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Circular 4/1998

Annex A THE USE OF CONDITIONS IN PLANNING PERMISSIONS

POWERS

Summary of Powers

1. Conditions on planning permissions may be imposed only within the statutory powers available. Advice on these powers is given below. This advice is intended to be a guide, and it must be stressed that it is not definitive. An authoritative statement of the law can only be made by the Courts. The principal powers are in sections37 and 41 of the Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act 1997 (referred to below as "the Act"). Sections58 and 59 of the Act require the imposition of time-limiting conditions on most grants of planning permission (see paragraphs45 to 52 below). Powers to impose conditions are also conferred on the Secretary of State or Reporters by sections46, 48 and 133 and Schedule4 of the Act. Unless the permission otherwise provides, planning permission runs with the land and conditions imposed on the grant of planning permission will bind successors in title.

General Power

2. Section37(1) of the Act enables the planning authority to grant planning permission "either unconditionally or subject to such conditions as they think fit". The power to impose conditions is not, however, as wide as it appears, and must be interpreted in the light of Court decisions.

Powers for Conditions on Land Outside Application Site and Temporary Permissions

3. Section41(1) amplifies the general power in section37(1) in two ways. It makes clear that the planning authority may impose conditions regulating the development or use of land under the control of the applicant even if it is outside the site which is the subject of the application. (The Courts have held that the question whether land is under the control of an applicant is a matter to be determined according to the facts of the particular case. It is only necessary to have such control over the land as is required to enable the developer to comply with the condition.) The section also makes clear that the planning authority may grant planning permission for a specified period only.

Power to Vary or Remove the Effect of Conditions

4. Section33 of the Act provides, among other things, for planning applications to be made in respect of development which has been carried out without planning permission and for applications for planning permission to authorise development which has been carried out without complying with some planning condition to which it was subject. Special consideration may need to be given to conditions imposed on planning permissions granted under section33. For example, the standard time-limiting condition will not be appropriate where development has begun before planning permission has been granted.

5. Section42 of the Act provides for applications for planning permission to develop land without complying with conditions previously imposed on a planning permission. The planning authority can grant such permission unconditionally or subject to different conditions, or they can refuse the application if they decide that the original condition(s) should continue. The original planning permission will continue to subsist whatever the outcome of the application under section42. This section will not apply if the period within which the development could begin, as specified in the previous condition, has expired without the development having begun.*

OTHER CONSIDERATIONS

Policy and Other Considerations

6. The limits of the enabling powers are not the only constraints on the use of conditions. Conditions should normally be consistent with national planning policies, as expressed in Government Circulars, National Planning Policy Guidelines (NPPGs) and other published material. They should also normally be consistent with the provisions of development plans and other policies of planning authorities. However, where a certain kind of condition is specifically endorsed by a development plan policy it is still necessary to consider whether it is justified in the particular circumstances of the proposed development. In general, conditions which duplicate the effect of other legislation should not be imposed (see paragraphs19-22).

PRACTICE

Role of Pre-application Discussions

7. Even before an application is made, informal discussions between the applicant and the planning authority can be very helpful. They can allow the applicant to formulate the details of a project so as to take full account of the requirements of the authority and assist the authority in making sure that those requirements are reasonable in the light of the development proposed. Discussion can also reduce the need for conditions, enable the authority to explore the possible terms of conditions which remain necessary and ensure that these are tailored to the circumstances of the case.

"Standard Conditions"

8. Lists of standard or model conditions can be of great benefit. They can improve consistency of decisions, make effective use of staff resources and increase the speed of processing of planning applications. They may also, however, encourage the use of conditions as a matter of routine, without the careful assessment of the need for a condition which every applicant should be able to expect. Slavish or uncritical application of conditions is wholly inappropriate. Lists of standard conditions can usefully be made available locally, so that developers can take account of possible conditions at an early stage in drawing up their proposals. Such lists should contain a warning that they are not comprehensive and that conditions will always be devised or adapted where appropriate to suite the particular circumstances of a case.

Reasons

9. It is for the planning authority, in the first instance, to judge on the facts of the case whether a particular development proposal should be approved subject to planning conditions. By virtue of Article22(1)(a) of The Town and Country Planning (General Development Procedure) (Scotland) Order 1992, an authority deciding to grant permission subject to conditions must state the reasons for their decision. Where a planning authority, by virtue of Article15 of the General Development Procedure Order, has consulted other bodies in respect of a planning application and is disposed to grant planning permission subject to a condition suggested to them by another body, the authority should ensure that the body has provided clear reasons for suggesting the imposition of the condition. Such conditions should only be imposed where they will meet clear land use planning objectives; as stated in paragraph6 above conditions should not be used to duplicate controls available under other legislation. Reasons must be given for the imposition of every condition. It may be that more than one condition will be justified on the same basis, in which case it will be acceptable that such conditions be grouped together and justified by one reason. Reasons such as "to comply with the policies of the Council", "to secure the proper planning of the area" or "to maintain control over the development" are vague, and can suggest that the condition in question has no proper justification. The phrase "to protect amenity" can also be obscure and will often need amplification. If the reasons for the imposition of conditions are clearly explained, developers will be better able to understand the need for them and to comply with them in spirit as well as in letter. The likelihood of proper and acceptable conditions being challenged on appeal, so that development proposals are held up, will also be diminished.

Notes for Information

10. Sometimes planning authorities will wish to give guidance to an applicant for outline planning permission as to the kind of details of reserved matters which they would find acceptable. A planning authority may also wish to draw the attention of an applicant to other statutory consents (eg listed building or road construction consent) which must be obtained before development can commence. This should not be done by imposing a condition: instead a note may be appended to the planning permission. A note may also be desirable to draw the attention of the applicant to his or her right to make an application to vary or remove a condition under section42 of the Act, or indeed for other purposes.

Planning Agreements

11. Problems posed by a development proposal may be solved either by imposing a condition on the planning permission or by concluding a planning agreement under section75 of the Act or under other powers. The Secretary of State's policy on planning agreements is set out in SODD Circular12/1996. This makes it clear that the planning authority should normally seek to regulate a development by a condition rather than through an agreement, since the imposition of restrictions by means of an agreement deprives the developer of the opportunity of seeking to have the restrictions varied or removed by an application or appeal under PartIII of the Act if they are subsequently seen as being inappropriate or too onerous. Planning authorities should note that if a certain restriction is contrary to the advice contained in this Circular it is likely to be objectionable regardless of whether it is suggested that it should be implemented by a condition or an agreement. It is ultra vires to impose a condition in a planning permission requiring an applicant to enter into an agreement. Nor should conditions imposed on a grant of planning permission be duplicated in a planning agreement.

TESTS

Six Tests for Conditions

12. On a number of occasions the Courts have laid down the general criteria for the validity of planning conditions. In addition to satisfying the Courts' criteria for validity, conditions should not be imposed unless they are both necessary and effective, and do not place unjustifiable burdens on applicants. As a matter of policy, conditions should only be imposed where they are:

• necessary,
• relevant to planning,
• relevant to the development to be permitted,
• enforceable,
• precise, and
• reasonable in all other respects.

TEST: NEED FOR A CONDITION

13. In considering whether a particular condition is necessary, authorities should ask themselves whether planning permission would have to be refused if that condition were not to be imposed. If it would not, then the condition needs special and precise justification. Planning authorities should also avoid imposing conditions through anxiety to guard against every possible contingency, however remote. The argument that a condition will do no harm is no justification for its imposition; as a matter of policy a condition ought not to be imposed unless there is a definite need for it. The same principles, of course, must be applied in dealing with applications for the removal of a condition under section33 or42 of the Act; a condition should not be retained unless there are sound and clear-cut reasons for doing so.

14. In some cases a condition will clearly be unnecessary, such as where it would repeat provisions in another condition imposed on the same permission. In other cases the lack of need may be less obvious and it may help to ask whether it would be considered expedient to enforce against a breach- if not, then the condition may well be unnecessary.

15. Conditions should be tailored to tackle specific problems, rather than impose unjustified controls. In so far as a condition is wider in its scope than is necessary to achieve the desired objective, it will fail the test of need. For example, where an extension to a dwellinghouse in a particular direction would be unacceptable, a condition on the permission for its erection should specify that, and not simply remove all rights to extend the building. Permissions should not, however, be overloaded with conditions. It might be appropriate, for example, to impose on a permission in a conservation or other sensitive area a requirement that all external details and materials should be in complete accordance with the approved plans and specifications, rather than recite a long list of architectural details one by one.

Completion of Development

16. Conditions requiring development to be carried out in its entirety, or in complete accordance with the approved plans, often fail the test of need by requiring more than is needed to deal with the problem they are designed to solve. If what is really wanted is simply to ensure that some particular feature or features of the development are actually provided or are finished in a certain way, specific conditions to this end are far preferable to a general requirement.

17. The absence of a specific condition does not prevent enforcement action being taken against development which differs materially from the approved design. However, it may well be easier for planning authorities to enforce compliance with a condition that has been breached, than to enforce on the basis of a material variation from the approved plans or description of development. Where an application includes information, for example on likely hours of working, which significantly influence the planning decision, it may be appropriate to include a specific condition to ensure compliance with the restrictions.

TEST: RELEVANCE TO PLANNING

18. A condition which has no relevance to planning is ultra vires. A condition that the first occupants of dwellings must be drawn from the local authority's housing waiting list, for example, would be improper because it was meant to meet the ends of the local authority as housing authority and was not imposed for planning reasons. Although a condition can quite properly require the provision of open space to serve the approved development (as part of a housing estate, for example) it would be ultra vires if it required the open space to be dedicated to the public. Other conditions affecting land ownership (requiring, for example, that the land shall not be disposed of except as a whole) where there was no planning justification for such a constraint would similarly be ultra vires.

Other Planning Controls

19. Some matters are the subject of specific control elsewhere in planning legislation, for example advertisement control, listed building consent or tree preservation. If these controls are relevant to the development the planning authority should normally rely on them and not impose conditions on a grant of planning permission to achieve the purposes of a separate system of control (but on Trees note paragraphs77 and 78 below).

Non-planning Controls

20. Other matters are subject to control under separate legislation, yet are also of concern to the planning system. A condition which duplicates the effect of other controls will normally be unnecessary and one whose requirements conflict with those of other controls will be ultra vires because it is unreasonable. For example, a planning condition would not normally be appropriate to control the level of emissions from a proposed development where they are subject to pollution control legislation. However, such a condition may be needed to address the impact of the emissions to the extent that they might have land-use implications and/or are not controlled by the appropriate pollution control authority. (For further advice on this subject, see Planning Advice Note51 Planning and Environmental Protection.) A condition cannot be justified on the grounds that the planning authority is not the body responsible for exercising a concurrent control and, therefore, cannot ensure it will be exercised properly. Nor can a condition be justified on the grounds that a concurrent control is not permanent but is subject to expiry and renewal (as, for example, with certain licences). Even where a condition does not actually duplicate or conflict with another control, differences in requirements can cause confusion and it will be desirable as far as possible to avoid solving problems by the use of conditions instead of, or as well as, by another more specific control.

21. Where other controls are also available, a condition may, however, be needed when the considerations material to the exercise of the two systems of control are substantially different, since it might be unwise in these circumstances to rely on the alternative control being exercised in the manner or to the degree needed to secure planning objectives. Conditions may also be needed to deal with circumstances for which a concurrent control is unavailable. A further case where conditions may be justified will be where they can prevent development being carried out in a manner which would be likely to give rise to onerous requirements under other powers at a later stage (eg to ensure adequate arrangements for the disposal of sewage and thus avoid subsequent intervention under the Sewerage (Scotland) Act 1968).

22. As a matter of policy, conditions should not be imposed in order to avoid compensation payments under other legislation (although such a condition would not be ultra vires if it could be justified on planning grounds). Although conditions which have the effect of restricting for planning purposes the activities in respect of which planning permission is granted may reasonably be imposed without any liability for compensation arising under planning legislation, great care should be taken with conditions which would have the effect of removing future liability for compensation which might arise under other legislation. For example, a condition requiring sound-proofing measures may be appropriate to a permission for residential development near a major road where noise levels are high. But it will be inappropriate to impose such a condition with the aim of removing the roads authority's liability to install soundproofing when proposals for major road improvement are implemented. A condition of this sort is not relevant to the existing planning circumstances, but looks to future circumstances in respect of which other legislation provides compensation for those affected.

TEST: RELEVANCE TO THE DEVELOPMENT TO BE PERMITTED

23. Unless a condition fairly and reasonably relates to the development to be permitted, it will be ultra vires.

24. It is not, therefore, sufficient that a condition is related to planning objectives: it must also be justified by the nature of the development permitted or its effect on the surroundings. For example, if planning permission is being granted for the alteration of a factory building, it would be wrong to impose conditions requiring additional parking facilities to be provided for an existing factory simply to meet a need that already exists. It would similarly be wrong to require the improvement of the appearance or layout of an adjoining site simply because it is untidy or congested. Despite the desirability of these objectives in planning terms, the need for the action would not be created by the new development. On the other hand, it is proper for conditions to secure satisfactory access or parking facilities, for example, which are genuinely required by the users of a proposed development. Conditions can also be proper where the need for them arises out of the effects of the development rather than its own features; for example, where a permission will result in intensification of industrial use of a site, a condition may be necessary requiring additional sound-insulation in the existing factory buildings. It may even be justifiable to require by condition that an existing building be demolished- perhaps where to have both would result in the site being over-intensively developed.

TEST: ABILITY TO ENFORCE

25. A condition should not be imposed if it cannot be enforced. It is often useful to consider what means are available to secure compliance with a proposed condition. There are two provisions which authorities may use to enforce conditions; an enforcement notice under section127 of the Act or a breach of condition notice under section145. Precision in the wording of conditions is crucial when it comes to enforcement.

Practicality of Enforcement

26. Sometimes a condition will be unenforceable because it is in practice impossible to detect an infringement. More commonly it will merely be difficult to prove a breach of its requirements. For example, a condition imposed for traffic reasons restricting the number of persons resident at any one time in a block of flats would be impracticable to monitor and pose severe difficulties in proving an infringement. However, where a condition is intended to prevent harm to the amenity of an area which is clearly likely to result from the development (for example, a condition requiring an amusement centre to close at a certain time in the evening), it will not usually be difficult to monitor compliance with the condition. Those affected by contraventions of its requirements are likely to be able to provide clear evidence of any breaches.

Whether Compliance is Reasonable

27. A condition may raise doubt about whether the person carrying out the development to which it relates can reasonably be expected to comply with it. If not, subsequent enforcement action is likely to fail on the ground that what is required cannot reasonably be enforced. One type of case where this might happen is where a condition is imposed requiring the carrying out of works (eg the construction of a means of access) on land within the application site but not, at the time of the grant of planning permission, under the control of the applicant. If the applicant failed to acquire an interest in that land and carried out the development without complying with the condition, the planning authority could enforce the condition only by taking action against the third party who owned the land to which the condition applied and who had gained no benefit from the development. Such difficulties can usually be avoided by framing the condition so as to require that the development authorised by the permission should not commence until the access has been constructed.

Enforcing Conditions Imposed on Permission for Operational Development

28. An otherwise legally sound condition may prove unenforceable because it is imposed on a grant of planning permission for the carrying out of operations which have not been carried out in accordance with the approved plans. Authorities should take into account the Court of Appeal's judgement in the case of Handoll and Othersv Warner Goodman and Streat (A firm) and Others, (1995) 25EG157, which held that the judgement of the Divisional Court in KerrierDCv Secretary of State for the Environment and Brewer (1980) 41P&CR284, had been wrongly decided. Both cases concerned a planning permission for the erection of a dwelling subject to an agricultural occupancy condition.**

TEST: PRECISION

29. The framing of conditions requires great care, not least to ensure that a condition is enforceable. A condition, for example, requiring only that "a landscaping scheme shall be submitted for the approval of the planning authority" is incomplete since, if the applicant were to submit the scheme and even obtain approval for it, but neglect to carry it out, it is unlikely that the planning authority could actually require the scheme to be implemented. In such a case, a requirement should be imposed that landscaping shall be carried out in accordance with a scheme to be approved in writing by the planning authority; and the wording of the condition must clearly require this. A condition of this kind also sets no requirement as to the time or the stage of development by which the landscaping must be done, which can similarly lead to enforcement difficulties. Conditions which require specific works to be carried out at a certain 'time' or stage should state clearly when this must be done.

Vague Conditions

30. A condition which is not sufficiently precise for the applicant to be able to ascertain what he must do to comply with it is ultra vires and must not be imposed. Vague expressions which sometimes appear in conditions, for example "keep the buildings in a tidy state" or "so as not to cause annoyance to nearby residents", give occupants little idea of what is expected of them. Furthermore, conditions should not be made subject to qualifications, such as "if called upon to do so" or "if the growth of traffic makes it desirable", because these do not provide any objective and certain criterion by which the applicant can ascertain what is required.

Discretionary or Vetting Conditions

31. Conditions which attempt to provide for an arbiter to interpret such expressions or qualifications do not avoid this difficulty. Conditions requiring that tidiness, for example, shall be "to the satisfaction of the planning authority" make the applicant no more certain of what is required. Conditions which are imprecise or unreasonable cannot be made acceptable by phrases such as "except with the prior approval of the planning authority" which purport to provide an informal procedure to waive or modify their effect. Similarly, conditions restricting the occupation of a building should not set up a vetting procedure for prospective occupiers. Conditions which raise these difficulties, however, are not to be confused with conditions which require the submission of a scheme or details for approval which will, when granted, provide the precise guidelines to be followed by the developer.

Clarity

32. Conditions should be not only precise but clear. Where the wording of a condition may be difficult to follow, it may be helpful to attach to the permission an illustrative plan (eg describing sight lines required at the entrance to an access road).

TEST: REASONABLENESS

33. A condition can be ultra vires on the grounds of unreasonableness, even though it may be precisely worded and apparently within the powers available.

Conditions Invalid on Grounds of Unreasonableness

34. A condition may be unreasonable because it is unduly restrictive. Although a condition may in principle impose a continuing restriction on the use of land (provided that there are good planning reasons for that restriction), such a condition should not be imposed if the restriction effectively nullifies the benefit of the permission. For example, it would normally be reasonable to restrict the hours during which an industrial use may be carried on if the use of the premises outside these hours would affect the amenity of the neighbourhood. However, it would be unreasonable to do so to such an extent as to make it impossible for the occupier to run his business properly. If it appears that a permission could be given only subject to conditions that would be likely to be held unreasonable by the Courts, then planning permission should be refused altogether.

Avoidance of Onerous Requirements

35. Even where a condition would not be so unreasonably restrictive as to be ultra vires, it may still be so onerous that as a matter of policy it should be avoided. For example, a condition which would put a severe limitation on the freedom of an owner to dispose of his property, or which would obviously make it difficult to finance the erection of the permitted building by borrowing on mortgage, should be avoided on these grounds. An unduly restrictive condition can never be made acceptable by offering the prospect of informal relaxation of its effect.

Control Over Land

36. Particular care needs to be taken over conditions which require works to be carried out on land in which the applicant has no interest at the time when planning permission is granted. If the land is included in the site in respect of which the application is made, such conditions can in principle be imposed, but the authority should have regard to the points discussed in paragraph3 above. If the land is outside that site, a condition requiring the carrying out of works on the land cannot be imposed unless the authority are satisfied that the applicant has sufficient control over the land to enable those works to be carried out.

Conditions Depending on Others' Actions

37. It is unreasonable to impose a condition worded in a positive form which developers would be unable to comply with themselves, or which they could comply with only with the consent or authorisation of a third party Similarly, conditions which require the applicant to obtain an authorisation from another body, such as the Scottish Environment Protection Agency, should not be imposed.

38. Although it would be ultravires to require works which the developer has no powers to carry out, or which would need the consent or authorisation of a third party, it may be possible to achieve a similar result by a condition worded in a negative form, prohibiting development until a specified action has been taken. Whereas previously it had been understood that the test of whether such a condition was reasonable, was strict; to the effect that there were at least reasonable prospects of the action in question being performed, the House of Lords (in the British Railways Boardv the Secretary of State for the Environment and Hounslow LBC [1994] JPL32;[1993] 3 PLR 125) established that the mere fact that a desirable condition, worded in a negative form appears to have no reasonable prospects of fulfilment does not mean that planning permission need necessarily be refused as a matter of law. Thus, while an authority will continue to have regard to all relevant factors affecting a planning application and whether it should be granted with or without conditions, there is no longer a legal requirement to satisfy a reasonable prospects test in respect of any negative condition they may decide to impose. For example, if it could be shown that improvements to sewerage facilities for a new housing development were planned but there was no clear indication that they would be built within the time limits imposed by the permission, it might still be possible to grant consent subject to a condition that the houses should not be occupied until the relevant sewerage works were completed. It might also be reasonable to use a condition requiring that a development should not commence until a particular road had been stopped up or diverted, even if the timing remained uncertain. Planning authorities should therefore note this recent House of Lords ruling and its implications for a less restrictive view in the use of negative conditions.

Consent of Applicant to Unreasonable Conditions

39. An unreasonable condition does not become reasonable because an applicant suggests it or consents to its terms. The condition will normally run with the land and may, therefore, still be operative long after the applicant has moved on. It must always be justified on its planning merits.

REGULATION OF DEVELOPMENT

Outline Permissions

40. An applicant who proposes to carry out building or other operations may choose to apply either for full planning permission, or for outline permission with one or more of the following matters reserved by condition for the subsequent approval of the planning authority: the siting, design or the external appearance of the building, the means of access, or the landscaping of the site ("reserved matters"). An applicant cannot seek an outline planning permission for a change of use alone.

Details Supplied in Outline Applications

41. An applicant can, however, choose to submit as part of an outline application details of any of these "reserved matters". Unless he has indicated that those details are submitted "for illustrative purposes only" (or has otherwise indicated that they are not formally part of the application), the planning authority must treat them as part of the development in respect of which the application is being made. The authority cannot reserve that matter by condition for subsequent approval, unless the applicant is willing to amend the application by withdrawing the details.

Conditions Relating to Outline Permissions

42. Once outline planning permission has been granted, it cannot be withdrawn except by a revocation order under section65 of the Act, and any subsequent approval of reserved matters does not constitute the granting of a further planning permission. Any conditions relating to anything other than the reserved matters should be imposed when outline permission is granted. The only conditions which can be imposed when the reserved matters are approved are conditions which directly relate to those matters. So, where certain aspects of the development are crucial to the decision, planning authorities will wish to consider imposing relevant conditions when outline permission is granted. For example, it may be considered necessary to require a building to be constructed within a specified "footprint" or to retain important landscape features which would affect the setting of the building and its neighbours.

43. If the planning authority consider that, whatever the precise form the development is to take, access to the buildings should be from a particular road (or, alternatively, that there should be no means of access from a particular road), then a condition to this effect must be imposed on the outline permission. Approval of the details of the means of access to the permitted buildings can be refused on the grounds that there should not be access to the site from a particular road only if the need for such a restriction arises from the details of the development which have been submitted for approval (eg from the density which is indicated by submitted details of the design and siting of the buildings). It is desirable that, wherever possible, notes should be appended to an outline permission to give the developer guidance as to what precise form of development will be acceptable to the planning authority.

Conditions Reserving Other Matters

44. Authorities should seek to ensure, where possible, that conditions other than those relating to reserved matters, are self-contained and do not require further approvals to be obtained before development can begin. Where necessary, however, a planning authority may also, when granting a full or outline planning permission, impose a condition requiring that details of a specified aspect of the development which was not fully described in the application (eg the provision of car parking spaces) be submitted for approval before the development is begun. In the case of full permission such a condition can relate to details (such as landscaping) which might have been reserved matters had the application been made in outline. The applicant has the same right of appeal to the Secretary of State under section47 of the Act if he cannot get the authority's approval, agreement or consent to matters reserved under such a condition as he has in respect of applications for approval of reserved matters.

TIME-LIMITS ON THE COMMENCEMENT OF DEVELOPMENT

Statutory Time-limits

45. The imposition of time-limits on the commencement of development is, by virtue of section58 of the Act, not required for temporary permissions (see paragraphs104-109), for permissions for any development carried out before the grant of planning permission, or for permissions granted by a development order, an enterprise zone or simplified planning zone scheme.

Time-limits on Full Permissions

46. Other grants of planning permission (apart from outline permissions) should, under section58 of the Act, be made subject to a condition imposing a time-limit within which the development authorised must be started. The section specifies a period of five years from the date of the permission. Where planning permission is granted without a condition limiting the duration of the planning permission, it is deemed to be granted subject to the condition that the development to which it relates must be begun not later than the expiration of 5years beginning with the grant of permission.

Time-limits on Outline Permissions

47. Grants of outline planning permission must, under section59 of the Act, be made subject to conditions imposing two types of time-limit, one within which applications must be made for the approval of reserved matters and a second within which the development itself must be started. The periods specified for the submission of applications for approval of reserved matters are: the latest of three years from the grant of outline permission; 6months from the date of refusal of an earlier application; and 6months from the date on which an appeal against such a refusal was dismissed. The periods specified for starting the development are either five years from the grant of permission or two years from the final approval of the last of the reserved matters, whichever is the longer.

Variation from Standard Time-limits

48. If the authority consider it appropriate on planning grounds, they may specify longer or shorter periods than those specified in the Act, and must give their reasons for so doing. In the absence of specific time-limiting conditions, permission is deemed to have been granted subject to conditions imposing the periods referred to in paragraphs46 and 47. It may be particularly desirable to adopt a flexible approach to the fixing of time-limits where development is to be carried out in distinct parts or phases; section59(6) of the Act provides that outline permissions may be granted subject to a series of time-limits, each relating to a separate part of the development. Such a condition must be imposed at the time outline planning permission is granted.

49. A condition requiring the developer to obtain approval of reserved matters within a stated period should not be used, since the timing of an approval is not within the developer's control. A condition, therefore, should set time-limits only on the submission of applications for approval of reserved matters.

Separate Submission of Different Reserved Matters

50. Applications for approval under an outline permission may be made either for all reserved matters at once, or for one at one time and others at another. Even after details relating to a particular reserved matter have been approved, one or more fresh applications may be made for approval of alternative details in relation to the same reserved matter. Once the time-limit for applications for approval of reserved matters has expired, however, no applications for such an approval can be made.

Effect of Time-limit

51. After the expiry of the time-limit for commencement of development it would be ultra vires for development to be begun under that permission; a further application for planning permission must be made.

Renewal of Permissions Before Expiry of Time-limits

52. Developers who delay the start of development are likely to want their permission renewed, as the time-limit for implementation approaches. Under Article5 of The Town and Country Planning (General Development Procedure) (Scotland) Order 1992 applications for such renewals may be made simply by letter, referring to the existing planning permission, although the planning authority have power subsequently to require further information, if needed. As a general rule, such applications should be refused only where:

a. there has been some material change in planning circumstances since the original permission was granted (eg a change in some relevant planning policy for the area, or in relevant road considerations or the issue by the Government of a new planning policy which is material to the renewal application);

b. there is likely to be continued failure to begin the development and this will contribute unacceptably to uncertainty about the future pattern of development in the area; or

c. the application is premature because the permission still has a reasonable time to run.

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