A Conservative MSP has hit out after figures revealed the amount of rejected local planning application appeals that have subsequently been overturned by the government. Maurice Golden said almost two-thirds of applications which were initially rejected by Dundee City Council were then successfuly appealed to the Scottish Government.
The 62 per cent success rate for appeals is significantly higher than the Scottish average of 45 per cent. The figures were published in the Scottish Government’s annual review of Planning and Environment Appeals Division.
It showed developers appealed to ministers in Edinburgh on 13 occasions in 2021/22 after being turned down for consent by Dundee councillors. And on eight of those instances, ministers over-ruled the local authority and allowed the appeal.
Across Scotland, there were 367 planning appeals, of which 164 were granted. Dundee’s overturn rate of 62 per cent is the highest in the area, and compares to 20 per cent in Angus, 42 per cent in Fife and 50 per cent in Perth and Kinross.
It’s also the highest of Scotland’s major cities.
Scottish Conservative North East MSP Maurice Golden said:
“People and businesses in Dundee will be alarmed at how readily ministers in Edinburgh are overturning planning decisions made locally.
“Clearly the Scottish Government thinks it knows best when it comes to what the city needs, and that’s a troubling attitude.
“The SNP is forever going on about power grabs, but it seems the party is more than happy to big-foot decisions on appeal when it suits its own agenda.
“There will always be the odd occasion where a local council and central government disagree on planning or policy.
“But for the Scottish Government to over-rule Dundee council on almost two-thirds of cases is ridiculous.”
A Dundee City Council spokesperson said: “Planning decisions are made in accordance with the Local Development Plan, the Tayplan Strategic Plan and Scottish Government legislation which have all gone through a rigorous and lengthy process of draft and re-draft to take into account the views of everyone who has a stake in the built environment.
"All of this information goes on to form the basis of officers' recommendations, however, most of the applications decided on by the planning committee will use the policies of the local development plan which has also been agreed by the council at the City Development committee.
“A number of applications highlighted here as being granted on appeal were recommended for approval by officers when they were initially brought to the planning committee. Members can quite rightly disagree with the recommendations of officers at the committee. There may be differing views on applications that come to planning committee, but as long as decisions are based solely on material planning grounds, the decisions are valid.
"Applicants that are unhappy with the planning committee's decision have the right of appeal. This is a key aspect of the planning process.
“The most critical point to make is that the planning system in Scotland allows for different views.”
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