In the latest stage of implementation of the Planning (Scotland) Act 2006 ("the Act"), important changes have been made to the way in which the planning appeal system will work in Scotland. The Act will work in tandem with the Town and Country Planning (Appeals) (Scotland) Regulations 2008 ("the Regulations"), which comes into force on 3 August 2009.
Why have things changed?
The stated aim of the changes is to improve the efficiency of the planning appeal system, and, in particular, to avoiding unnecessarily protracted processes when an appeal is made against a planning decision.
What are the changes?
The changes to the planning appeal system introduced by the Act and the Regulations include removal of the automatic right to appear before and be heard by a person appointed by Scottish Ministers, restrictions on the introduction of new material in the appeal process and prohibition of variation of a proposal once an appeal has been made.
Until now, all planning appeals have been made to the Scottish Ministers. The effect of the Act is that fewer appeals will be made to the Ministers, and many appellants will need to seek Local Authority review of planning decisions in the first instance. However, the local review process only applies where the original planning decision is made by a person appointed under the terms of the council's new scheme of delegation introduced by the Act.
Appeals in relation to certain matters will remain the responsibility of the Scottish Ministers, and the Regulations set out new appeal processes which will apply in these cases. These matters include appeals regarding enforcement notices, notices requiring the replacement of trees, amenity notices and refusals of certificates of lawful use or development.
What is not affected?
A small number of appeals against planning decisions will not be affected by either the Act or the Regulations. This is the case where arrangements for dealing with them are contained in other legislation; for example, appeals in relation to listed building consent, conservation area consent, and hazardous substances consent. For the time being, statutory appeals procedures in relation to these regimes remain unchanged.
In the majority of cases however, it is anticipated that the principles of the new appeals Regulations will be applied from 3 August 2009 onwards.
Further Informations
The Regulations can be read in full here.
The Act can be read in full here.
This article was written for Law-Now, CMS Cameron McKenna's free online information service. To register for Law-Now, please go to www.law-now.com/law-now/mondaq
Law-Now information is for general purposes and guidance only. The information and opinions expressed in all Law-Now articles are not necessarily comprehensive and do not purport to give professional or legal advice. All Law-Now information relates to circumstances prevailing at the date of its original publication and may not have been updated to reflect subsequent developments.
The original publication date for this article was 10/07/2009.
