Official Report 324KB pdf
Planning (Rights of Appeal) (PE1534)
Agenda item 2 is consideration of petition PE1534, by Clare Symonds on behalf of Planning Democracy, on equal rights of appeal in the planning system.
The petition was lodged with the Parliament on 3 September 2014, and has been referred to us by the Public Petitions Committee. The petition calls on the Scottish Parliament
“to urge the Scottish Government to review the current rights of appeal within planning and other consenting processes which give deemed planning consent, considering the benefits of widening the scope of appeal, and providing an equal right of appeal.”
We have a paper from the clerk setting out the background to the petition and the written and oral evidence that the Public Petitions Committee received before it referred the petition to us.
Do members have a view on the petition?
I have a lot of sympathy with the petition, as it is on an issue that needs to be explored further. At the moment it seems that there is a bit of an imbalance in the system and local communities and people are losing out to an extent. We should look at whether we can progress this somehow.
Because it is not long since new planning regulations came in, we should write to the Government and ask what the timescale is for a review.
I suggest that we write to the Government about the petition and ask what plans it has to review. We will wait for a response from the Government and, if we do not feel that the response is the right one, we should then ask the cabinet secretary to appear in front of the committee. Would that satisfy members?
Members indicated agreement.