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1.0 BACKGROUND

This section explains the background to the research, its aims and objectives, and the principal research methods employed.

1.1 Introduction

The Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act 1997 sections 30 and 31 provide that Scottish Ministers may make a development order granting planning permission for development of any class specified in the order, either unconditionally or subject to such conditions or limitations as may be specified by the Order.

The current GPDO came into effect on 13 March 1992, following an extensive review of the 1981 General Development Order. It was intended to consolidate significant amendments since 1981, and to make the format and language of the GPDO more "user-friendly". It also reduced permitted development in certain areas in order to enhance environmental protection, and extended it in other areas in order to reduce burdens on developers and planning authorities.

Schedule 1 of the GPDO is divided into 25 parts, containing 72 classes of development. These replaced the former 28 broader Classes in the 1981 Order, resulting in a more detailed specification of permitted development, and associated conditions and limitations. Every Class of permitted development in Schedule 1 of the GPDO begins with a description of the permitted development (sub para 1), followed by the circumstances (if any) where permitted development does not apply (such as in Conservation Areas). Subsequent sub-paragraphs specify any conditions and limitations, and an interpretation of the Class where necessary.

The first comprehensive review was conducted in 1998 ³, by which time the GPDO had already been amended ten times.

1.2 Modernising the Planning System

The current review of the GPDO is part of the ongoing programme of modernising the planning system. The White Paper "Modernising the Planning System" ⁴ identified the need to review the priorities of the planning system, including the extent to which applications for very small scale development proposals might be removed from the scope of the system altogether, as part of the overall aim to make the planning system fit for purpose. In addition, improving the efficiency of the system includes maximizing certainty and predictability in the outcomes of planning decisions. A central aim is "to simplify the legislation on permitted development rights to aid its understanding and use". ⁵

The GPDO is an overly complex and out of date mechanism for deregulating appropriate categories of minor development. It is difficult to understand and interpret. As well as providing a measure of deregulation, it imposes conditions and limitations which, as a consequence of incremental reform, are inconsistent and often perplexing to users. Although it has been amended 22 times, there is no authorized, consolidated and updated version. Taken together with its inherent complexity of language and layout, it risks unauthorised development arising from misinterpretation, and inconsistent decision-making by planning authorities, based on limited or outdated understanding, creating a climate of uncertainty for all.

This is partly due to a tension in the GPDOs objectives, between the requirements of legal rigour, which makes its language tortuous, and the requirements of user friendliness, so that users can be unambiguously clear about what development rights they are granted, under what conditions and circumstances. It is also due to its inflexibility and built-in obsolescence.

The GPDO needs to have a clear and well understood rationale, addressed to contemporary operating conditions, in the context of the Scottish Executive's proposals for modernising the planning system, including re-focusing planning services to promote sustainable development, re-invigorating the plan-led system, and strengthening customer focus. In short, the GPDO needs to be fit for purpose so that it can more positively contribute to the delivery of policy objectives.

1.3 Aims and objectives

The overall aim of the research was "to review the appropriateness of the planning permissions set out in the GPDO and some of the related mechanisms and recommend changes to simplify it and bring it up to date". ⁶ This included the potential to deregulate householder developments under Part 1 of Schedule 1 to the GPDO, and establish appropriate new parameters for permitted development. Work on this aspect of the research is reported separately ⁷.

The objectives were:

1. to identify any issues which arise from the way the GPDO operates in practice;
2. to evaluate the impact, effect and effectiveness of the GPDO regime;
3. to assess the existing PDR to see if they are in line with current Government policy (in the widest sense) and up-to-date in their expression;
4. to assess the existing conditions, qualifications and restrictions attached to the PDR in the GPDO to see if they are in line with current Government policy and up to date in their expression;
5. to consider whether any additional PDR should be introduced or existing rights removed;
6. to consider whether any additional conditions, qualifications and restrictions should be introduced;
7. to consider the potential for increasing PDR for householder developments.
8. to consider whether there is a need for greater consistency across the GPDO;
9. to consider how the GPDO provisions, including the Articles, could be made clearer and more comprehensible;
10. to consider the operation of the Articles (and in particular Article 4) to see if they are fully effective.

The aspiration is "to develop a GPDO which is easy to understand for planning authorities and developers, balances the needs of developers and the policy aims of government with the need to respect local communities and the amenity and environment of their areas".⁸

The Research Specification specifically excluded from fundamental review the following aspects of the Order, on the basis that their review would be more appropriately addressed in relation to other legislation:

1. permitted developments for changes of use (Part 3), which would be undertaken by a review of the Use Classes Order;
2. the mechanism in article 3 for disapplying PDR where environmental impact assessment ( EIA) is required;
3. the list of bad neighbour developments in Schedule 2 of the Order, because of its relevance to the Town and Country Planning (General Development Procedure) (Scotland) Order 1992.

1.4 Research Methods

The principal research methods employed to address the above objectives were:

• A literature review of previous research on permitted development, including recent research for the ODPM⁹ (now the Department for Communities and Local Government)and previous research for the Scottish Office ¹⁰ and Scottish Natural Heritage ¹¹;
• A review of case law;
• A questionnaire survey of all 33 Scottish planning authorities and 102 other organizations, including statutory undertakers, government agencies and Non-departmental Public Bodies. The questionnaire sought views on the main issues arising from the operation of each Part of the Order, together with suggestions for possible action to improve the effect of the planning permissions granted by:

• Targeted letters to 44 other organizations and individuals, inviting responses to specific questions about the GPDO. This generated 28 responses, plus 5 unsolicited responses;

The overall purpose of the questionnaire and letter was to seek confirmation that the research team had identified the main issues regarding each Part of the GPDO and its constituent Classes, prior to conducting more in-depth interviews and workshops, which would focus on the effectiveness of the current GPDO and scope for improvement;

• Follow-up interviews and workshops with officers of 12 planning authorities and 34 other organizations on specific problematic aspects of the GPDO, arising from the questionnaire responses;
• Statistical analysis of:

Scottish planning authorities' bi-annual statistical returns on planning and related consents to the Scottish Executive for the period 1997/98 to 2004/05;

Scottish planning authorities' bi-annual statistical returns on prior notifications, to the Scottish Executive for the period 1997/98 to 2004/05;

Scottish Executive database on planning authorities' use of Article 4 Directions.

These methods built on the research team's previous research on permitted development to provide a contextual and empirical basis for the recommendations for reform of the GPDO and their underpinning rationale.

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