Planning: Neil Collar

"As a practitioner, the previous edition of this book was always my first port of call. Despite being a relatively slender volume, I was often pleasantly surprised to find at least basic coverage of some obscure aspects of planning law in the course of my researches.”

Planning, 5th Edition, by Neil Collar

(W. Green, 2023, ISBN 9780414110045, £120)

As a practitioner, the previous edition of this book was always my first port of call. Despite it being a relatively slender volume, I was often pleasantly surprised to find at least basic coverage of some obscure aspects of planning law in the course of my researches. I suspect that will remain the case with this very welcome new edition. It continues to fill the increasing gap left by the now substantially out-of-date Scottish Planning Law and Procedure (2nd edition), once updated in 2001 and previously considered the bible of planning law. 

While still not a direct replacement, the enormous benefit of Collar’s book to lawyers lies in its concise, yet complete coverage of all aspects of planning law. It is clearly expressed, user friendly, divided into easy-to-read sections, with a good index and a comprehensive reference to case law. As such, it remains a very useful introductory textbook that will be of value to students of planning law and non-lawyers coming into contact with the planning system, such as planners, surveyors, architects and community councils.

As the foreword indicates, the impetus for producing this update seven years after the last one has been the substantial changes wrought by the passing of the Planning (Scotland) Act 2019. The latest edition deals with the new definition of the statutory development plan and the new status of the National Planning Framework, as well as other consequences of the 2019 Act. It also considers other topical legislative changes such as changes to permitted development rights and the introduction of control areas for short-term holiday lets, as well as procedural changes and the introduction of regional space strategies and local place plans.

In common with the previous edition, there is useful coverage of challenges to planning decisions and the operation of Local Review Bodies. It is always worth being reminded of the potential grounds for appeal and the appropriate body to which such an appeal ought to be directed. 

Many planning practitioners will have recently found themselves dealing increasingly with the energy sector, in particular in relation to energy from renewable sources. Although many such applications are expressly dealt with outwith the planning control regime in terms of the Electricity Act 1989, those developments with a capacity below 50MW are still within the purview of the 1997 Act.  There are moves afoot to raise the threshold above the present 50MW with the consequence that many developments, not just wind farms, but also battery storage and solar generation, will soon be covered by the planning regime if they are not already. 

This could be the subject of another work and not just an additional chapter as has been previously suggested in relation to the earlier edition of this work, given how broad ranging that topic might be. However, it might have been useful for this edition to have covered that recent development and likely direction of travel to some extent, especially since general planning principles around public amenity are very much in play in applications under the 1989 Act, as demonstrated by the fact that they are always accompanied by an application for deemed planning permission in terms of section 57(2) of the 1997 Act.

However, within its stated scope of planning law, this book remains an invaluable primary reference point for busy practitioners looking for succinct answers at speed for planning issues that arise in the course of local authority applications for planning permission. As such, it is to be commended as a very useful addition to any planning library.

Written by Maurice O’Carroll, Advocate, LARTPI