Further to the Planning (Scotland) Act 2019 receiving royal assent in July 2019, provisions of the new legislation continue to be rolled-out.
An element of the Planning Act is the requirement that each planning authority’s development plan is to include a statement on proposals for the provision of public conveniences. Guidance on this is yet to be published, but it is expected to include all types of conveniences including accessible and Changing Places Toilets (CPT).
With reference to the latter, regulations have now been laid in the Scottish Parliament bringing into effect new planning requirements on CPT. This makes clear that applications for certain types of development will only be approved if the development includes a toilet facility suitable for use by people that have more complex care needs.
The type of developments which will require to comply with these new provisions include:
- A school, college or university;
- A community centre, sports and leisure centre;
- A hospital/health facility;
- A retail outlet;
- A cultural centre e.g. a museum;
- A stadium or large auditorium e.g. sports stadium;
- A major transport terminus or interchange;
- A conference or exhibition centre;
- A motorway service facility;
- A restaurant or café; and
- Or a public house or nightclub.
Further detail can be found in the accompanying Circular which details all the amended requirements and the interaction of these requirements with Building standards.
The requirements will come into force on the 18th May 2020. It will be important to bear these new CPT measures for future development proposals at the early design stages.
Short-Term Lets
Importantly, this also brings into force, on the 18th May 2020, powers for Scottish Ministers to make regulations about short-term let control areas. The Scottish Government will be consulting on what these regulations should include with a view to a system for designating short-term let control areas being in force by the end of the year. With the short-term let industry continuing to be a major topic of discussion and interest, the consultation on new regulations will likely generate much interest. Graham + Sibbald can provide further details of the Scottish Minsters proposals for short term lets as and when the details contained within the regulations are known.
For any further information or questions, please get in touch with our Planning and Development Team via Planning@g-s.co.uk.
