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planning control and notification
9. The use of land for agriculture or forestry does not constitute development, as defined by the Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act 1972. However building, excavation and engineering works, in connection with such uses is classified as development, although in most cases planning permission is deemed to be granted under the provisions of the 1992 Permitted Development Order.
10. Agricultural and forestry developments not covered by the Permitted Development Order and which require specific planning approval in the normal way, include:
- development on agricultural land less than 0.4 hectares in area;
- buildings over 465sq m in extent;
- buildings over 12 metres in height and those over 3 metres high within 3km of the perimeter of an aerodrome;
- buildings within 25 metres of a trunk or classified road; and
- intensive livestock units and slurry stores within 400 metres of any 'protected building' (a building normally occupied by people, but excluding farm houses).
Non-agricultural developments on agricultural land require planning permission, as do most farm diversification schemes. (See "Farm Diversification and Planning Permission" issued by The Scottish Office in 1990).
11. Certain agricultural developments which have significant environmental effects may require the preparation of an Environmental Assessment under the Environmental Assessment (Scotland) Regulations 1988. SDD Circular 13/1988 gives a general explanation and provides indicative criteria and thresholds for the identification of relevant projects. Generally these will be restricted to large livestock installations, such as pig and poultry rearing units.
12. The system of prior notification does not affect any of these existing arrangements, but requires the farmer or developer to notify the planning authority of a proposal before deemed planning permission can be exercised. The authority has 28 days to decide whether to call for full details to be submitted for approval. In operating the controls, planning authorities should always have full regard to the operational needs of the farming and forestry industries; to the need to avoid imposing any unnecessary or excessively costly requirements; and to the normal considerations of reasonableness. Therefore, formal submissions should only be required in cases where the authority considers that a proposal is likely to have a significant impact on its surroundings. Many notified proposals will not have such an impact. Procedural guidance about the system is contained in SOEnD Circular 5/1992.
13. A planning authority should restrict its evaluation of a submitted proposal to the visual and other effects on amenity of the building's siting, design and colour including its setting in the landscape. It will also need to consider the desirability of preserving ancient monuments and their surroundings, known archaeological sites, the settings of listed buildings, and sites of recognised nature conservation value such as SSSIs. The principle of whether the proposal should be allowed is not a relevant consideration.
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