2020 No. 144

Town And Country Planning

The Town and Country Planning (Changing Places Toilet Facilities) (Scotland) Regulations 2020

Made

Coming into force

The Scottish Ministers make the following Regulations in exercise of the powers conferred by section 41B(4) of the Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act 19971 and all other powers enabling them to do so.

In accordance with section 275(7BA)2 of that Act a draft of this instrument has been laid before and approved by resolution of the Scottish Parliament.

Citation, commencement and interpretation1

1

These Regulations may be cited as the Town and Country Planning (Changing Places Toilet Facilities) (Scotland) Regulations 2020 and come into force on 18 May 2020.

2

In these Regulations “the Act” means the Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act 1997.

Amendment of section 41B of the Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act 19972

1

Section 41B of the Act is amended in accordance with this regulation.

2

In subsection (2)—

a

in paragraph (d) omit “the gross floor space of which is or exceeds 10,000 square metres”,

b

after paragraph (h) insert—

i

as a conference or exhibition centre,

j

as a restaurant or cafe,

k

as a public house or nightclub.

3

In subsection (3)—

a

in paragraph (b) omit “centrally-placed”,

b

for paragraphs (d)(iii) and (iv) substitute—

iii

a height adjustable wash hand basin,

iv

grab rails to assist in the use of the toilet facility,

c

in paragraph (v) after “shelf” insert “or other surface”,

d

after paragraph (v) insert—

vi

a call assistance system.

Disapplication of section 41B(1)3

1

The requirements of section 41B(1) of the Act do not apply unless the relevant part of the building, structure or erection which is the subject of the application for planning permission—

a

has a floor area of more than 5,000 square metres, or

b

can be used for specified purposes by more than 1,000 people at a single time.

2

In this regulation—

  • “relevant part” means—

    1. a

      if the whole building, structure or erection is to be used for specified purposes, the whole building, structure or erection,

    2. b

      if the whole building, structure or erection is not to be used for specified purposes, only such part or parts of the building, structure or erection which are to be used for specified purposes,

  • “specified purposes” means one or more of the purposes specified in section 41B(2) of the Act,

  • “floor area” means the total floor space in a building taking each floor into account but excluding any area where the headroom measures less than 1.5 metres.

AILEEN CAMPBELLA member of the Scottish GovernmentSt Andrew’s House,Edinburgh
EXPLANATORY NOTE

(This note is not part of the Regulations)

These Regulations make amendments to section 41B of the Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act 1997 (“the Act”). Section 41B(1) of the Act requires that a planning authority may only grant planning permission for certain types of development, listed in subsection (2), on condition that the development includes at least one toilet facility (a “Changing Places Toilet”) that meets specified standards suitable for people with complex care needs. These Regulations come into force on 18 May 2020.

Regulation 2(2) adds new purposes to the list of developments in section 41B(2) and removes the size limitation in paragraph (d) applicable to a building, structure or erection used as a retail outlet. Regulation 2(3) amends the specification requirements of a Changing Places Toilet set out in section 41B(3) of the Act.

Regulation 3(1) provides that the requirements of section 41B(1) of the Act do not apply unless the relevant part of the building, structure or erection which is the subject of the application for planning permission has a gross floor area of more than 5,000 square metres, or can be used for specified purposes by more than 1,000 people at a single time. Regulation 3(2) sets out definitions of the terms “relevant part”, “specified purposes” and “floor area” referred to in regulation 3(1).