Warning of planning laws 'lottery'

WIDE inconsistencies exist from council to council in Scotland's planning regime, creating confusion and uncertainty for applicants, one of Scotland's top law firms has warned.

In an audit of the country's 33 planning authorities, Brodies found "wide variances" in the amount of power handed to local officers to approve applications without the need for review by elected councillors.

New planning rules introduced last year gave officers the authority to grant consent to developments not considered "major" or "national".

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Each council can now set certain restrictions on its officials based on local development priorities. But the law firm found large inconsistencies in the application of the new rules, raising fears that Scotland was subject to a "postcode lottery" of planning.

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