Tom, asks him to stay in Julia mode and marry her. Tom loves Nona and realizes his trio is facing destruction anyway, so he agrees.
As soon as Nona frees her anchor, Seqiro and Maresy become co-anchors. Colene, Darius, Burgess, Cat, and Pussy slide to the Horse Mode, where the horses join the party. After passing through several more modes, one of which resembles Xanth, the companions finally arrive at Darius’ home mode. Burgess and the horses settle comfortably on a pasture dais and Colene and Pussy join Darius’ household.
After obtaining the Chip, Cat returns to DoOon to discharge his commitment, and Darius shuts down the Virtual Mode. Though Cat is honest, Ddwng suspects treachery and plans to torture it. Cat uses its link to Seqiro and the Key it has secretly swallowed to rescue Doe from Chains, though her trio is destroyed. After transporting back to Darius’ mode, Cat and Doe recover, and the Felines adopt Doe as the third member of their new trio.
Though Colene and Darius are married and home at last, Colene remains unable to perform sexually. Pussy convinces Colene to face the mind predator in order to come to terms with her worst fears. After an intense psychological battle, Colene defeats the mind predator, and she is finally healed
Though initially marketed as fantasy, the Mode series is similar to the Incarnations of Immortality and the Apprentice Adept series, blending fantasy and science fiction
Mode theory
Mode, in the series, is another word for "reality" or "universe." The Virtual Mode is like a three-dimensional plane that cuts across many realities. It requires five points, represented both by anchor modes and anchor persons, to hold it in place. When someone hears the call of the Virtual Mode, he may reach out with his mind and set his anchor point, thereby becoming an anchor person. When two or more persons act in tandem to attach the Virtual Mode, both will become anchors. Only anchor persons may travel freely on the Virtual Mode; other travelers must remain in contact with the anchors lest they become lost in one of the non-anchor modes. In addition, only objects from anchor modes may be transported on the Virtual Mode; any other materials will remain in their mode of origin. Once the anchor point is fixed, mode travelers may step in and out of the Virtual Mode at that point, thereby being able to interact fully in the anchor reality. Anchor persons may only travel ten feet across non-anchor modes before crossing the border into the next reality. Though each mode is only ten feet deep, it is infinitely wide; anchor persons may travel as far as they like to the side as long as they don’t cross the border. Each reality is like an individual sheet of mica, and when each individual plane is placed next to others, together they form the whole Virtual Mode. Each mode has its own rules which determine which aspects of science and magic will work there.
Only the death or purposeful release of an anchor person can free an anchor point. When that happens, the Virtual Mode is unstable until another person invokes their anchor. Few people are able to sense the Virtual Mode; only those who can may become anchor persons. In the series, those who invoke the Virtual Mode are typically individuals who have some great need for change in, or escape from, their current situation that only access to the Virtual Mode will provide. In addition, the Chip that invokes the Virtual Mode has different settings which determine the realities that will be included in any given Virtual Mode. Though it can be set to include only modes populated by human beings, the Virtual Mode in the novels is set instead to include sapience of any type, including non-living beings such as machines.
Novels
Virtual Mode
Author
Piers Anthony
Cover artist
Daniel R. Horne
Country
U.S.A.
Language
English
Series
Mode
Genre(s)
Fantasy
Publisher
Ace-Putnam
Publication date
February 1991
Media type
Print (Hardcover and Paperback)
Pages
323 (paperback edition)
ISBN
ISBN 978-0-441-86503-1 (paperback edition)
OCLC Number
24895560
Followed by
Fractal Mode
Virtual Mode
Colene, a teenage girl on the brink of suicide, must travel the Virtual Mode to reunite with the man of her dreams.
Colene, who appears to be bright and popular at school, secretly flirts with suicide and cutting herself for emotional release. Her deathwish prompts her to approach a strange man that she finds in a ditch on her way home from school, and her relationship with Darius begins.
Darius and Colene rapidly fall in love, but he regretfully leaves her when she cannot bring herself to accept that he is from a magical reality. After his departure, Colene realizes he was telling the truth, and, in despair, she prepares to commit suicide. Back in his own mode, Darius realizes that he loves Colene too much to give her up. He therefore uses a magical device called the Chip to create a Virtual Mode so he can travel back to Colene.
Colene quickly seizes the opportunity to become an anchor person and sets out along her side of the Virtual Mode. On her way, she befriends Seqiro, a telepathic stallion and, to Colene's joy and surprise, another anchor. As Sequiro joins her in traveling the Virtual Mode, she opens up to him and reveals the source of her depressive and suicidal nature; she had been raped at a party by several older boys, but did not report the incident out of fear of humiliation and because she had become drunk during the party. The two make rapid progress towards Darius’ mode until they are unexpectedly trapped in DoOon, home mode of the emperor Ddwng, who is the anchor for his world. Forced to suffer captivity thinly veiled as hospitality, Colene and Seqiro must wait for Darius to arrive.
Meanwhile, Darius has encountered another anchor—Provos, a strange older woman, while traveling toward Colene. Able to remember the future, she is able to help him avoid or defeat many hazards on the Virtual Mode. Eventually, they reach a series of beacons, which they follow to DoOon.
Darius and Colene reunite, but are almost immediately separated. Ddwng, who wants to coerce Darius into giving him the Chip, assesses his personality by sending him on a mission to another planet. Though Darius is reluctant to accede to the emperor’s request, Ddwng threatens Colene and Darius finally agrees.
Though Darius considers his promise binding, Colene prompts Seqiro to use his telepathy to trick Ddwng into freeing his anchor. He does, and Colene, Darius, Seqiro, and Provos slide through the modes to the new anchor, Oria.
Fractal Mode
Author
Piers Anthony
Cover artist
Daniel R. Horne
Country
U.S.A.
Language
English
Series
Mode
Genre(s)
Fantasy
Publisher
Ace/Putnam
Publication date
January 1992
Media type
Print (Hardcover and Paperback)
Pages
344 (paperback edition)
ISBN
ISBN 978-0-441-25126-1 (paperback edition)
Preceded by
Virtual Mode
Followed by
Chaos Mode
[edit] Fractal Mode
Colene and her companions must help Nona, a beautiful woman forced to hide her magical ability, to end the oppression binding her world.
Nona is the woman ordained to bring the anima, the force of female magic, to her home planet of Oria, which is part of a fractal universe. In order to summon the Megaplayers, a group of musical giants, to help her, she dances by a sea cliff and unwittingly becomes the new anchor person.
After Colene, Darius, Seqiro, and Provos arrive in Julia Mode, Nona and her friend Stave prompt them to report to the nearest despot castle. Though the despots attempt to discredit Darius, rape Colene, and steal Seqiro, the four companions escape captivity and rejoin Nona and Stave. They help Nona travel to Jupiter, where she again seeks the Megaplayers. Angus, a native of Jupiter, advises Nona on how to bring the anima and ferries the party back to Oria.
Nona, who must stand on a specific rad to summon the magic of the anima, has no idea how find the correct one. Colene and Provos travel back to Earth in order to learn enough nomenclature to allow Colene to help Nona number the rads. While in the Earth mode, Colene rescues an abused girl, Esta, and her uncle, Slick, from a life of crime and despair. Though Slick and Esta plan to flee the country together, a police pursuit forces them to seek refuge on the Virtual Mode.
Meanwhile, Darius, Seqiro, Nona, and Stave have been forced to hide from the despots in the underwater caves of the rabble, a community of quasi-humans who are able to transform their bodies. Though the rabble initially plan to force all four companions to remain until they breed with one thousand rabble each, they agree to free Darius, Seqiro, and Nona if Stave will remain for four thousand breedings. Nona promises to allow four thousand rabble to live on the surface after she brings the anima, whereupon they will release Stave.
Colene and her companions return to Oria and reunite with the rest of the anchor persons. Colene helps Nona find the correct rad while the others distract the despots, and Nona successfully invokes the anima, shifting the magic of Oria to favor women. Nona joins the party on the Virtual Mode, and they return to Provos’ anchor, where Provos plans to adopt Slick and Esta as son and granddaughter. Provos releases her anchor, and Colene, Darius, Seqiro, and Nona slide through the Virtual Mode to the newest anchor, Shale.
Chaos Mode
Author
Piers Anthony
Cover artist
Daniel R. Horne
Country
U.S.A.
Language
English
Series
Mode
Genre(s)
Science Fiction
Publisher
Ace/Putnam
Publication date
1993
Media type
Print (Hardcover and Paperback)
Pages
358 (paperback edition)
ISBN
ISBN 978-0-441-00132-3 (paperback edition)
Preceded by
Fractal Mode
Followed by
DoOon Mode
[edit] Chaos Mode
Colene, pursued by the relentless mind predator, must travel through the anchor modes with her companions in an attempt to escape its grasp.
Burgess, a hiver, acted as a diplomat to other hives. After he contacted a hive which suffered from the mental disease of bigotry, his own hive cast him out and forced him to flee across the plains. Bereft of his community, he eagerly becomes an anchor person and joins the companions of the Virtual Mode. Colene, Darius, Seqiro, and Nona are initially concerned that the new anchor person may be an alien monster, but Seqiro soon helps Nona to establish mental contact, and their fears are allayed. Colene soon realizes that this reality is the product of Earth’s alternative evolution, and she names the mode Shale and the new anchor Burgess.
Though the party plans to continue traveling the Virtual Mode, Colene is soon pursued by the mind predator which once attacked Provos. The anchor persons, attacked by the hivers near the anchor point, are forced to spend several days in Shale. While there, each of the humans learns to relate to Burgess, and Burgess declares the strange group to be his new hive. Though the companions encounter many hostile native creatures, they are eventually able to reach the anchor point and return to the Virtual Mode.
As the companions approach the Julia mode, the mind predator returns and attacks Colene. Only Burgess seems able to mitigate the effect, so he carries Colene while the pursuit continues. The party, once again forced to wait in an anchor mode, soon discovers that Oria is in a martial state due to the lack of strong magical leadership. Because Nona doesn’t want to remain and become queen, she enlists Angus’ help to recruit Amazons from a slightly larger anima world to become regents on Oria. Afterwards, Nona feels free to return to the Virtual Mode with the others.
As they travel toward Earth, Burgess’ health begins to fail, and the anchor persons plan to spend some time in the Earth mode while he recuperates. Colene and Nona enlist the help of Amos Forell to cure Burgess’ malady, which turns out to be a magnesium deficiency. In order to repay Amos, Darius and Seqiro help a troubled boy by spreading his despair to his unsympathetic community. While in the bad part of town, they are also able to seek revenge on the group of delinquents who mugged Darius in the first novel, as well as the boys who raped Colene. Colene reconciles with her parents, who agree to allow her to marry Darius, but she misses her own wedding while tiding Burgess through a bad reaction. Nona, however, acts as Colene’s proxy, so Darius and Colene do become legally married on Earth.
While passing through the modes of the telepathic animals, Colene is once again attacked by the mind predator. The companions, forced to seek refuge in Seqiro’s mode, discover a mare who has been mind-blasted, telepathically attacked and stripped of her memories. Colene heals the mare by imprinting her with the character of her imaginary friend, Maresy Doats. After defeating his rival Koturo, Seqiro becomes herd stallion. Though he would prefer to remain on the Virtual Mode, Seqiro is forced to free his anchor to relieve Colene of the mind predator’s pursuit. Colene, Darius, Nona, and Burgess slide through the modes until they reach the newest anchor mode, DoOon.
DoOon Mode
Author
Piers Anthony
Cover artist
Daniel R. Horne
Country
U.S.A.
Language
English
Series
Mode
Genre(s)
Science Fiction
Publisher
Tom Doherty Associates, LLC
Publication date
April 2001
Media type
Print (Hardcover and Paperback)
Pages
377 (paperback edition)
ISBN
ISBN 978-0-8125-7542-2 (paperback edition)
Preceded by
Chaos Mode
[edit] DoOon Mode
Colene and her companions must remain trapped in the DoOon Mode until they agree to deliver the Chip to Ddwng.
Because the Feline trio of Tom, Cat, and Pussy are in disgrace, they enter a dangerous contest to regain their social status. After the Felines and their Caprine companions win the competition, a no-holds-barred game of capture the flag, they are educated about Colene and Darius and trained to become the next mode anchors. The six nulls, along with four unknown individuals, become co-anchors as soon as Seqiro frees his anchor, and Colene, Darius, Nona, and Burgess are immediately captured by Ddwng.
The companions are taken to the primitive planet Chains, where they are forced to remain until Darius agrees to give the Chip to Ddwng. While there, Burgess and the humans form close bonds with the Felines and with Doe, the Caprine female. Colene persuades the predatory dragons of the world to prey on rats instead of nulls, and Darius agrees to give Ddwng the Chip in return for the continued safety of Chains and its inhabitants.
Once on the Virtual Mode, the party attempts to evade the pursuit of the four unknown anchor persons. Colene regains mental contact with Seqiro, but the mind predator soon finds her, and the group must return to Earth. When Colene discovers her mother Morna is the victim of hallucinations brought on by improper medical treatment, she and her companions force the insurance representative to approve RTMS, an experimental treatment, to cure Colene’s and Morna’s depression. Nona, Burgess, and Tom repay Amos Forell for his financial help by giving him one of Tom’s alien germs to claim as a scientific discovery. Colene returns after one week of her two-week treatment, and the anchor persons return to the Virtual Mode.
Unfortunately, the mind predator soon finds Colene, and the companions attempt to wait it out by staying in Oria. Though one of the regents tries to persuade Nona to stay and become queen, she is unwilling to leave the Virtual Mode. The mind predator remains tenacious, however, and Nona is forced to free her anchor. Nona, who has been engaging in sexual intercourse with Tom, asks him to stay in Julia mode and marry her. Tom loves Nona and realizes his trio is facing destruction anyway, so he agrees.
As soon as Nona frees her anchor, Seqiro and Maresy become co-anchors. Colene, Darius, Burgess, Cat, and Pussy slide to the Horse Mode, where the horses join the party. After passing through several more modes, one of which resembles Xanth, the companions finally arrive at Darius’ home mode. Burgess and the horses settle comfortably on a pasture dais and Colene and Pussy join Darius’ household.
After obtaining the Chip, Cat returns to DoOon to discharge his commitment, and Darius shuts down the Virtual Mode. Though Cat is honest, Ddwng suspects treachery and plans to torture it. Cat uses its link to Seqiro and the Key it has secretly swallowed to rescue Doe from Chains, though her trio is destroyed. After transporting back to Darius’ mode, Cat and Doe recover, and the Felines adopt Doe as the third member of their new trio.
Though Colene and Darius are married and home at last, Colene remains unable to perform sexually. Pussy convinces Colene to face the mind predator in order to come to terms with her worst fears. After an intense psychological battle, Colene defeats the mind predator, and she is finally healed
Friday, August 27, 2010
Town and country planning in the United Kingdom
Town and Country Planning is the land use planning system governments use to balance economic development and environmental quality. Each country of the United Kingdom has its own planning system that is responsible for town and country planning devolved to the Northern Ireland Assembly, the Scottish Parliament and the Welsh Assembly.
The Town and Country Planning Act of 1947 created the framework for the system. Green belts were added in 1955 via a government circular. The system has essentially remained the same since the initial 1947 act, which repealed all previous legislation, including the first Housing and Town Planning Act 1909, which had been followed by the Housing and Town Planning Act 1919, Town Planning Act 1925, and Town and Country Planning Act 1932.
Current planning legislation for England and Wales is consolidated in the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 (TCPA 1990). Three further planning-related acts are associated with this principal Act. These four acts are defined as the Planning Acts. Parts of these Acts have been replaced or amended by the provisions of the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004, which received Royal Assent on 13 May 2004.
The basic planning law of Northern Ireland is contained in the Planning (Northern Ireland) Order 1991.
The relevant Acts for Scotland are the Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act 1997 and the Planning etc (Scotland) Act 2006.
History
The roots of the UK town and country planning systems, created in the immediate post-war years, lie in concerns developed over the previous half century in response to industrialisation and urbanisation. The particular concerns were pollution, urban sprawl, and ribbon development. These concerns were expressed through the work of thinkers such as Ebenezer Howard and the philanthropic actions of industrialists such as the Lever Brothers and the Cadbury family.
By the outbreak of Second World War, thinking was sufficiently advanced that, even during the war, a series of Royal commissions looked at the problems of urban planning and development control. These included:
The Barlow Commission (1940) into the distribution of industrial population
The Scott Committee into rural land use (1941)
The Uthwatt Committee into compensation and betterment (1942)
The Reith Report into New Towns (1947)
Also, Patrick Abercrombie developed a plan for the reconstruction of London, which envisaged moving 1.5 million people from London to new and expanded towns.
These intellectual efforts resulted in:
The New Towns Act 1946
The Town and Country Planning Act 1947
The 1947 Act, in effect, nationalised the right to develop land. It requires all proposals, with a few exclusions, to secure planning permission from the local authority, with provision to appeal against refusal.
The Act—the essential nature of which is unchanged—requires local authorities to develop Local Plans or Unitary Development Plans to outline what kind of development is permitted where, and to mark special areas on Local Plan Maps. It did not introduce a formal system of zoning as used in the United States. Counties developed Structure Plans that set broad targets for the wider area. Structure Plans were always problematic and were often in the process of being replaced by the time they were formally adopted.
The planning system underwent a number of alterations, which were consolidated in the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 (TCPA 1990). Section 106 substantially re-wrote Section 52 from the former Act, settling the concept of agreements (known as "planning obligation agreements," or more commonly "Section 106 agreements"), under which the developer is subject to detailed arrangements and restrictions beyond those that a planning condition could impose, or by which he makes agreed financial contributions beyond the immediate building works to offset development effects on the local community. This was soon amended to allow a developer to self-impose obligations to preempt objections to planning permission. This prevents the planning authority from blocking a permission by merely failing to negotiate.
Three further Acts related to planning are associated with this primary act: The Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990, the Planning (Hazardous Substances) Act 1990, and the Planning (Consequential Provisions) Act 1990. These four Acts are referred to as the Planning Acts. Almost immediately after parliament passed these Acts, the government had further thoughts on the control of land development, which led to the Planning and Compensation Act 1991, which made important alterations to many of the Planning Acts provisions.
The Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004 made substantial changes to the English Development Plan system. It did away with both Structure Plans and Local Plans, in favour of Local Development Frameworks (LDFs), which are made up a number of Local Development Documents (LDDs) and Supplementary Planning Documents (SPDs). The Regional Spatial Strategy (RSS), which is produced by Regional Assemblies in England, replaces the Structure Plan as the strategic planning document (i.e., the RSS that's targets for housing and employment development within each district in a Region in the future). A variation on this approach exists in Wales.
Local Authorities are also now required to produce Local Development Schemes (LDS) - which outline the work the LDDs/SPDs they intend to produce over a three year period, and Statements of Community Involvement (SCI), which outline how the Council will involve the local community. All LDDs and SPDs also have to be accompanied by a Sustainability Appraisal (SA) and a Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA). The SEA is a requirement under European Union laws. Planning Policy Guidance Notes are also being gradually replaced by Planning Policy Statements.
Minor variations were allowed to planning permissions, recognising that information provided for planning permission does not provide enough detail for actual construction. Working drawings are required first, and architects often make small changes to accommodate a building's technical requirements. Also, plans might change on site to overcome unforeseen problems. Legality of minor amendments was challenged in 2006, and the advice to many local authorities is that any variation to a planning permission should require planning approval.
On-line access
Historically, planning applications were submitted in paper form to designated Council offices and displayed for a statutory period at public libraries or offices. In December 1995, the London Borough of Wandsworth created a website that published electronic images of planning application documents. This technology greatly improved access to application-related documents for all participants in the planning process. Within ten years, most planning authorities within the UK followed suit.[1] This has been facilitated by widespread use of commercial off-the-shelf software packages that take visitors through a similar process.[2] Other access methods now include routing inquiries through a centrally-hosted public or privately hosted website, such as UKPlanning[3] or the national Planning Portal.[4].
Use classes
Main article: Town and Country Planning (Use Classes) Order 1987
The requirement to obtain planning permission extends not only to new construction, but also in substantive changes of use of a property. There are various 'use classes', and change of use to a different use class generally requires Planning permission.
The main classes (excluding Scotland, which has a separate Use Classes Order) are:
A1: shops
A2: financial and professional services
A3: restaurants and cafés
A4: drinking establishments[5]
A5: hot food takeaways
B1: businesses (offices, light industry)
B2: general industrial
B8: storage and distribution
C1: hotels
C2: residential institutions
C3: dwellinghouses
D1: non-residential institutions (schools, libraries, surgeries)
D2: assembly and leisure (cinemas, swimming baths, gymnasiums)
Classes A3 to A5 were formed recently by a split of the previous A3 class 'Food and Drink', though this split was not effected in Wales; jurisdiction over secondary planning legislation being by then a matter for the Assembly.
Various uses are considered to be sui generis, meaning that they are considered to be a use class in themselves, and not part of an existing use class. These specifically include:
theatres
amusement arcades
laundrettes
petrol stations
car dealerships
taxi/car rental firm
scrapyard
nightclubs
warehouse clubs
The Town and Country Planning Act of 1947 created the framework for the system. Green belts were added in 1955 via a government circular. The system has essentially remained the same since the initial 1947 act, which repealed all previous legislation, including the first Housing and Town Planning Act 1909, which had been followed by the Housing and Town Planning Act 1919, Town Planning Act 1925, and Town and Country Planning Act 1932.
Current planning legislation for England and Wales is consolidated in the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 (TCPA 1990). Three further planning-related acts are associated with this principal Act. These four acts are defined as the Planning Acts. Parts of these Acts have been replaced or amended by the provisions of the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004, which received Royal Assent on 13 May 2004.
The basic planning law of Northern Ireland is contained in the Planning (Northern Ireland) Order 1991.
The relevant Acts for Scotland are the Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act 1997 and the Planning etc (Scotland) Act 2006.
History
The roots of the UK town and country planning systems, created in the immediate post-war years, lie in concerns developed over the previous half century in response to industrialisation and urbanisation. The particular concerns were pollution, urban sprawl, and ribbon development. These concerns were expressed through the work of thinkers such as Ebenezer Howard and the philanthropic actions of industrialists such as the Lever Brothers and the Cadbury family.
By the outbreak of Second World War, thinking was sufficiently advanced that, even during the war, a series of Royal commissions looked at the problems of urban planning and development control. These included:
The Barlow Commission (1940) into the distribution of industrial population
The Scott Committee into rural land use (1941)
The Uthwatt Committee into compensation and betterment (1942)
The Reith Report into New Towns (1947)
Also, Patrick Abercrombie developed a plan for the reconstruction of London, which envisaged moving 1.5 million people from London to new and expanded towns.
These intellectual efforts resulted in:
The New Towns Act 1946
The Town and Country Planning Act 1947
The 1947 Act, in effect, nationalised the right to develop land. It requires all proposals, with a few exclusions, to secure planning permission from the local authority, with provision to appeal against refusal.
The Act—the essential nature of which is unchanged—requires local authorities to develop Local Plans or Unitary Development Plans to outline what kind of development is permitted where, and to mark special areas on Local Plan Maps. It did not introduce a formal system of zoning as used in the United States. Counties developed Structure Plans that set broad targets for the wider area. Structure Plans were always problematic and were often in the process of being replaced by the time they were formally adopted.
The planning system underwent a number of alterations, which were consolidated in the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 (TCPA 1990). Section 106 substantially re-wrote Section 52 from the former Act, settling the concept of agreements (known as "planning obligation agreements," or more commonly "Section 106 agreements"), under which the developer is subject to detailed arrangements and restrictions beyond those that a planning condition could impose, or by which he makes agreed financial contributions beyond the immediate building works to offset development effects on the local community. This was soon amended to allow a developer to self-impose obligations to preempt objections to planning permission. This prevents the planning authority from blocking a permission by merely failing to negotiate.
Three further Acts related to planning are associated with this primary act: The Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990, the Planning (Hazardous Substances) Act 1990, and the Planning (Consequential Provisions) Act 1990. These four Acts are referred to as the Planning Acts. Almost immediately after parliament passed these Acts, the government had further thoughts on the control of land development, which led to the Planning and Compensation Act 1991, which made important alterations to many of the Planning Acts provisions.
The Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004 made substantial changes to the English Development Plan system. It did away with both Structure Plans and Local Plans, in favour of Local Development Frameworks (LDFs), which are made up a number of Local Development Documents (LDDs) and Supplementary Planning Documents (SPDs). The Regional Spatial Strategy (RSS), which is produced by Regional Assemblies in England, replaces the Structure Plan as the strategic planning document (i.e., the RSS that's targets for housing and employment development within each district in a Region in the future). A variation on this approach exists in Wales.
Local Authorities are also now required to produce Local Development Schemes (LDS) - which outline the work the LDDs/SPDs they intend to produce over a three year period, and Statements of Community Involvement (SCI), which outline how the Council will involve the local community. All LDDs and SPDs also have to be accompanied by a Sustainability Appraisal (SA) and a Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA). The SEA is a requirement under European Union laws. Planning Policy Guidance Notes are also being gradually replaced by Planning Policy Statements.
Minor variations were allowed to planning permissions, recognising that information provided for planning permission does not provide enough detail for actual construction. Working drawings are required first, and architects often make small changes to accommodate a building's technical requirements. Also, plans might change on site to overcome unforeseen problems. Legality of minor amendments was challenged in 2006, and the advice to many local authorities is that any variation to a planning permission should require planning approval.
On-line access
Historically, planning applications were submitted in paper form to designated Council offices and displayed for a statutory period at public libraries or offices. In December 1995, the London Borough of Wandsworth created a website that published electronic images of planning application documents. This technology greatly improved access to application-related documents for all participants in the planning process. Within ten years, most planning authorities within the UK followed suit.[1] This has been facilitated by widespread use of commercial off-the-shelf software packages that take visitors through a similar process.[2] Other access methods now include routing inquiries through a centrally-hosted public or privately hosted website, such as UKPlanning[3] or the national Planning Portal.[4].
Use classes
Main article: Town and Country Planning (Use Classes) Order 1987
The requirement to obtain planning permission extends not only to new construction, but also in substantive changes of use of a property. There are various 'use classes', and change of use to a different use class generally requires Planning permission.
The main classes (excluding Scotland, which has a separate Use Classes Order) are:
A1: shops
A2: financial and professional services
A3: restaurants and cafés
A4: drinking establishments[5]
A5: hot food takeaways
B1: businesses (offices, light industry)
B2: general industrial
B8: storage and distribution
C1: hotels
C2: residential institutions
C3: dwellinghouses
D1: non-residential institutions (schools, libraries, surgeries)
D2: assembly and leisure (cinemas, swimming baths, gymnasiums)
Classes A3 to A5 were formed recently by a split of the previous A3 class 'Food and Drink', though this split was not effected in Wales; jurisdiction over secondary planning legislation being by then a matter for the Assembly.
Various uses are considered to be sui generis, meaning that they are considered to be a use class in themselves, and not part of an existing use class. These specifically include:
theatres
amusement arcades
laundrettes
petrol stations
car dealerships
taxi/car rental firm
scrapyard
nightclubs
warehouse clubs
Town and country planning in the United Kingdom
Town and Country Planning is the land use planning system governments use to balance economic development and environmental quality. Each country of the United Kingdom has its own planning system that is responsible for town and country planning devolved to the Northern Ireland Assembly, the Scottish Parliament and the Welsh Assembly.
The Town and Country Planning Act of 1947 created the framework for the system. Green belts were added in 1955 via a government circular. The system has essentially remained the same since the initial 1947 act, which repealed all previous legislation, including the first Housing and Town Planning Act 1909, which had been followed by the Housing and Town Planning Act 1919, Town Planning Act 1925, and Town and Country Planning Act 1932.
Current planning legislation for England and Wales is consolidated in the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 (TCPA 1990). Three further planning-related acts are associated with this principal Act. These four acts are defined as the Planning Acts. Parts of these Acts have been replaced or amended by the provisions of the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004, which received Royal Assent on 13 May 2004.
The basic planning law of Northern Ireland is contained in the Planning (Northern Ireland) Order 1991.
The relevant Acts for Scotland are the Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act 1997 and the Planning etc (Scotland) Act 2006.
History
The roots of the UK town and country planning systems, created in the immediate post-war years, lie in concerns developed over the previous half century in response to industrialisation and urbanisation. The particular concerns were pollution, urban sprawl, and ribbon development. These concerns were expressed through the work of thinkers such as Ebenezer Howard and the philanthropic actions of industrialists such as the Lever Brothers and the Cadbury family.
By the outbreak of Second World War, thinking was sufficiently advanced that, even during the war, a series of Royal commissions looked at the problems of urban planning and development control. These included:
The Barlow Commission (1940) into the distribution of industrial population
The Scott Committee into rural land use (1941)
The Uthwatt Committee into compensation and betterment (1942)
The Reith Report into New Towns (1947)
Also, Patrick Abercrombie developed a plan for the reconstruction of London, which envisaged moving 1.5 million people from London to new and expanded towns.
These intellectual efforts resulted in:
The New Towns Act 1946
The Town and Country Planning Act 1947
The 1947 Act, in effect, nationalised the right to develop land. It requires all proposals, with a few exclusions, to secure planning permission from the local authority, with provision to appeal against refusal.
The Act—the essential nature of which is unchanged—requires local authorities to develop Local Plans or Unitary Development Plans to outline what kind of development is permitted where, and to mark special areas on Local Plan Maps. It did not introduce a formal system of zoning as used in the United States. Counties developed Structure Plans that set broad targets for the wider area. Structure Plans were always problematic and were often in the process of being replaced by the time they were formally adopted.
The planning system underwent a number of alterations, which were consolidated in the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 (TCPA 1990). Section 106 substantially re-wrote Section 52 from the former Act, settling the concept of agreements (known as "planning obligation agreements," or more commonly "Section 106 agreements"), under which the developer is subject to detailed arrangements and restrictions beyond those that a planning condition could impose, or by which he makes agreed financial contributions beyond the immediate building works to offset development effects on the local community. This was soon amended to allow a developer to self-impose obligations to preempt objections to planning permission. This prevents the planning authority from blocking a permission by merely failing to negotiate.
Three further Acts related to planning are associated with this primary act: The Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990, the Planning (Hazardous Substances) Act 1990, and the Planning (Consequential Provisions) Act 1990. These four Acts are referred to as the Planning Acts. Almost immediately after parliament passed these Acts, the government had further thoughts on the control of land development, which led to the Planning and Compensation Act 1991, which made important alterations to many of the Planning Acts provisions.
The Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004 made substantial changes to the English Development Plan system. It did away with both Structure Plans and Local Plans, in favour of Local Development Frameworks (LDFs), which are made up a number of Local Development Documents (LDDs) and Supplementary Planning Documents (SPDs). The Regional Spatial Strategy (RSS), which is produced by Regional Assemblies in England, replaces the Structure Plan as the strategic planning document (i.e., the RSS that's targets for housing and employment development within each district in a Region in the future). A variation on this approach exists in Wales.
Local Authorities are also now required to produce Local Development Schemes (LDS) - which outline the work the LDDs/SPDs they intend to produce over a three year period, and Statements of Community Involvement (SCI), which outline how the Council will involve the local community. All LDDs and SPDs also have to be accompanied by a Sustainability Appraisal (SA) and a Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA). The SEA is a requirement under European Union laws. Planning Policy Guidance Notes are also being gradually replaced by Planning Policy Statements.
Minor variations were allowed to planning permissions, recognising that information provided for planning permission does not provide enough detail for actual construction. Working drawings are required first, and architects often make small changes to accommodate a building's technical requirements. Also, plans might change on site to overcome unforeseen problems. Legality of minor amendments was challenged in 2006, and the advice to many local authorities is that any variation to a planning permission should require planning approval.
On-line access
Historically, planning applications were submitted in paper form to designated Council offices and displayed for a statutory period at public libraries or offices. In December 1995, the London Borough of Wandsworth created a website that published electronic images of planning application documents. This technology greatly improved access to application-related documents for all participants in the planning process. Within ten years, most planning authorities within the UK followed suit.[1] This has been facilitated by widespread use of commercial off-the-shelf software packages that take visitors through a similar process.[2] Other access methods now include routing inquiries through a centrally-hosted public or privately hosted website, such as UKPlanning[3] or the national Planning Portal.[4].
Use classes
Main article: Town and Country Planning (Use Classes) Order 1987
The requirement to obtain planning permission extends not only to new construction, but also in substantive changes of use of a property. There are various 'use classes', and change of use to a different use class generally requires Planning permission.
The main classes (excluding Scotland, which has a separate Use Classes Order) are:
A1: shops
A2: financial and professional services
A3: restaurants and cafés
A4: drinking establishments[5]
A5: hot food takeaways
B1: businesses (offices, light industry)
B2: general industrial
B8: storage and distribution
C1: hotels
C2: residential institutions
C3: dwellinghouses
D1: non-residential institutions (schools, libraries, surgeries)
D2: assembly and leisure (cinemas, swimming baths, gymnasiums)
Classes A3 to A5 were formed recently by a split of the previous A3 class 'Food and Drink', though this split was not effected in Wales; jurisdiction over secondary planning legislation being by then a matter for the Assembly.
Various uses are considered to be sui generis, meaning that they are considered to be a use class in themselves, and not part of an existing use class. These specifically include:
theatres
amusement arcades
laundrettes
petrol stations
car dealerships
taxi/car rental firm
scrapyard
nightclubs
warehouse clubs
The Town and Country Planning Act of 1947 created the framework for the system. Green belts were added in 1955 via a government circular. The system has essentially remained the same since the initial 1947 act, which repealed all previous legislation, including the first Housing and Town Planning Act 1909, which had been followed by the Housing and Town Planning Act 1919, Town Planning Act 1925, and Town and Country Planning Act 1932.
Current planning legislation for England and Wales is consolidated in the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 (TCPA 1990). Three further planning-related acts are associated with this principal Act. These four acts are defined as the Planning Acts. Parts of these Acts have been replaced or amended by the provisions of the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004, which received Royal Assent on 13 May 2004.
The basic planning law of Northern Ireland is contained in the Planning (Northern Ireland) Order 1991.
The relevant Acts for Scotland are the Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act 1997 and the Planning etc (Scotland) Act 2006.
History
The roots of the UK town and country planning systems, created in the immediate post-war years, lie in concerns developed over the previous half century in response to industrialisation and urbanisation. The particular concerns were pollution, urban sprawl, and ribbon development. These concerns were expressed through the work of thinkers such as Ebenezer Howard and the philanthropic actions of industrialists such as the Lever Brothers and the Cadbury family.
By the outbreak of Second World War, thinking was sufficiently advanced that, even during the war, a series of Royal commissions looked at the problems of urban planning and development control. These included:
The Barlow Commission (1940) into the distribution of industrial population
The Scott Committee into rural land use (1941)
The Uthwatt Committee into compensation and betterment (1942)
The Reith Report into New Towns (1947)
Also, Patrick Abercrombie developed a plan for the reconstruction of London, which envisaged moving 1.5 million people from London to new and expanded towns.
These intellectual efforts resulted in:
The New Towns Act 1946
The Town and Country Planning Act 1947
The 1947 Act, in effect, nationalised the right to develop land. It requires all proposals, with a few exclusions, to secure planning permission from the local authority, with provision to appeal against refusal.
The Act—the essential nature of which is unchanged—requires local authorities to develop Local Plans or Unitary Development Plans to outline what kind of development is permitted where, and to mark special areas on Local Plan Maps. It did not introduce a formal system of zoning as used in the United States. Counties developed Structure Plans that set broad targets for the wider area. Structure Plans were always problematic and were often in the process of being replaced by the time they were formally adopted.
The planning system underwent a number of alterations, which were consolidated in the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 (TCPA 1990). Section 106 substantially re-wrote Section 52 from the former Act, settling the concept of agreements (known as "planning obligation agreements," or more commonly "Section 106 agreements"), under which the developer is subject to detailed arrangements and restrictions beyond those that a planning condition could impose, or by which he makes agreed financial contributions beyond the immediate building works to offset development effects on the local community. This was soon amended to allow a developer to self-impose obligations to preempt objections to planning permission. This prevents the planning authority from blocking a permission by merely failing to negotiate.
Three further Acts related to planning are associated with this primary act: The Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990, the Planning (Hazardous Substances) Act 1990, and the Planning (Consequential Provisions) Act 1990. These four Acts are referred to as the Planning Acts. Almost immediately after parliament passed these Acts, the government had further thoughts on the control of land development, which led to the Planning and Compensation Act 1991, which made important alterations to many of the Planning Acts provisions.
The Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004 made substantial changes to the English Development Plan system. It did away with both Structure Plans and Local Plans, in favour of Local Development Frameworks (LDFs), which are made up a number of Local Development Documents (LDDs) and Supplementary Planning Documents (SPDs). The Regional Spatial Strategy (RSS), which is produced by Regional Assemblies in England, replaces the Structure Plan as the strategic planning document (i.e., the RSS that's targets for housing and employment development within each district in a Region in the future). A variation on this approach exists in Wales.
Local Authorities are also now required to produce Local Development Schemes (LDS) - which outline the work the LDDs/SPDs they intend to produce over a three year period, and Statements of Community Involvement (SCI), which outline how the Council will involve the local community. All LDDs and SPDs also have to be accompanied by a Sustainability Appraisal (SA) and a Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA). The SEA is a requirement under European Union laws. Planning Policy Guidance Notes are also being gradually replaced by Planning Policy Statements.
Minor variations were allowed to planning permissions, recognising that information provided for planning permission does not provide enough detail for actual construction. Working drawings are required first, and architects often make small changes to accommodate a building's technical requirements. Also, plans might change on site to overcome unforeseen problems. Legality of minor amendments was challenged in 2006, and the advice to many local authorities is that any variation to a planning permission should require planning approval.
On-line access
Historically, planning applications were submitted in paper form to designated Council offices and displayed for a statutory period at public libraries or offices. In December 1995, the London Borough of Wandsworth created a website that published electronic images of planning application documents. This technology greatly improved access to application-related documents for all participants in the planning process. Within ten years, most planning authorities within the UK followed suit.[1] This has been facilitated by widespread use of commercial off-the-shelf software packages that take visitors through a similar process.[2] Other access methods now include routing inquiries through a centrally-hosted public or privately hosted website, such as UKPlanning[3] or the national Planning Portal.[4].
Use classes
Main article: Town and Country Planning (Use Classes) Order 1987
The requirement to obtain planning permission extends not only to new construction, but also in substantive changes of use of a property. There are various 'use classes', and change of use to a different use class generally requires Planning permission.
The main classes (excluding Scotland, which has a separate Use Classes Order) are:
A1: shops
A2: financial and professional services
A3: restaurants and cafés
A4: drinking establishments[5]
A5: hot food takeaways
B1: businesses (offices, light industry)
B2: general industrial
B8: storage and distribution
C1: hotels
C2: residential institutions
C3: dwellinghouses
D1: non-residential institutions (schools, libraries, surgeries)
D2: assembly and leisure (cinemas, swimming baths, gymnasiums)
Classes A3 to A5 were formed recently by a split of the previous A3 class 'Food and Drink', though this split was not effected in Wales; jurisdiction over secondary planning legislation being by then a matter for the Assembly.
Various uses are considered to be sui generis, meaning that they are considered to be a use class in themselves, and not part of an existing use class. These specifically include:
theatres
amusement arcades
laundrettes
petrol stations
car dealerships
taxi/car rental firm
scrapyard
nightclubs
warehouse clubs
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