Scotland’s chief statistician has released figures on planning applications for the year 2017/18. These figures for local and major developments include different trends in decision time and approval rates.
Commenting on the planning service statistics, David Melhuish, director of the Scottish Property Federation, said: ‘The drop in recent performance, as highlighted by these planning statistics, is cause for concern. For the average time taken to deliver decisions on major developments to have increased significantly in quarter four, despite a continuing fall in the overall number of applications determined, is particularly worrying and we must simply do better.
‘Planning fees were increased six-fold last June with major applicants hoping to see an improvement in the planning service. However, the jury is clearly out on whether an improvement in planning performance has been achieved.