A straightforward planning application for a relatively minor change to a house in Dundee could result in up to 150 people being formally notified by the council of the proposal.
With that in mind, director of city development Mike Galloway is disappointed that the issue of neighbour notification has not been more comprehensively addressed in Scottish Government plans to tweak new planning legislation introduced in August 2009.
He outlined the problem in the council’s response to consultation on proposed refinements to the new planning system. The changes proposed are not “a fundamental review of planning modernisation” and he is broadly supportive of the proposed amendments.
“Unfortunately,” Mr Galloway said, “the opportunity to address more fundamental problems, the most significant of which relate to neighbour notification requirements, has not been progressed in this consultation.”
He suggested that the need to send out notices to everyone within 20 metres of an application site is “excessive, particularly in tenement areas.” In addition, “The requirement to advertise applications where there are no premises on adjoining land is disproportionate and does not add value to the system.
“In tenemental areas of the city an application for a dormer can result in up to 150 notifications. It is suggested that the notification distance is reduced to 10 metres (excluding roads) for major applications and four metres (excluding roads) for other applications.”
As it is the proposed changes to the system will only “marginally” reduce the onus for notification and advertisement of planning applications, resulting in “very modest savings” to the council.
“The opportunity for more radical changes, which would have resulted in more substantial savings, was not taken up by this consultation,” Mr Galloway added.
Photo used under Creative Commons licence courtesy of Flickr user wwworks.