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Crackdown on planning breaches
31/10/2007
Rogue developers who flout planning laws will have to pay fixed penalties of up to £5,000 under new proposals unveiled today.
The Scottish Government is consulting on regulations which will give councils quicker, cheaper and more effective ways of dealing with breaches of planning without going to court.
One of the new powers will be to levy fines where individuals or businesses fail to comply with enforcement action, usually taken against development without permission.
Infrastructure Minister Stewart Stevenson said:
"Enforcement has a fundamental role in the operation of an effective planning system.
"Councils have expressed concern that prosecution is a lengthy and expensive process, with no guarantee that the desired outcome will be achieved.
"Fixed penalties notices will give councils an effective tool to deal with those who persistently flout the law, as well as safeguarding quality of life in Scotland's communities."
The Planning (Scotland) Act 2006 introduced a number of new powers enabling local authorities to take enforcement action on unauthorised developments and breaches of planning control. The consultation sets out the detailed powers that will be provided in secondary legislation.
It is proposed that developers who fail to comply with an enforcement notice could be served with a £1,000 fixed penalty.
For each breach of a subsequent enforcement notice, the fixed penalty notice would be increased by £500, up to a maximum of £5,000.
Those who fail to comply with a breach of condition notice would face a £100 fixed penalty notice, rising by £50 for subsequent breaches to a maximum of £300.
Another consultation flowing from the Planning Act is also launched today on development planning. This sets out the procedures for preparing new strategic development plans and local development plans and establishes the issues they must cover.
A breach of planning control is defined as carrying out development without the required planning permission, or failing to comply with any condition or limitation contained in the planning permission. Many of the breaches are inadvertent and often easily resolved without the need for formal action to be taken.
The Planning etc (Scotland) Act 2006 introduced a number of new powers, including temporary stop notices and fixed penalty notices. Secondary legislation is required to set the level of a fixed penalty notice.
The consultation on the Development Planning Regulations is an important element of the implementation of the Planning etc. (Scotland) Act 2006, providing further detail on the content of new development plans and how they will be prepared.
In future, strategic development plans will be prepared for the four largest city regions (Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh & Glasgow) while local development plans will be prepared across Scotland.
Both consultations will run for 16 weeks.