Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act 1997

Part XIV S Miscellaneous and General Provisions

Application of Act in special cases S

262 Power to modify Act in relation to minerals. S

(1) In relation to development consisting of the winning and working of minerals or involving the depositing of mineral waste, the provisions specified in Part I of Schedule 18 shall have effect subject to such adaptations and modifications as may be prescribed by regulations.

(2) Such regulations F1 . . . shall be of no effect unless they are approved by resolution of each House of Parliament.

(3) Any such regulations shall not apply—

(a) to the winning and working, on land held or occupied with land used for the purposes of agriculture, of any minerals reasonably required for the purposes of that use, including the fertilisation of the land so used and the maintenance, improvement or alteration of buildings or works on it which are occupied or used for those purposes, or

(b) to the winning and working of peat by any person for the domestic requirements of that person.

(4) Nothing in subsection (1) or (3) shall be construed as affecting the prerogative right of Her Majesty to any gold or silver mine.

Textual Amendments

F1 Words in s. 262(2) repealed (1.7.1999) by S.I. 1999/1820, arts. 1(2), 4, Sch. 2 Pt. I para. 127(20), Pt. IV; S.I. 1998/3178, art. 3

263 Application of certain provisions to planning authorities. S

(1) In relation to land of planning authorities and to the development by local authorities of land in respect of which they are the planning authorities, the provisions specified in Part II of Schedule 18 shall have effect subject to such exceptions and modifications as may be prescribed by regulations.

(2) Subject to section 57, such regulations may in particular provide for securing—

(a) that any application by such an authority for planning permission to develop such land, or for any other consent required in relation to such land under those provisions, shall be made to the Secretary of State and not to the planning authority, and

(b) that any order or notice authorised to be made or served under those provisions in relation to such land shall be made or served by the Secretary of State and not by the planning authority.

(3) Sections 34 and 35 and 38(1) and (2) shall apply, with the necessary modifications, in relation to applications made to the Secretary of State in pursuance of such regulations as they apply in relation to applications for planning permission which fall to be determined by the planning authority.

(4) In relation to statutory undertakers who are planning authorities, section 236 and the provisions specified in that section shall have effect subject to such exceptions and modifications as may be prescribed.

(5) In relation to an urban development corporation which is the planning authority by virtue of an order under section 149(6) of the M1 Local Government, Planning and Land Act 1980, subsections (1) to (3) shall have effect for the purposes of Part III of this Act prescribed in the order, and in relation to the kinds of development so prescribed as if—

(a) in subsection (1) the reference to development by local authorities of land in respect of which they are the planning authorities included a reference to development by the corporation of land in respect of which it is the planning authority, and

(b) in subsection (2)—

(i) in paragraph (a) the words “ the corporation ” were substituted for the words “such an authority”, and the word “ corporation ” were substituted for the words “planning authority”, and

(ii) in paragraph (b) the word “ corporation ” were substituted for the words “planning authority”.

Modifications etc. (not altering text)

C1 S. 263 extended (27.5.1997) by 1997 c. 9, ss. 79(1), 83(2) (with s. 45(4))

Marginal Citations

M1 1980 c. 65.

Natural Heritage Areas S

264 Natural Heritage Areas. S

(1) Every planning authority shall compile and make available for inspection free of charge at reasonable hours and at a convenient place a list containing such particulars as the Secretary of State may determine of any area in their district which has been designated as a Natural Heritage Area under section 6 of the M2 Natural Heritage (Scotland) Act 1991.

(2) Where any area is for the time being designated as a Natural Heritage Area, special attention shall be paid to the desirability of preserving or enhancing its character or appearance in the exercise, with respect to any land in that area, of any powers under the planning Acts.

Marginal Citations

M2 1991 c. 28.

[F2 National Parks S

Textual Amendments

F2 S. 264A and cross heading inserted (8.9.2001) by 2000 asp 10, s. 36, Sch. 5 para. 18 (with s. 32); S.I. 2000/312, art. 2

F3 264A National Parks S

In the exercise, with respect to any land in a National Park, of any power under the planning Acts, special attention shall be paid to the desirability of exercising the power consistently with the National Park Plan as adopted under section 12(7)(a) of the National Parks (Scotland) Act 2000 (asp 10).]

Textual Amendments

F3 S. 264A inserted (8.9.2001) by 2000 asp 10, s. 36, Sch. 5 para. 18 (with s. 32); S.I. 2000/312, art. 2

Local inquiries and other hearings S

265 Local inquiries. S

(1) Subject to the provisions of this section, the Minister may cause a local inquiry to be held for the purposes of the exercise of any of his functions under this Act.

(2) The Minister shall appoint a person to hold the inquiry and to report on it to him.

(3) Notification of the time when and the place where the inquiry is to be held shall be sent to any person who has lodged and has not withdrawn objections in relation to any matter in question at the inquiry, and shall be published in such newspaper or newspapers as the Minister may direct.

(4) Subject to subsections (5) and (6), the person appointed to hold the inquiry may, on the motion of any party to it or of his own motion, serve a notice in writing on any person requiring him to attend at the time and place set forth in the notice to give evidence or to produce any books or documents in his custody or under his control which relate to any matter in question at the inquiry.

(5) No person shall be required in obedience to such a notice to attend at any place which is more than 10 miles from the place where he resides unless the necessary expenses are paid or tendered to him.

(6) Nothing in subsection (4) shall empower the person appointed to hold the inquiry to require any person to produce any book or document or to answer any question which he would be entitled, on the ground of privilege or confidentiality, to refuse to produce or to answer if the inquiry were a proceeding in a court of law.

(7) The person appointed to hold the inquiry may administer oaths and examine witnesses on oath and may accept, in place of evidence on oath by any person, a statement in writing by that person.

(8) Any person who—

(a) refuses or wilfully neglects to attend in obedience to a notice under subsection (4) or to give evidence, or

(b) wilfully alters, suppresses, conceals, destroys or refuses to produce any book or document which he may be required to produce by any such notice,

shall be guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding level 1 on the standard scale or to imprisonment for a period not exceeding 3 months.

(9) The Minister may make orders as to the expenses incurred—

(a) by the Minister in relation to—

(i) the inquiry, and

(ii) arrangements made for an inquiry which does not take place, and

(b) by the parties to the inquiry,

and as to the parties by whom any of the expenses mentioned in paragraphs (a) and (b) shall be paid.

(10) What may be recovered by the Minister is the entire administrative expense of the inquiry, so that, in particular—

(a) there shall be treated as expenses incurred in relation to the inquiry such reasonable sum as the Minister may determine in respect of the general staff expenses and overheads of his department, and

(b) there shall be treated as expenses incurred by the Minister holding the inquiry any expenses incurred in relation to the inquiry by any other Minister or Government department and, where appropriate, such reasonable sum as that Minister or department may determine in respect of general staff expenses and overheads.

(11) The Minister may by regulations prescribe for any description of inquiry a standard daily amount and where an inquiry of that description does take place what may be recovered is—

(a) the prescribed standard amount in respect of each day (or an appropriate proportion of that amount in respect of a part of a day) on which the inquiry sits or the person appointed to hold the inquiry is otherwise engaged on work connected with the inquiry,

(b) expenses actually incurred in connection with the inquiry on travelling or subsistence allowances or the provision of accommodation or other facilities for the inquiry,

(c) any expenses attributable to the appointment of an assessor to assist the person appointed to hold the inquiry, and

(d) any legal expenses or disbursements incurred or made by or on behalf of the Minister in connection with the inquiry.

(12) Any order of the Minister under subsection (9) requiring any party to pay expenses may be enforced in like manner as an extract registered decree arbitral bearing a warrant for execution issued by the sheriff court of any sheriffdom in Scotland.

(13) In this section, except where the context otherwise requires, “Minister” means the Secretary of State, or any other Minister authorised under this Act to hold a local inquiry.

Modifications etc. (not altering text)

C2 S. 265 applied (27.5.1997) by 1997 c. 10, ss. 36, 40(2) (with ss. 9(3), 10(5), 38(6))

C3 S. 265(4)-(13) applied (27.5.1997) by 1997 c. 10, ss. 19, 40(2), Sch. para. 6(4)-(6) (with ss. 9(3), 10(5), 31, 38(6))

266 Orders as to expenses of parties where no local inquiry held. S

(1) This section applies to proceedings under this Act where the Secretary of State is required, before reaching a decision, to afford any person an opportunity of appearing before and being heard by a person appointed by him.

(2) The Secretary of State has the same power to make orders under section 265(9) in relation to proceedings to which this section applies which do not give rise to a local inquiry as he has in relation to a local inquiry.

Modifications etc. (not altering text)

C4 S. 266 extended (27.5.1997) by 1997 c. 9, ss. 79(1), 83(2) (with s. 45(4)

S. 266 applied (27.5.1997) by 1997 c. 10, ss. 36, 40(2) (with ss. 9(3), 10(5), 38(6))

267 Procedure on certain appeals and applications. S

(1) The Secretary of State may by regulations prescribe the procedure to be followed in connection with proceedings under this Act where he is required, before reaching a decision, to afford any person an opportunity of appearing before and being heard by a person appointed by him and which are to be disposed of without an inquiry or hearing to which rules under section 9 of the M3 Tribunals and Inquiries Act 1992 apply.

(2) The regulations may in particular make provision as to the procedure to be followed—

(a) where steps have been taken with a view to the holding of such an inquiry or hearing which does not take place, or

(b) where steps have been taken with a view to the determination of any matter by a person appointed by the Secretary of State and the proceedings are the subject of a direction that the matter shall instead be determined by the Secretary of State, or

(c) where steps have been taken in pursuance of such a direction and a further direction is made revoking that direction,

and may provide that such steps shall be treated as compliance, in whole or in part, with the requirements of the regulations.

(3) The regulations may also—

(a) provide for a time limit within which any party to the proceedings must lodge written submissions and any supporting documents,

(b) prescribe the time limit (which may be different for different classes of proceedings) or enable the Secretary of State to give directions setting the time limit in a particular case or class of case,

(c) empower the Secretary of State to proceed to a decision taking into account only such written submissions and supporting documents as were lodged within the time limit, and

(d) empower the Secretary of State, after giving the parties written notice of his intention to do so, to proceed to a decision notwithstanding that no written submissions were lodged within the time limit, if it appears to him that he has sufficient material before him to enable him to reach a decision on the merits of the case.

Modifications etc. (not altering text)

C5 S. 267 applied (27.5.1997) by 1997 c. 10, ss. 36, 40(2) (with ss. 9(3), 10(5), 38(6))

S. 267 extended (27.5.1997) by 1997 c. 9, ss. 79(1), 83(2) (with s. 45(4)))

Marginal Citations

M3 1992 c. 53.

268 Inquiries under Private Legislation Procedure (Scotland) Act 1936. S

(1) Where the Ministers concerned so direct—

(a) any inquiry in relation to an order under this Act which in certain events becomes subject to special parliamentary procedure, and

(b) any hearing in connection with—

(i) an appeal against the refusal, or the grant, subject to conditions, of an application by statutory undertakers for planning permission to develop operational land,

(ii) such an application made by statutory undertakers and referred to the Secretary of State, or

(iii) the revocation or modification of planning permission to develop operational land granted to statutory undertakers,

shall be held by Commissioners under the M4 Private Legislation Procedure (Scotland) Act 1936.

(2) Any such direction shall be deemed to have been given under section 2, as read with section 10, of the M5 Statutory Orders (Special Procedure) Act 1945.

(3) Subsections (5), (6) and (7) of section 231 shall not apply to an order mentioned in subsection (1)(a).

(4) Nothing in subsections (2) to (13) of section 265 shall apply to any inquiry to which subsection (1)(a) applies.

(5) The provisions of the Statutory Orders (Special Procedure) Act 1945 in relation to the publication of notices in the Edinburgh Gazette and in a newspaper shall, notwithstanding anything contained in that Act, not apply to any order under this Act which is subject to special parliamentary procedure.

Marginal Citations

M4 1936 c. 52.

M5 1945 (9 & 10 Geo. 6) c. 18.

Rights of entry S

269 Rights of entry. S

(1) Any person duly authorised in writing by the Secretary of State or by a planning authority may at any reasonable time enter upon any land for the purpose of surveying it in connection with—

(a) the preparation, approval, adoption, making or amendment of a structure plan or local plan relating to the land under Part II, including the carrying out of any survey under that Part,

(b) any application under Part III or sections 182 or 183, or under any order or regulations made under any of those provisions, for any permission, consent or determination to be given or made in connection with that land or any other land under that Part or those sections or under any such order or regulations, or

(c) any proposal by the planning authority or by the Secretary of State to make or serve any order or notice under Part III (other than section 61), Part VII (other than sections 160 to 163, 167 and 172 to 175) or under any order or regulations made under any of those provisions.

(2) Any person duly authorised in writing by the Secretary of State or the planning authority may at any reasonable time enter upon any land for the purpose of ascertaining whether a stop notice or an enforcement notice is being complied with.

(3) Any person who is an officer of the Valuation Office or is duly authorised in writing by the Secretary of State may at any reasonable time enter upon any land for the purpose of surveying it, or estimating its value, in connection with a claim for compensation under this Act in respect of that land or any other land.

(4) Any person who is an officer of the Valuation Office or is duly authorised in writing by a planning authority may at any reasonable time enter upon any land for the purpose of surveying it, or estimating its value, in connection with a claim for compensation in respect of that land or any other land which is payable by the planning authority under Part IV, section 204(1) or Part X (other than section 232(2) or (3) or 233(1)(a)(iii)).

(5) Any person who is an officer of the Valuation Office or is duly authorised in writing by a local authority or Minister authorised to acquire land under section 189 or 190, or by a local authority who have power to acquire land under Part VIII, may at any reasonable time enter upon any land for the purpose of surveying it, or estimating its value, in connection with any proposal to acquire that land or any other land, or in connection with any claim for compensation in respect of any such acquisition.

(6) Subject to section 270, any power conferred by this section to survey land shall be construed as including power to search and bore for the purpose of ascertaining the nature of the subsoil or the presence of minerals in it.

270 Supplementary provisions as to rights of entry. S

(1) A person authorised under section 269 to enter upon any land—

(a) shall, if so required, produce evidence of his authority and state the purpose of his entry before so entering, and

(b) shall not demand admission as of right to any land which is occupied unless 24 hours’ notice of the intended entry has been given to the occupier.

(2) Any person who wilfully obstructs a person acting in the exercise of his powers under section 269 shall be guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding level 3 on the standard scale.

(3) If any person who, in compliance with the provisions of section 269, is admitted into a factory, workshop or workplace discloses to any person any information obtained by him therein as to any manufacturing process or trade secret, he shall be guilty of an offence.

(4) Subsection (3) does not apply if the disclosure is made in the course of performing his duty in connection with the purpose for which he was authorised to enter the land.

(5) A person who is guilty of an offence under subsection (3) shall be liable—

(a) on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding the statutory maximum, and

(b) on conviction on indictment to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 2 years or a fine or both.

(6) Where any damage is caused to land or moveable property—

(a) in the exercise of a right of entry conferred under section 269, or

(b) in the making of any survey for the purpose of which any such right of entry has been so conferred,

compensation may be recovered by any person suffering the damage from the Secretary of State or authority on whose behalf the entry was effected.

(7) Section 86 shall apply in relation to compensation under subsection (6) as it applies in relation to compensation under Part IV.

(8) No person shall carry out under section 269 any works authorised by virtue of subsection (6) of that section unless notice of his intention to do so was included in the notice required by subsection (1).

(9) The authority of the [F4 Scottish Minister] shall be required for the carrying out under section 269(6) of works so authorised if the land in question is held by statutory undertakers, and they object to the proposed works on the ground that the carrying out of the work would be seriously detrimental to the carrying on of their undertaking.

Textual Amendments

F4 Words in s. 270(9) substituted (1.7.1999) by 1999/1820, arts. 1(2), 4, Sch. 2 Pt. I para. 127(21); S.I. 1998/3178, art. 3

Miscellaneous and general provisions S

271 Service of notices. S

(1) Subject to the provisions of this section, any notice or other document required or authorised to be served or given under this Act may be served or given—

(a) by delivering it to the person on whom it is to be served or to whom it is to be given,

(b) by leaving it at the usual or last known place of abode of that person or, in a case where an address for service has been given by that person, at that address,

(c) by sending it in a prepaid registered letter, or by the recorded delivery service, addressed to that person at his usual or last known place of abode, or, in a case where an address for service has been given by that person, at that address,

(d) in the case of a person on whom the notice is required to be served as being a person appearing from the valuation roll to have an interest in land, by sending it in a prepaid registered letter, or by the recorded delivery service, addressed to that person at his address as entered in the valuation roll, or

(e) in the case of an incorporated company or body, by delivering it to the secretary or clerk of the company or body at their registered or principal office, or sending it in a prepaid registered letter, or by the recorded delivery service, addressed to the secretary or clerk of the company or body at that office.

(2) Where the notice or document is required or authorised to be served on any person as having an interest in premises, and the name of that person cannot be ascertained after reasonable inquiry, or where the notice or document is required or authorised to be served on any person as an occupier of premises, the notice or document shall be taken to be duly served if—

(a) being addressed to him either by name or by the description of “the owner”, “the lessee” or “the occupier”, as the case may be, of the premises (describing them) it is delivered or sent in the manner specified in subsection (1)(a), (b) or (c), or

(b) it is so addressed and is marked in such manner as may be prescribed for securing that it shall be plainly identifiable as a communication of importance, and—

(i) it is sent to the premises in a prepaid registered letter or by the recorded delivery service and is not returned to the authority sending it, or

(ii) is delivered to some person on those premises, or is affixed conspicuously to some object on those premises.

(3) Where—

(a) the notice or other document is required to be served on or given to all persons who have interests in or are occupiers of premises comprised in any land, and

(b) it appears to the authority required or authorised to serve or give the notice or other document that any part of that land is unoccupied,

the notice or document shall be taken to be duly served on all persons having interests in, and on any occupiers of, premises comprised in that part of the land (other than a person who has given to that authority an address for the service of the notice or document on him) if it is addressed to “the owners and any lessees and occupiers” of that part of the land (describing it) and is affixed conspicuously to some object on the land.

Modifications etc. (not altering text)

C6 S. 271 extended (27.5.1997) by 1997 c. 9, ss. 79(1), 83(2) (with s. 45(4))

S. 271 applied (27.5.1997) by 1997 c. 10, ss. 36, 40(2) (with ss. 9(3), 10(5), 38(6))

272 Power to require information as to interests in land. S

(1) For the purpose of enabling any order to be made or any notice or other document to be served by him or them under this Act, the Secretary of State or a local authority may in writing require the occupier of any land and any person who, either directly or indirectly, receives rent in respect of any land to supply in writing such information as to the matters mentioned in subsection (2) as may be so specified.

(2) Those matters are—

(a) the nature of his interest in the land,

(b) the name and address of any other person known to him as having an interest in the land, whether as superior, owner, heritable creditor, lessee or otherwise,

(c) the purpose for which the land is currently being used,

(d) the time when that use began,

(e) the name and address of any person known to the person on whom the notice is served as having used the premises for that purpose, and

(f) the time when any activities being carried out on the premises began.

(3) A notice under subsection (1) may require information to be given within a specified period which is not less than 21 days from the date of service on him.

(4) Any person who has been required under subsection (1) to give any information and fails to give it shall be guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding level 3 on the standard scale.

(5) Any person who has been so required to give any information and knowingly makes any misstatement in respect of it shall be guilty of an offence and liable—

(a) on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding the statutory maximum, and

(b) on conviction on indictment to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 2 years or to a fine or both.

(6) It shall be a defence in any proceedings under subsection (4) that the accused did not know and had no reasonable cause to know the information required of him.

Modifications etc. (not altering text)

C7 S. 272 extended (27.5.1997) by 1997 c. 9, ss. s.79(1), 83(2) (with s. 45(4))

S. 272 applied (27.5.1997) by 1997 c. 10, ss. 36, 40(2) (with ss. 9(3), 10(5), 38(6))

C8 S. 272: power to modify conferred (27.5.1997) by 1980 c. 65, Sch. 30 Pt. II para. 9 (as replaced (27.5.1997) by 1997 c. 11, ss. 4, 6(2), Sch. 2 para. 31(12))

273 Offences by corporations. S

(1) Where an offence under this Act which has been committed by a body corporate is proved to have been committed with the consent or connivance of, or to be attributable to any neglect on the part of—

(a) a director, manager, secretary or other similar officer of the body corporate, or

(b) any person who was purporting to act in any such capacity,

he, as well as the body corporate, shall be guilty of that offence and be liable to be proceeded against accordingly.

(2) In subsection (1) “director”, in relation to any body corporate—

(a) which was established by or under an enactment for the purpose of carrying on under national ownership an industry or part of an industry or undertaking, and

(b) whose affairs are managed by its members,

means a member of that body corporate.

Modifications etc. (not altering text)

C9 S. 273 extended (27.5.1997) by 1997 c. 9, ss. 79(1), 83(2) (with s. 45(4))

S. 273 excluded (27.5.1997) by 1997 c. 9, ss. 79(2), 83(2) (with s. 45(4))

S. 273 applied (27.5.1997) by 1997 c. 10, ss. 36, 40(2) (with ss. 9(3), 10(5), 38(6))

274 Combined applications. S

(1) Regulations may provide for the combination in a single document, made in such form and transmitted to such authority as may be prescribed, of—

(a) an application for planning permission in respect of any development and

(b) an application required, under any enactment specified in the regulations, to be made to a local authority in respect of that development.

(2) Before making such regulations, the Secretary of State shall consult such local authorities or associations of local authorities as appear to him to be concerned.

(3) Different provision may be made by any such regulations in relation to areas in which different enactments are in force.

(4) If an application required to be made to a local authority under an enactment specified in any such regulations is made in accordance with the provisions of the regulations, it shall be valid notwithstanding anything in that enactment prescribing, or enabling any authority to prescribe, the form in which, or the manner in which, such an application is to be made.

(5) Subsection (4) is without prejudice to—

(a) the validity of any application made in accordance with the enactment in question, or

(b) any provision of that enactment enabling a local authority to require further particulars of the matters to which the application relates.

(6) In this section “application” includes a submission.

(7) Subsection (1) shall apply in relation to applications for an approval required by a development order as it applies in relation to applications for planning permission.

275 Regulations and orders. S

(1) The Secretary of State may make regulations—

(a) for prescribing the form of any notice, order or other document authorised or required by this Act to be served, made or issued by any planning authority which is a local authority,

(b) for any purpose for which regulations are authorised or required to be made under this Act, other than a purpose for which regulations are authorised or required to be made by another Minister, and

(c) for any of the purposes mentioned in section 28 of the M6 Land Compensation (Scotland) Act 1963 (power to prescribe matters relevant to Part IV).

(2) Any power conferred by this Act to make regulations shall be exercisable by statutory instrument.

(3) Any statutory instrument containing regulations made under this Act (except regulations which, by virtue of any provision of this Act, are of no effect unless approved by a resolution of each House of Parliament) shall be subject to annulment in pursuance of a resolution of either House of Parliament.

(4) The power to make development orders under section 30 and to make orders under sections 5, 26(2)(f), 54 and 100(3)(a) or paragraph 7 or 8 of Schedule 1 shall be exercisable by statutory instrument.

(5) Any statutory instrument which contains a development order or an order under section 5, 54 or 100(3)(a) or paragraph 4(5) or 5(5) of Schedule 9 shall be subject to annulment in pursuance of a resolution of either House of Parliament.

(6) Without prejudice to subsection (5), where a development order makes provision for excluding or modifying any enactment contained in a public general Act (other than an enactment specified in subsection (7)) the order shall not have effect until that provision is approved by a resolution of each House of Parliament.

(7) The enactments referred to in subsection (6) are—

(a) section 32(1) of the M7 Public Health (Scotland) Act 1897,

(b) any enactment making such provision as might by virtue of any Act of Parliament have been made in relation to the area to which the development order applies by means of a byelaw, order or regulation not requiring confirmation by Parliament, and

(c) any enactment which has been previously excluded or modified by a development order, and any enactment having substantially the same effect as any such enactment.

(8) Without prejudice to section 14 of the M8 Interpretation Act 1978, any power conferred by this Act to make an order shall include power to vary or revoke any such order by a subsequent order.

Marginal Citations

M6 1963 c. 51.

M7 1897 c. 38.

M8 1978 c. 30.

276 Act not excluded by special enactments. S

For the avoidance of doubt it is hereby declared that the provisions of this Act, and any restrictions or powers thereby imposed or conferred in relation to land, apply and may be exercised in relation to any land notwithstanding that provision is made by any enactment in force at the passing of the 1947 Act, or by any local Act passed at any time during the Session of Parliament held during the regnal years 10 & 11 Geo. 6, for authorising or regulating any development of the land.

Modifications etc. (not altering text)

C10 S. 276 extended (27.5.1997) by 1997 c. 9, ss. 79(1), 83(2) (with s. 45(4))

S. 276 applied (27.5.1997) by 1997 c. 10, ss. 36, 40(2) (with ss. 9(3), 10(5), 38(6))

277 Interpretation. S

(1) In this Act, except in so far as the context otherwise requires and subject to the following provisions of this section and to any transitional provision made by the M9 Planning (Consequential Provisions) (Scotland) Act 1997—

• “acquiring authority”, in relation to the acquisition of an interest in land (whether compulsorily or by agreement) or to a proposal so to acquire such an interest, means the government department, local authority or other body by whom the interest is, or is proposed to be, acquired;

• “the 1947 Act” means the M10 Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act 1947;

• “the 1972 Act” means the M11 Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act 1972;

• “advertisement” means any word, letter, model, sign, placard, board, notice, awning, blind, device or representation, whether illuminated or not, in the nature of, and employed wholly or partly for the purposes of, advertisement, announcement or direction, and (without prejudice to the foregoing provisions of this definition), includes any hoarding or similar structure used or designed, or adapted for use and anything else used, or designed or adapted principally for use, for the display of advertisements, and references to the display of advertisements shall be construed accordingly;

• “aftercare condition” has the meaning given by paragraph 2(2) of Schedule 3;

• “agriculture” includes horticulture, fruit growing, seed growing, dairy farming, the breeding and keeping of livestock (including any creature kept for the production of food, wool, skins or fur, or for the purpose of its use in the farming of land), the use of land as grazing land, meadow land, osier land, market gardens and nursery grounds, and the use of land for woodlands where that use is ancillary to the farming of land for other agricultural purposes, and “agricultural” shall be construed accordingly;

• F5 . . .;

• “breach of condition notice” has the meaning given by section 145;

• “breach of planning control” has the meaning given by section 123;

• “bridleway” has the same meaning as in section 47 of the M12 Countryside (Scotland) Act 1967;

• “building” includes any structure or erection, and any part of a building, as so defined, but does not include plant or machinery comprised in a building;

• “building or works” includes waste materials, refuse and other matters deposited on land, and references to the erection or construction of buildings or works shall be construed accordingly and references to the removal of buildings or works include demolition of buildings and filling in of trenches;

• “building operations” has the meaning given by section 26;

• “caravan site” has the meaning given by section 1(4) of the M13 Caravan Sites and Control of Development Act 1960;

• “common” includes any town or village green;

• “compliance period”, in relation to an enforcement notice, shall be construed in accordance with section 135(11);

• “compulsory acquisition” does not include the vesting in a person by an Act of Parliament of property previously vested in some other person;

• “conservation area” means an area designated under section 61 of the M14 Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) (Scotland) Act 1997;

• “depositing of mineral waste” means any process whereby a mineral-working deposit is created or enlarged and “depositing of refuse or waste materials” includes the depositing of mineral waste;

• “development” has the meaning given by section 26, and “develop” shall be construed accordingly;

• “development order” has the meaning given by section 30;

• “development plan” shall be construed in accordance with section 24;

• “disposal”, except in section 191(9), means disposal by way of sale, excambion or lease, or by way of the creation of any servitude, right or privilege, or in any other manner, except by way of appropriation, gift or the creation of a heritable security, and “dispose of” shall be construed accordingly;

• “enactment” includes an enactment in any local or private Act of Parliament, and an order, rule, regulation, byelaw or scheme made under an Act of Parliament, including an order or scheme confirmed by Parliament;

• “enforcement notice” means a notice under section 127;

• “engineering operations” includes the formation or laying out of means of access to roads;

• “enterprise zone scheme” means a scheme or modified scheme having effect to grant planning permission in accordance with section 55;

• “erection”, in relation to buildings as defined in this subsection, includes, extension, alteration and re-erection;

• “footpath” has the same meaning as in section 47 of the M15 Countryside (Scotland) Act 1967;

• “functions” includes powers and duties;

• “government department” includes any Minister of the Crown;

• “heritable security” means—

  (a)

  a heritable security within the meaning of the M16 Conveyancing (Scotland) Act 1924, but excluding a security by way of ground annual and a real burden ad factum praestandum and including a security constituted by way of ex facie absolute disposition, or

  (b)

  an assignation in security of a lease recorded under the M17 Registration of Leases (Scotland) Act 1857,

  and “heritable creditor” shall be construed accordingly;

• “improvement”, in relation to a road, has the same meaning as in the M18 Roads (Scotland) Act 1984;

• “land” includes land covered with water and any building as defined by this section and, in relation to the acquisition of land under Part VIII, includes any interest in land and any servitude or right in or over land;

• “Lands Tribunal” means the Lands Tribunal for Scotland;

• “lease” includes a sub-lease, but does not include an option to take a lease;

• “local authority” means a council constituted under section 2 of the M19 Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994;

• “local roads authority” has the same meaning as in the Roads (Scotland) Act 1984;

• “mineral-working deposit” means any deposit of material remaining after minerals have been extracted from land or otherwise deriving from the carrying out of operations for the winning and working of minerals in, on or under land;

• “minerals” includes all substances of a kind ordinarily worked for removal by underground or surface working;

• “mining operations” has the meaning given by section 26;

• “Minister” means any Minister of the Crown or other government department;

• “open space” means any land laid out as a public garden, or used for the purposes of public recreation, or land which is a disused burial ground;

• “operational land” has the meaning given by section 215;

• “owner”, in relation to any land, includes (except in section 35) any person who under the Lands Clauses Acts would be enabled to sell and convey the land to the promoters of an undertaking, and includes also a lessee under a lease of agreement, the unexpired period of which exceeds 3 years;

• “the planning Acts” means this Act, the M20 Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) (Scotland) Act 1997, the M21 Planning (Hazardous Substances) (Scotland) Act 1997 and the M22 Planning (Consequential Provisions) (Scotland) Act 1997;

• “planning authority” has the meaning given by section 1;

• “planning contravention notice” has the meaning given by section 125;

• “planning decision” means a decision made on an application under Part III;

• “planning permission” means permission under Part III;

• “planning permission granted for a limited period” has the meaning given by section 41(3);

• “prescribed” (except in relation to matters expressly required or authorised by this Act to be prescribed in some other way) means prescribed by regulations under this Act;

• “public gas transporter” has the same meaning as in Part I of the M23 Gas Act 1986;

• “purchase notice” has the meaning given by section 88;

• “restoration condition” has the meaning given by paragraph 2(2) of Schedule 3;

• “road” has the same meaning as in the M24 Roads (Scotland) Act 1984;

• “simplified planning zone” and “simplified planning zone scheme” shall be construed in accordance with section 49;

• “statutory undertakers” and “statutory undertaking” have the meanings given by section 214;

• “steps for the protection of the environment” has the meaning given by paragraph 5(3) of Schedule 8;

• “stop notice” has the meaning given by section 140;

• “suspension order” and “supplementary suspension order” have the meanings given by paragraphs 5 and 6 respectively of Schedule 8;

• “tree preservation order” has the meaning given by section 160;

• “urban development area” and “urban development corporation” have the same meaning as in section 171 of the M25 Local Government, Planning and Land Act 1980;

• “use”, in relation to land, does not include the use of land for the carrying out of any building or other operations on it;

• “Valuation Office” means the Valuation Office of the Inland Revenue Department; and

• “the winning and working of minerals” includes the extraction of minerals from a mineral working deposit.

F6 (2) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

[F7 (3) If, in relation to anything required or authorised to be done under this Act, any question arises whether land of statutory undertakers is operational land, that question shall be determined by the Scottish Ministers.]

(4) Words in this Act importing a reference to service of a notice to treat shall be construed as including a reference to the constructive service of such a notice which, by virtue of any enactment, is to be deemed to be served.

(5) With respect to references in this Act to planning decisions—

(a) in relation to a decision altered on appeal by the reversal or variation of the whole or part of it, such references shall be construed as references to the decision as so altered;

(b) in relation to a decision upheld on appeal, such references shall be construed as references to the decision of the planning authority and not to the decision of the Secretary of State on the appeal;

(c) in relation to a decision given on an appeal in the circumstances mentioned in section 47(2), such references shall be construed as references to the decision so given;

(d) the time of a planning decision, in a case where there is or was an appeal, shall be taken to be or have been the time of the decision as made by the planning authority (whether or not that decision is or was altered on that appeal) or, in the case of a decision given on an appeal in the circumstances mentioned in section 47(2), the time when in accordance with that section notification of a decision of the planning authority is deemed to have been received.

(6) Section 27 shall apply for determining for the purposes of this Act when development of land shall be taken to be initiated.

(7) In this Act any reference to a sale or purchase includes a reference to a sale or purchase by way of feu, and any reference to the price in relation to a sale or purchase includes a reference to grassum, feuduty and ground annual.

(8) Any reference in this Act to the dominium utile in relation to land which is not held on feudal tenure shall be construed as a reference to the interest in the land of the owner of it.

(9) References in the Planning Acts to any of the provisions in Part II of Schedule 18 include, except where the context otherwise requires, references to those provisions as modified under section 263(1) to (4).

(10) Without prejudice to section 20(2) of the M26 Interpretation Act 1978, references in this Act to any enactment shall, except where the context otherwise requires, be construed as references to that enactment as amended by or under any other enactment.

Textual Amendments

F5 S. 277(1): definition of “the appropriate Minister” repealed (1.7.1999) by S.I. 1999/1820, arts. 1(2), 4, Sch. 2 Pt. I para. 127(22)(a), Pt. IV; S.I. 1998/3178, art. 3

F6 S. 277(2) repealed (1.7.1999) by S.I. 1999/1820, arts. 1(2), 4, Sch. 2 Pt. I para. 127(22)(b), Pt. IV; S.I. 1998/3178, art. 3

F7 S. 277(3) substituted (1.7.1999) by S.I.1999/1820, arts. 1(2), 4, Sch. 2 Pt. I para. 127(22)(c); S.I. 1998/3178, art. 3

Marginal Citations

M9 1997 c. 11.

M10 1947 c. 53.

M11 1972 c. 52.

M12 1967 c. 86.

M13 1960 c. 62.

M14 1997 c. 9.

M15 1967 c. 86.

M16 1924 c. 27.

M17 1857 c. 26.

M18 1984 c. 54.

M19 1994 c. 39.

M20 1997 c. 9.

M21 1997 c. 10.

M22 1997 c. 11.

M23 1986 c. 44.

M24 1984 c. 54.

M25 1980 c. 65.

M26 1978 c. 30.

278 Citation, commencement and extent. S

(1) This Act may be cited as the Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act 1997.

(2) Except as provided in Schedule 3 to the M27 Planning (Consequential Provisions) (Scotland) Act 1997, this Act shall come into force at the end of the period of 3 months beginning with the day on which it is passed.

(3) Subject to subsection (4), this Act extends to Scotland only.

(4) Section 70 and Schedule 7 extend also to England and Wales.

Marginal Citations

M27 1997 c. 11.