Interpretation
2.—(1) In these Rules–
“affected person” means the person who will be prevented from hearing or inspecting closed evidence at a local inquiry if a direction is given;
“appointed representative” means a person appointed under, or by virtue of–
“closed evidence” means evidence which is subject to a direction;
“direction” means a direction by the Scottish Ministers under section 265A(3) of the principal Act;
“document” includes a photograph, map or plan;
“electronic communication” has the meaning given in section 15(1) of the Electronic Communications Act 2000(3);
“local advertisement” means–
publication of the notice in a newspaper circulating in the locality in which the relevant land is situated; and
where the Scottish Ministers maintain a website for the purpose of advertisement of applications, by publication of the notice on the website;
“neighbouring land” means land which is conterminous with or within 4 metres of the relevant land but only if, in the case of an application for planning permission, any part of such land is within 90 metres of any part of the development in question: provided that in such a case–
where the proposed development is taking place within a building divided into separate units “neighbouring land” shall include–
those parts of the building conterminous with or within 4 metres of the boundary of that unit; and
all units directly above and below the unit for which the development is proposed and all units directly above and below those parts of the building conterminous with or within 4 metres of the boundary of that unit; and
land outwith the building which is conterminous with or within 4 metres of the boundary of the unit for which the development is proposed;
where the “neighbouring land” consists of or includes a building divided into separate units, and the proposed development is taking place within a building which is not divided into separate units, only those units of that building which are conterminous with or are within 4 metres of the boundary of the land for which the development is proposed and all parts of the building directly above and below those units shall constitute neighbouring land;
where the “neighbouring land” consists of or includes a building divided into separate units, and the proposed development is taking place within a building which is also divided into separate units, only those units of the former building which are conterminous with or are within 4 metres of the boundary of the unit for which the development is proposed and all parts of the building directly above and below those units shall constitute neighbouring land;
where a road falls within the distance of 4 metres measured from the boundary of the land or the boundary of the unit (as the case may be) for which the development is proposed, the width of such road shall be disregarded in calculating the specified distance unless the road is more than 20 metres in width;
“the parties” means–
the person making the request for a direction; and
the appointed representative,
and references to “party” shall be construed accordingly;
“potentially closed evidence” means evidence in respect of which a request for a direction has been made;
“the principal Act” means the Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act 1997;
“relevant land” means the land to which the application or enforcement action which is the subject matter of the local inquiry relates; and
“written representations” includes supporting documents.
(2) In these Rules, and in relation to the use of electronic communications for any purpose of these Rules which is capable of being effected electronically–
(a)the expression “address” includes any number or address used for the purposes of such communications;
(b)references to notices, representations or other documents, or to copies of such documents, include references to such documents or copies of them in electronic form.
(3) Paragraphs (4) to (8) apply where an electronic communication is used by a person for the purpose of fulfilling any requirement in these Rules to give or send any statement, notice or other document to any other person (“the recipient”).
(4) The requirement shall be taken to be fulfilled where the notice or other document transmitted by means of the electronic communication is–
(a)capable of being accessed by the recipient;
(b)legible in all material respects; and
(c)sufficiently permanent to be used for subsequent reference.
(5) In paragraph (4), “legible in all material respects” means that the information contained in the notice or other document is available to the recipient to no lesser extent than it would be if sent or given by means of a document in printed form.
(6) Where the electronic communication is received by the recipient–
(a)at any time before the end of a day which is a working day, it shall be deemed to have been received on that day; or
(b)at any time during a day which is not a working day, it shall be deemed to have been received on the next working day,
and for these purposes, “working day” means a day which is not a Saturday, Sunday, Christmas Eve, a bank holiday in Scotland under the Banking and Financial Dealings Act 1971(4), a day appointed for public thanksgiving or mourning, or any other day which is a local or public holiday in an area in which the electronic communication is received.
(7) A requirement in these Rules that any document should be in writing is fulfilled where that document meets the criteria in paragraph (4), and “written” and cognate expressions are to be construed accordingly.
(8) In a case to which this paragraph applies, and except where a contrary intention appears, a person making a request for a direction, or giving or serving a notice using electronic communications shall be deemed to have agreed–
(a)to the use of such communications for all purposes relating to the request or notice, as the case may be, which are capable of being carried out electronically;
(b)that the address for that purpose is the address incorporated into, or otherwise logically associated with, the request; and
(c)that the person’s deemed agreement under this paragraph shall subsist until the person gives notice in accordance with Rule 13 that the person is no longer willing to accept the use of electronic communication, and such withdrawal of consent shall be final, and shall take effect in accordance with Rule 13.