A Brief Outline on Planning and Building Control

Mostly, for people living in a community, it is about where they live and their built environment. People are concerned about their own property, what they can and can’t do with it and just what are their neighbours permitted to do.

Regarding Property (buildings and land, there are two largely separate areas of Scottish Government Legislation involved, Town & Country Planning Acts and Building Regulation. These are dealt with by separate departments in unitary local authorities.

However, in Callander we live with two local authorities. The Loch Lomond & The Trossachs National Park are responsible for Planning and Stirling Council are responsible for Building Regulation.

Planning

Planning relates to buildings and land usage and, apart from Listed Buildings are little concerned with building interiors apart from the designated usage. Main Planning areas of interest are:

• What will the building be used for, is there more than one category of use – e.g. dwelling house and shop?
• What is the total size and shape of the building? Accurate dimension (height, width & length) must be given
• What is the type and quality of the external finishes of the building? To include walls, roofs, doors and windows.
• How does the building relate to the site, land that it sits on, Its boundaries and neighbouring properties?
• How accessible is the building?
• Is there to be a new access to a public highway?
• A Listed Building is one that has been designated Category xxxxx by Scottish Heritage as having significant architectural, historical or cultural significance. Obtaining planning permission will require more detail time and may need expert advice.
• The central area of Callander is within a conservation area which has additional restrictions on development, demolition, tree removal, etc.

There will be other considerations but, generally, you are advised to follow the guidelines within the Planning Application form. It will be better to give clear responses and avoid the N/A tick boxes as much as possible. The National Park Planning team offers a pre-application consultation service – please use it.

Find the LL&TTNP Planning team at: https://www.lochlomond-trossachs.org/planning/

Email: planning@lochlomond-trossachs.org or phone: 01389 722 023

Building Regulation

This legislation (the Building (Scotland) Act & Regulation) and the 2019 Technical Handbook is principally concerned with the construction of buildings, but it can also deal with the regulation of public spaces. Main issues are:

• Suitability of all materials of construction, including:

         -- Foundations
         -- Walls
         -- Floors
         -- Roofs
         -- Staircases
         -- Drainage and Sanitary Provisions
         -- Building Services

• Structural Stability
• Thermal Efficiency
• Fire Safety – protection of people by safe escape routes
• Fire Safety – protection of building and contents by compartmentation
• Accessibility – avoidance of steps, thresholds.

Access to Stirling Council Building Standards Division is at:

www.stirling.gov.uk/planning-building-the-environment/building-standards/

This website also gives access to a helpful document ‘Building Standards Customer Journey’ which can be downloaded if you can handle a 6.3MB pdf file.

The Area Surveyor for Callander is David Findlay: 01786 233 602

Consultation

Local authority officers will usually try to help with informal advice but the ultimate responsibility will be with you the building owner or tenant.

In all but the most straightforward domestic projects you may be advised to engage professional support before your project is too advanced.

This is only a brief outline of processes, please follow up by visit the Local Authority and Scottish Government websites for a fuller picture.