Planning Enforcement Charter
Contents
- Introduction
- Enforcement Powers
- Planning Enforcement and Advertising
- What is a breach of planning control?
- What is not a breach of planning control?
- Time limits
- How to report a breach of planning control
- Anonymous enquiries and confidentiality
- Breaches that are high impact and low impact in planning terms
- Investigating a possible breach of planning control
- Acting on breaches of planning control
- Our service standards
- Making a suggestion or complaint about planning enforcement
Planning Enforcement and Advertising
The display of advertisements is covered by legislation.
This legislation is the Town and Country Planning (Control of Advertisements) (Scotland) Regulations 1984. Many advertisements are displayed with what is called 'deemed consent' which means they do not require planning permission if they meet the criteria and conditions set out in the regulations. One of these conditions is that the landowner has given permission for the advertisement to be displayed on their land.
Displaying an advertisement in contravention of the regulations is an offence and, if convicted in court, an offender can be fined. The court can impose further fines for each day the breach of the regulations continues.
We have the power to serve an enforcement notice. This specifies a time period (normally 28 days) for compliance with the notice. However, this period can be reduced to seven days if we believe there is an urgent need for the advertisement to be removed or altered in the interests of public safety, or if the advertisement can be removed without any other work being required.
An enforcement notice can also require that a particular piece of land should not be used to display advertisements. This remains in force even if the original advertisement is removed. Any subsequent advertising on this site would amount to a breach of the notice.
We also have powers to remove or destroy placards and posters that do not have planning permission or deemed consent. If the person who put up the poster can be identified, they must be given at least two days notice that we intend to take the poster down. If they cannot be readily identified, then the advert can be removed immediately.
Council officials can enter unoccupied land, if necessary, to remove an advertisement. However they have no powers to remove advertisements displayed within a building to which there is no public access.
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