16.—(1) Where a planning authority proposes to grant an application under regulation 6, 7 or 8, as the case may be, and the safety regulator or the Scottish Environment Protection Agency has advised against that or has recommended that conditions be imposed on the grant which the authority does not propose to impose, the authority must notify the Scottish Ministers, in writing, of the application and provide them with a copy of the application and any information, plans and other documents contained in or accompanying it.
(2) The planning authority must not grant the application before—
(a)the expiry of the period of 28 days beginning with the date of the notification given under paragraph (1) or such longer period notified in writing to the planning authority by the Scottish Ministers; or
(b)the Scottish Ministers notify the authority that they do not intend to require that the application be referred to them under section 18 of the principal Act.