The Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) (Scotland) Order 1992

PART 15 S MINERAL EXPLORATION

Commencement Information

I1 Sch. 1 Pt. 15 in force at 13.3.1992, see art. 1(4)

Class 53.—(1) Development on any land during a period not exceeding 28 consecutive days consisting of—

(a) the drilling of boreholes;

(b) the carrying out of seismic surveys; or

(c) the making of other excavations,

for the purpose of mineral exploration, and the provision or assembly on that land or adjoining land of any structure required in connection with any of those operations.

(2) Development is not permitted by this class if—

[F1 (za) it is contrary to the requirements of the Management of Extractive Waste (Scotland) Regulations 2010;]

(a) it consists of the drilling of boreholes for petroleum exploration;

(b) any operation would be carried out within 50 metres of any part of an occupied residential building or a building occupied as a hospital or school;

(c) any operation would be carried out within a national scenic area or a site of archaeological or special scientific interest;

(d) any explosive charge of more than 1 kilogram would be used;

(e) any excavation referred to in sub-paragraph (1)(c) would exceed 10 metres in depth or 12 square metres in surface area;

(f) in the case described in sub-paragraph (1)(c) more than 10 excavations would, as a result, be made within any area of 1 hectare within the land during any period of 24 months; or

(g) any structure assembled or provided would exceed 12 metres in height, or, where the structure would be within 3 kilometres of the perimeter of an aerodrome, 3 metres in height.

(3) Development is permitted by this class subject to the following conditions:—

(a) no operations shall be carried out between 6pm and 7am;

(b) no trees on the land shall be removed, felled, lopped or topped and no other thing shall be done on the land likely to harm or damage any trees, unless the planning authority have otherwise agreed in writing;

(c) before any excavation (other than a borehole) is made, any topsoil and any subsoil shall be separately removed from the land to be excavated and stored separately from other excavated material and from each other;

(d) within a period of 28 days from the cessation of operations unless the planning authority have, in a particular case, agreed otherwise in writing—

(i) any structure permitted by this class and any waste material arising from development permitted by this class shall be removed from the land;

(ii) any borehole shall be adequately sealed;

(iii) any other excavation shall be filled with material from the site;

(iv) the surface of the land on which any operations have been carried out shall be levelled and any topsoil replaced as the uppermost layer; and

(v) the land shall, so far as is practicable, be restored to the condition it was in before the development took place, including the carrying out of any necessary seeding and replanting.

Textual Amendments

F1 Sch. 1 Pt. 15 Class 53(2)(za) inserted (1.5.2012) by The Management of Extractive Waste (Scotland) Regulations 2010 (S.S.I. 2010/60), regs. 1(2), 3(1)(c) (with regs. 4, 5)

Class 54.—(1) Development on any land F2 ... consisting of—

(a) the drilling of boreholes;

(b) the carrying out of seismic surveys; or

(c) the making of other excavations,

for the purposes of mineral exploration, and the provision or assembly on that land or on adjoining land of any structure required in connection with any of those operations.

(2) Development is not permitted by this class if—

[F3 (za) it is contrary to the requirements of the Management of Extractive Waste (Scotland) Regulations 2010;]

(a) it consists of the drilling of boreholes for petroleum exploration;

(b) the developer has not previously notified the planning authority in writing of his intention to carry out the development specifying the nature and location of the development;

(c) the relevant period has not elapsed;

(d) any explosive charge of more than 2 kilograms would be used;

(e) any excavation referred to in sub-paragraph (1)(c) would exceed 10 metres in depth or 12 square metres in surface area; or

(f) any structure assembled or provided would exceed 12 metres in height.

(3) Development is permitted by this class subject to the following conditions:—

(a) the development shall be carried out in accordance with the details in the notification referred to in sub-paragraph (2)(b), unless the planning authority have otherwise agreed in writing;

(b) no trees on the land shall be removed, felled, lopped or topped and no other thing shall be done on the land likely to harm or damage any trees, unless the planning authority have otherwise agreed in writing;

(c) before any excavation other than a borehole is made, any topsoil and any subsoil shall be separately removed from the land to be excavated and stored separately from other excavated material and from each other;

(d) within a period of 28 days from the date of the operations ceasing, unless the planning authority have, in a particular case, agreed otherwise in writing—

(i) any structure permitted by this class and any waste material arising from development so permitted shall be removed from the land;

(ii) any borehole shall be adequately sealed;

(iii) any other excavation shall be filled with material from the site;

(iv) the surface of the land on which any operations have been carried out shall be levelled and any topsoil replaced as the uppermost layer; and

(v) the land shall, so far as is practicable, be restored to its condition before the development took place, including the carrying out of any necessary seeding and replanting;

[F4 (e) the development shall cease no later than a date 6 months after the relevant period has elapsed, unless the planning authority have otherwise agreed in writing.]

Textual Amendments

F2 Words in Sch. 1 Pt. 15 Class 54(1) revoked (29.6.1994) by The Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) (Scotland) Amendment Order 1994 (S.I. 1994/1442), arts. 1(1), 2(a)

F3 Sch. 1 Pt. 15 Class 54(2)(za) inserted (1.5.2012) by The Management of Extractive Waste (Scotland) Regulations 2010 (S.S.I. 2010/60), regs. 1(2), 3(1)(d) (with regs. 4, 5)

F4 Sch. 1 Pt. 15 Class 54(3)(e) inserted (29.6.1994) by The Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) (Scotland) Amendment Order 1994 (S.I. 1994/1442), arts. 1(1), 2(b)

Interpretation of Part 15 S

For the purposes of Part 15—

“mineral exploration” means the carrying out of operations for the purpose of ascertaining the presence, extent or quality of any deposit of a mineral with a view to exploiting that mineral;

[F5 “petroleum” has the same meaning as given in section 1 of the Petroleum Act 1998;]

“relevant period” means—

(a)

in a case where a direction has not been issued under article 7, the period which ends 21 days after the notification referred to in paragraph 54(2)(b) or on the date on which the planning authority notify the developer in writing that they will not issue such a direction whichever is the earlier; or

(b)

in a case where a direction is issued under article 7 the period which ends 28 days from the date on which notice of that direction is sent to the Secretary of State or on the date on which the planning authority notify the developer in writing that the Secretary of State has disallowed the direction whichever is the earlier;

“structure” includes a building, plant or machinery.

Textual Amendments

F5 Words in Sch. 1 Pt. 15 inserted (30.6.2014) by The Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) (Scotland) Amendment Order 2014 (S.S.I. 2014/142), arts. 1(1), 2(12)