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List of Major Recommendations
Agricultural buildings and operations
1. Class 18 agricultural development should remain PD in principle.
2. Class 18 agricultural PDR should however continue to be withdrawn in National Scenic Areas, and should additionally be withdrawn in the remaining parts of National Parks.
3. Class 18(1)(b) private ways should be removed to a new Class for private ways, and PDR for such ways restricted.
4. Class 18(1)(a) PDR for agricultural buildings should be withdrawn within the setting of Listed Buildings and Scheduled Monuments.
5. User's guidance to the GPDO should refer to national and local planning guidance, which should advise on defining in practice the setting of Listed Buildings and Scheduled Monuments.
6. The existing size limits for farm buildings should remain for the time being.
7. The definition of agriculture in the TCP(S)A 1997), s277(1) should be included in the Order. This should be done in Article 1(2) Interpretation, to which interpretations at the end of Schedule 1 Part 6 should also be moved.
8. Equestrian development which is not for business purposes should not be defined as agriculture, and should enjoy no privileged PDR.
9. When equestrian development is for business purposes, and the horses are kept as livestock, it should be defined as agriculture, and should in consequence enjoy the same PDR as other agricultural development.
10. When equestrian development is for business purposes, and the horses are not kept as livestock, it should not be defined as agriculture.
11. In our view, equestrian business development which is not agriculture should enjoy no privileged PDR.
12. If the Executive however decides that equestrian business development which is not agriculture should be treated in the same way as agriculture, the development should enjoy the same PDR as agricultural development.
13. Reword Class 20 to exclude works for agricultural purposes, and move it from Part 6.
14. Reword Class 19 to exclude works affecting water bodies.
15. Refer Class 20 works to SEPA and set up an administrative agreement that SEPA consults the planning authority on any planning interest in such works
16. Further work is required on polytunnels. Meantime, they should be treated as agricultural buildings. It may be helpful to refer to them explicitly in Class 18, but this will require a workable definition.
Forestry buildings and operations
17. Minor works for forest recreation development should be PD. These should include signage, signposting and waymarking, and ancillary buildings up to limits to be determined.
18. These limits should be the subject of discussion with the Forestry Commission Scotland, but should as a default align with those of statutory undertakers for erecting ancillary buildings. They should be set to exclude larger recreational buildings such as toilet blocks and visitor centres.
19. Paths and tracks, including mountain biking trails, should fall under the proposed new Class of private ways and the regulations we propose for it.
Private Ways
20. Create a new Class of private ways, which would replace Classes 8(1), 18(1)(b), 22(1)(b) and 22(1)(c), and 27(1). Explicitly exclude from Class 18(1)(c) works for the formation, alteration or improvement of any private way.
21. Clarify that the term private way describes a structure which is intentionally formed for the purpose of passage along it, as distinct from a route of repeated travel across the land where nothing has been formed for that purpose.
22. Exclude Parts 11, 12, 13 and 20 from the scope of the new private ways Class.
23. Distinguish in the new Class between vehicular ways and non-vehicular ways (footpaths, bridleways and cycle ways), by creating separate sub-Classes for vehicular and non-vehicular private ways.
24. The term vehicular should exclude ways which are not designed for use by motor vehicles, even though some may be capable of use by some motor vehicles.
25. The formation of non-vehicular ways should be PD.
26. The GPDO should not consider the purpose for which a private way is formed.
27. Within protected areas, PDR should be universally withdrawn from the formation of private vehicular ways.
28. Outwith protected areas:
(i) the feasibility should be investigated of mapping land considered to be most at risk, i.e. open landscapes with semi-natural vegetation;
(ii) meantime the status quo should be retained, except to clarify that tracks for purposes other than agriculture or forestry are not PD and therefore require a planning application, and that field sports do not qualify as agriculture;
(iii) authorities should be reminded that they have recourse to an Article 4 Direction where it appears to them justified;
(iv) if open landscapes with semi-natural vegetation are mapped, PDR should then be withdrawn from all private vehicular ways within them.
29. The proposed new sub-Class of private vehicular way should:
(i) distinguish between maintenance, repair and improvement (possibly replacing the last by the term upgrading);
(ii) make it clear that maintenance and repair are PD, whereas improvement from non-vehicular to vehicular way requires a planning application;
(iii)make it clear that work which widens the way beyond its existing boundaries requires a planning application;
(iv) impose a general condition that any incidental or consequential damage to adjacent ground must be made good.
30. Relevant planning authorities should hold stocks of good practice guidance ( e.g. by SNH) on the formation and repair of hill tracks, and issue it to anyone enquiring.
Restriction of PDR in National Scenic Areas
31. The restriction of PDR in National Scenic Areas should be extended to other parts of National Parks.
Industrial and warehouse development
32. Delete 'materially affect appearance' from both class 23.2.a and class 24.2.a
33. References to original building size should be deleted. Restrictions should be applied to site coverage (max 50% of site area to be occupied by buildings, plant or machinery)
34. The height of any building extended or altered shall not exceed the highest point of current buildings on the same site.
35. A new limitation should be placed on PDR for Part 8, where buildings are within 25m of a residential property. This would affect building extensions and the installation of additional plant/machinery (classes 23 & 24) and require a planning application in these circumstances. This should exclude replacement plant or machinery.
36. PDR should be extended to ancillary uses except in the case of retail functions.
37. The definition of 'industrial building' and 'warehouse' should exclude any retail activity.
38. Class 26 should be removed from the Order, thereby requiring operators to apply for planning permission for the deposit on-site of imported waste.
Development by Statutory Undertakers
39. There should be a clear definition of "operational land" included in a comprehensive glossary of terms.
40. PDR for the installation of a new overhead electricity line under Class 40(1)(a) should removed within National Parks and National Scenic Areas.
41. Part 13 should be rationalized and simplified, with inconsistencies between Classes removed or minimized.
Aviation development
42. Part 14 of the GPDO should be rationalized and simplified into three Classes:
(i) development by air traffic services licence holders and their agents;
(ii) development by the Civil Aviation Authority and its licensees; and
(iii) development by relevant airport operators and their agents.
43. Airport operators and air traffic services licence holders should develop with local authorities protocols and on-going dialogue around airport development and traffic/transport issues.
44. Multi-storey car parks should be specifically included in the definition of 'operational building' set out in Part 14 of the Order.
I45. t should be clearly stated that some PDR will be subject to prior approval within an aerodrome safeguarding zone. This will apply to developments which are more than 3 metres high within 3 kilometres of an airport and 12 metres high within 15 kilometres of an airport. The Parts and Classes affected are: Part 20, Part 21 and Part 4 (Class 14)
Demolition
46. Part 23 should be updated in the light of the 2001 (Demolition which is not Development) Direction .
47. "building" and "demolition" should be clearly defined in a comprehensive glossary of terms, held at one place in the Order, and cross-referenced to Part 23 as revised.
48. The requirement for prior approval of the planning authority should be deleted.
Microgeneration
49. The GPDO should deal explicitly with microgeneration development.
50. The GPDO should distinguish between householder and non-householder microgeneration development.
51. Householder should refer to all types of dwelling. Non-householder should refer to all types of buildings other than dwellings.
52. For householder development, microgeneration should be separately recognised within Part 1. It should be presented within Part 1 in groups of technologies with similar impacts.
53. For non-householder development, a new Part dedicated to microgeneration should be inserted in the Order, presented by groups of technologies with similar impacts.
54. Separate user guidance should be produced to microgeneration PD, illustrated and written in plain English.
55. The GPDO should define microgeneration as in s4 of the Climate Change and Sustainable Energy Act 2006, excepting that:
(i) the definition should exclude the term geothermal and include ground source, water source and air source heat pumps;
(ii) the definition should exclude the term biofuel.
56. The definition should additionally clarify that microgeneration:
(i) includes installations which save carbon emissions by raising overall efficiency but may burn fossil fuels, e.g. gas-fired micro- CHP;
(ii) excludes installations which raise energy efficiency but do not generate heat or electricity, e.g. external sun blinds.
57. The definition should be cross-referenced to a comprehensive glossary of the GPDO.
58. The GPDO should be blind to whether or not the development has commercial potential.
59. The proposed user guidance should make it clear that microgeneration development refers to installations intended primarily to meet the needs of the premises. We suggest that the Executive also consider whether a condition to this effect might beneficially be inserted in the GPDO itself.
General
60. PD limits should be set for each technology or group of technologies using the most practicable attribute(s).
61. A PD noise constraint should be imposed on all installations. We propose that this be expressed as a condition, requiring that noise emitted by the installation should not be received at a level exceeding 45dB(A) absolute inside a room of any neighbouring property; and 35dB(A) inside a room in which persons might reasonably be expected to sleep, and in which windows are open to allow reasonable ventilation.
62. The combined microgeneration installations within the curtilage of a single building should not exceed 50kW or 45kW thermal.
63. A general condition should be inserted for all microgeneration that the development must comply with a design code (which would therefore have to be prepared and adopted).
Wind turbines
64. PD limits should be set in terms of size and location as follow, and should apply to all types of building:
(i) The rotor diameter of a building-mounted turbine should not exceed 2.2m.
(ii) No part of a building-mounted turbine to be more than 4m above the highest point of the roof of the building to which it is attached.
(iii) No part of a building-mounted turbine should in any attitude overhang a neighbouring property.
(iv) The rotor diameter of a free-standing turbine should not exceed 3.5m.
(v) The hub height of a free-standing turbine should not exceed 10m.
(vi) No part of a free-standing turbine should be less in any attitude than the turbine's ground-to-blade-tip height from the boundary of a neighbouring property.
(vii) PDR should not apply within 3km of the boundary of an aerodrome.
Biomass
65. For householder development, the generic PD limits should apply to external boiler houses, fuel stores and water tanks. These should be the limits proposed in our householder report, or as a default those in existing Class 3.
66. For flues, the generic limits recommended in our householder report should apply; or, as a default, a flue should not exceed whichever is the greater of the highest point of the roof of the dwelling or any existing chimney of that dwelling, whether the flue is attached to the dwelling itself or to a separate structure within its curtilage.
67. For non-householder development, the generic limits applying to plant and machinery in existing Class 24, industrial and warehouse development, should apply.
Photovoltaics ( PV) and solar thermal
68. For both householder and non-householder development, PV and solar thermal panels mounted on the plane of a sloping roof or wall should be subject to a PD limit of 15cm protrusion beyond the plane of the substrate.
69. Installations on flat roofs, which are mounted at an angle to the roof, should be dealt with separately. We recommend that further work on this matter be undertaken, but propose meanwhile, for all types of building, a default PD limit of 3m from the plane of the roof to the highest point of the installation.
70. For all types of building, up to 100% coverage of any surface should be PD.
71. For free standing fixed arrays, householder installations should be subject to the generic PD limits proposed in our householder report or, as a default, those in the existing Class 3. For non-householder development, the generic limits applying to plant and machinery in existing Class 24, industrial and warehouse development, should apply.
72. Moveable and tracking arrays should not be PD.
Micro-hydro
73. Schemes on existing engineered channels up to 50kW should be PD. Those over 50kW or on natural or semi-natural water bodies should not be PD.
Heat pumps
74. A general condition should be inserted of 'not causing loss of amenity by virtue of noise, vibration, smell, fumes etc.'
75. Ground source heat pumps should be PD, except where they would affect a Scheduled Monument or its setting, or negatively affect a site listed in a Sites and Monument Record.
76. Water source heat pumps should be PD, except in a SSSI or Listed Wildlife Site identified in the Development Plan.
77. Air source heat pumps should be PD subject to the generic limits for protrusion beyond the plane of a wall.
Micro- CHP
78. PDR should be as for biomass. Where heat dump radiators are required on the roof, these should be treated in the same way as a PV array mounted on a flat roof.
Restriction of Microgen PD
79. We do not believe that the risk requires the wholesale removal of PDR in all protected areas. We recommend that the Executive consult further with Historic Scotland, and that meantime:
(i) In National Scenic Areas the normal PDR proposed below should apply, on the grounds that the visual scale being protected is large relative to microgeneration installations.
(ii) In Conservation Areas the proposed PDR should be removed where the installation would adversely affect an elevation facing a public way (whether or not it is attached to that elevation).
(iii) The proposed PDR should apply to installations attached to Listed Buildings, because Listed Building Consent already offers protection; but they should be removed from installations within the curtilage of a Listed Building but not attached to it, because Listed Building Consent does not offer protection in that case.
80. Prior notification should not be required before PDR for microgeneration development may be exercised.
Waste Management
81. Development ancillary to landfill/land raising operations, required in connection with authorized waste operations at that site, and contained within the authorized site boundary, should be permitted development, subject to specified limitations.
82. Development ancillary to other waste management operations, within an authorized site, other than a landfill or land raising site, should be permitted development, subject to specified limitations.
Article 4 Directions
83. Article 4 directions should be plan-led, that is, they should be promoted, monitored, reviewed and updated (and occasionally withdrawn) through the preparation, adoption and review of the Local Development Plan.
84. Where a planning authority wished to promote an Article 4 Direction independent of the development plan, they should, as at present, seek Scottish Ministers' approval, and follow current public advertisement requirements. However, in so doing, there should be a requirement for Article 4 Directions to conform to the development plan, and be kept under review.
85. In order to ensure that Article 4 Directions are kept under review and up to date, such Directions should be time-limited, and we suggest this should be for a maximum of ten years.
Prior notification
86 Whilst prior notification remains relevant for very specific instances, such as aerodrome safeguarding, where its purpose relates to siting, design and external appearance, it should be abolished. This would relate to the following Classes of permitted development:
(i) Class 18 (4)(a)(i) farm buildings
(ii) Class 22 (3)(a)(i) forestry buildings
(iii) Class 29 (2) development under local or private Acts or Orders
(iv) Class 39 (3)(c)(i) a building to protect gas transport plant
(v) Class 40(3)(d)(i) a building to protect electricity generation, transmission or supply plant
(vi) Class 44(1)(3) development at an airport of an operational building
(vii) Class 71(3)(a) toll road facility
87. Alternative to the requirement for prior notification, planning authorities should:
a) establish protocols for consultation with statutory undertakers and other agencies with PDR to address issues of design and siting through more positive means
b) prepare and adopt local design guidance, specifying in advance design criteria for minor developments.
Bad neighbour development
88. Schedule 2 of the GPDO should be reviewed to bring it up to date, and include the following:
(i) Civic amenity site
(ii) Scrap yard
(iii) Floodlit recreation facilities.
Hazardous substance consultation zone
89. Permitted development within a hazardous substance consultation zone should require the prior approval of the planning authority.
90. The Executive should, in consultation with the Health and Safety Executive and planning authorities, determine the most effective means of notifying affected owners and occupiers of land and buildings.
Format and presentation of the GPDO
91. All definitions and interpretation of terms should be included at one location in the GPDO, cross-referenced to flagged words and phrases in the text ( i.e. where a word or term within the GPDO Classes has a definition or interpretation for reference, this should be highlighted within the body of the text).
92. There should be an "easy read" user-friendly summary version of the Order, both to accompany the full definitive version and for wider distribution.
93. The Scottish Executive should issue comprehensive advice in regard to the relationship between the various statutes, advice and Circulars covering permitted development.
94. There should be a Website for the GPDO, enabling easy access to an updated and consolidated Permitted Development Order, and with hypertext links to relevant parts of Scottish Office guidance and advice.
95. The electronic version of the GPDO should be accompanied by decision trees assisting users to establish whether their proposal is permitted development.
96. Further research should be undertaken to explore the scope for the GPDO to be issued in a loose-leaf format or series of folders, thus facilitating ease of updating of relevant parts of it without having to amend the whole GPDO, subsequently causing confusion as to the current document. The definitive version would be in electronic format on the Scottish Executive website.
Maintaining the currency of the GPDO
97. The Scottish Executive should give consideration to replacing the current GPDO with separate permitted development orders ( PDOs) for specified categories of minor development, each having the status of a General Development Order;
98. Alternatively, the Scottish Executive should give consideration to the scope for the GPDO to be issued in a loose-leaf format or series of folders, with the up-to-date definitive version in electronic format on the Scottish Executive website;
99. The Scottish Executive should issue a Planning Advice Note on best practice in design guidance for minor development;
100. All planning authorities should have up-to-date good quality local design guidance for minor developments.
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