Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act 1972 (repealed 27.5.1997)

24 Notification of applications to owners and agricultural tenants. S

(1) Without prejudice to section 23 of this Act, a. . . F1 planning authority shall not entertain any application for planning permission unless it is accompanied by one or other of the following certificates signed by or on behalf of the applicant, that is to say—

[F2 (a) a certificate stating that at the beginning of a period of 21 days ending with the date of the application, no person (other than the applicant) was the owner of any of the land to which the application relates;]

(b) a certificate stating that the applicant has given the requisite notice of the application to all the persons (other than the applicant) who, at the beginning of the period of twenty-one days ending with the date of the application, were owners of any of the land to which the application relates, and setting out the names of those persons, the addresses at which notice of the application was given to them respectively, and the date of service of each such notice;

(c) a certificate stating that the applicant is unable to issue a certificate in accordance with either of the preceding paragraphs, that he has given the requisite notice of the application to such one or more of the persons mentioned in the last preceding paragraph as are specified in the certificate (setting out their names, the addresses at which notice of the application was given to them respectively, and the date of the service of each such notice), that he has taken such steps as are reasonably open to him (specifying them) to ascertain the names and addresses of the remainder of those persons and that he has been unable to do so;

[F3 (cc) in the case of an application for planning permission for development consisting of the winning and working of minerals by underground mining operations, a certificate stating—

(i) that the applicant has given the requisite notice of the application to such one or more of the persons mentioned in paragraph (b) of this subsection as are specified in the certificate, and setting out the names of those persons, the addresses at which notice of the application was given to them respectively, and the date of service of each such notice;

(ii) that there is no person mentioned in paragraph (b) of this subsection whom the applicant knows to be such a person and whose name and address is known to the applicant but to whom he has not given the requisite notice of the application; and

(iii) that he has complied with subsection (2A) of this section and when he did so;]

(d) a certificate stating that the applicant is unable to issue a certificate in accordance with paragraph (a) of this subsection, that he has taken such steps as are reasonably open to him (specifying them) to ascertain the names and addresses of the persons mentioned in paragraph (b) of this subsection and that he has been unable to do so.

[F4 (1A) Subject to subsection (1B) of this section, subsection (1) of this section shall have effect as respects notice of an application for planning permission for development consisting of the winning and working of minerals as if any person entitled to an interest in a mineral in the land to which the application relates were an owner of the land.

(1B) Subsection (1) of this section shall not have effect as provided by subsection (1A) of this section in relation to a person entitled to an interest in—

(a) oil, gas or coal; or

(b) gold or silver.]

(2) Any such certificate as is mentioned in paragraph (c) [F5 , paragraph (cc)] or paragraph (d) of subsection (1) of this section shall also contain a statement that the requisite notice of the application, as set out in the certificate, has on a date specified in the certificate (being a date not earlier than the beginning of the period mentioned in paragraph (b) of that subsection) been published in a local newspaper circulating in the locality in which the land in question is situated.

[F6 (2A) In an order to comply with this subsection—

(a) the applicant must post the requisite notice of the application, sited so as to be easily visible to and legible by members of the public, in at least one place in the district of the planning authority to which the application is being made; and

(b) the notice must be in position for not less than 7 days during the period of 21 days prior to the making of the application.

(2B) At any time before [F7 determining] an application for planning permission for development consisting of the winning and working of minerals the planning authority dealing with the application may in writing direct the applicant to post copies of the said notice in such places in its district not exceeding 4 in number as may be specified in the direction.

(2C) Where any such direction as is mentioned in subsection (2B) above has been given the planning authority shall not grant the application until the applicant has furnished to the authority a certificate stating—

(a) that he has complied with the direction; and

(b) that any notice required by the direction has been in position for not less than 7 days in the period of 21 days prior to the date on which he lodged the certificate with the planning authority.

(2D) The applicant shall not be treated as unable to comply with subsection (2A) or (2C) of this section if the notice or, as the case may be, any copy thereof is, without any fault or intention of his, removed, obscured or defaced before the seven days referred to in subsections (2A)(b) or (2C)(b) of this section have elapsed, so long as he has taken reasonable steps for its protection and, if need be, replacement; and if he has cause to rely on this subsection, his certificate under subsection (1)(cc) of this section shall state the relevant circumstances.

(2E) The notice required by subsection (2A) of this section shall (in addition to any other matters required to be contained in it) name a place within the area of the planning authority to whom the application is made where a copy of the application for planning permission, and of all plans and other documents submitted with it, will be open to inspection by the public at all reasonable hours during such period as may be specified in the notice, being a period of not less than 21 days beginning with the date on which the notice is first posted.]

(3) In addition to any other matters required to be contained in a certificate issued for the purposes of this section, every such certificate shall contain one or other of the following statements, that is to say—

(a) a statement that none of the land to which the application relates constitutes or forms part of an agricultural holding;

(b) a statement that the applicant has given the requisite notice of the application to every person (other than the applicant) who, at the beginning of the period of twenty-one days ending with the date of the application, was a tenant of any agricultural holding any part of which was comprised in the land to which the application relates, and setting out the name of each such person, the address at which notice of the application was given to him, and the date of service of that notice.

(4) Where an application for planning permission is accompanied by such a certificate as is mentioned in subsection (1)(b), (c) [F8 , (cc) or (d) or (2C)] of this section, or by a certificate containing a statement in accordance with subsection 3(b) of this section, the. . . F1 planning authority shall not determine the application before the end of the period of twenty-one days beginning with the date appearing from the certificate to be the latest of the dates of service of notices as mentioned in the certificate, or the date of publication [F9 or, as the case may be, posting] of a notice as therein mentioned, whichever is the later.

(5) If any person issues any certificate which purports to comply with the requirements of this section and which contains a statement which he knows to be false or misleading in a material particular, or recklessly issues a certificate which purports to comply with those requirements and which contains a statement which is false or misleading in a material particular, he shall be guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding [F10 level 3 on the standard scale].

(6) Any certificate issued for the purposes of this section shall be in such form as may be prescribed by a development order; and any reference in any provision of this section to the requisite notice, where a form of notice is prescribed by a development order for the purposes of that provision, is a reference to a notice in that form.

(7) In this section “owner” in relation to any land means any person [F11 who under the Lands Clauses Acts would be enabled to sell and convey the land to the promoters of [F12 an undertaking] and any person entitled to possession of the land as lessee under a lease the unexpired period of which is not less than seven years], and “agricultural holding” has the same meaning as in the M1 Agricultural Holdings (Scotland) Act 1949.

Textual Amendments

F1 Word repealed by Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 (c. 65), s. 172(2)

F2 S. 24(1)(a) substituted by Local Government, Planning and Land Act 1980 (c. 65), s. 92(1)(3) except in relation to an application for planning permission made before 13.11.1980

F3 S. 24(1)(cc) inserted by Town and Country Planning (Minerals) Act 1981 (c. 36), s. 21(1)

F4 S. 24(1A)(1B) inserted by Town and Country Planning (Minerals) Act 1981 (c. 36), s. 21(2)

F5 Words inserted by Town and Country Planning (Minerals) Act 1981 (c. 36), s. 21(3)

F6 S. 24(2A)—(2E) added by Town and Country Planning (Minerals) Act 1981 (c. 36), s. 21(4)

F7 Word substituted by Local Government and Planning (Scotland) Act 1982 (c. 43), Sch. 2 para. 3(a)

F8 Words substituted by Local Government and Planning (Scotland) Act 1982 (c. 43), Sch. 2 para. 3(b)(i)

F9 Words inserted by Local Government and Planning (Scotland) Act 1982 (c. 43), Sch. 2 para. 3(b)(ii)

F10 Words substituted by virtue of Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1975 (c. 21), ss. 289F, 289G (as inserted by Criminal Justice Act 1982 (c. 48), s. 54)

F11 Words substituted by Local Government, Planning and Land Act 1980 (c. 65), s. 92(2)(3) except in relation to an application for planning permission made before 13.11.1980

F12 Words substituted by Local Government and Planning (Scotland) Act 1982 (c. 43), Sch. 2 para. 3(c)

Modifications etc. (not altering text)

C1 S. 24 modified by S.I. 1984/996, art. 2, Sch.

Marginal Citations

M1 1949 c. 75.