The Scottish Government have shone a spotlight on the role of planning permission conditions, by publishing standard consent conditions to be attached to section 36 consents (electricity generating stations over 50MW).
Use of conditions
Old planning permissions often contain few conditions. There is a tale, probably apocryphal, of the Director of Planning who said that if a permission needed more than 20 conditions, the permission should be refused.
The quantity of conditions has grown over the years. Planning practice has got more complicated, with a much wider range of issues considered, and in more depth.
As ever, the question is whether the quality of conditions has kept up with the quantity.
The Scottish Government’s Proportionality of Assessment Short Life Working Group is promoting a proportionate approach to planning applications – consideration could also be given to whether information requirements specified in conditions are proportionate.
Discussing conditions
Planning appeal procedures include submissions on proposed conditions. If a hearing or inquiry is being held, the reporter will often take the opportunity to include a hearing on the proposed conditions, which can take an hour or two. That frequently results in multiple changes, often with the agreement of the planning authority.
In contrast, there tends to be little discussion of proposed conditions during the application process. There is a feeling that attention is only given to conditions at the end of the process, when planning officers are reluctant to give applicants an opportunity to comment on draft conditions, possibly in part because of looming committee report deadlines.
Standard section 36 consent conditions
Most planning authorities have standard planning conditions. Heads of Planning Scotland are discussing standardised conditions.
What is innovative is about the standard section 36 consent conditions is: 1) publication, and 2) encouragement for applicants to submit a tracked changes version with the application.
Including proposed conditions with the application
It is worth exploring encouraging all applicants for planning permission to propose conditions. It will not suit every applicant/ agent, but many planning consultants would welcome the opportunity to suggest conditions, as they can tailor the conditions to fit the development and the developer's requirements.
That approach could avoid situations where conditions are imposed that do not fit with project timelines. Post-consent, there are examples of planning officers agreeing informally that pre-commencement conditions can be fulfilled later in the process – that might have been avoided if the condition had been discussed with the applicant pre-consent.
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