Planning (Scotland) Act 2019

33 Completion notices

(1) The Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act 1997 is amended as follows.

(2) In section 61 (termination of planning permission by reference to time limit: completion notices), after subsection (3) insert—

“(3A) A completion notice must also—

(a) state that a person on whom it is served may lodge an objection,

(b) specify the date on which the notice will take effect if no objection is lodged before that date.

(3B) The date so specified must be a date at least 28 days after the date on which the notice is served.”.

(3) In section 62 (effect of completion notice)—

(a) in subsection (1), for the words from “shall” to the end substitute “takes effect—

(a) on the date specified in it, unless before that date an objection is lodged under section 62A(1),

(b) where an objection is lodged under section 62A(1), only if and when the notice is confirmed by the Scottish Ministers.”,

(b) subsections (2) and (3) are repealed,

(c) in subsection (4)—

(i) for “Secretary of State” substitute “Scottish Ministers”,

(ii) for “subsection (2)” substitute “section 62A(5)”.

(4) After section 62, insert—

“62A Objection to completion notice

(1) A person on whom a completion notice is served may, prior to the date specified in it, lodge an objection to the notice with the planning authority which served it.

(2) Where an objection is lodged under subsection (1), the planning authority must give notice of the objection to—

(a) every person who was served with the completion notice, and

(b) the Scottish Ministers.

(3) Before confirming a completion notice, the Scottish Ministers must allow the following people the opportunity to make representations to a person appointed for the purpose by the Scottish Ministers—

(a) the person who lodged the objection, and

(b) the planning authority.

(4) The Scottish Ministers must give notice of their decision as to whether or not to confirm the completion notice to—

(a) every person who was served with the completion notice, and

(b) the planning authority.

(5) In confirming a completion notice, the Scottish Ministers may substitute a longer period for that specified in the notice as the period at the expiration of which the planning permission is to cease to have effect.”.

(5) In section 182 (regulations controlling display of advertisements), in subsection (3)(a), for “62” substitute “62A”.

(6) In section 237 (validity of certain decisions), in subsection (3)(c), for “62” substitute “62A”.