Town & Country Planning (Use Classes) (Scotland) Order 1997
(England + Wales + Northern Ireland Use Classes To Follow)
This is a very important piece of legislation relating to the use buildings can be utilised for. Plus a couple of stated case/precedent guides at the end of this page to help you research whether it is worth taking on a particular shop or office.
The worst time we had was 203 pieces of paper in the Argyll & Bute Council area. Yes that is correct: 203 pieces of red-tape to complete in order to turn a (closed and long-term empty) RS MacColl newsagent shop into what are tenant wanted: an estate agency. Argyll & Bute Council red-tape very nearly killed off those new jobs. This is one of about 20 reasons we have not invested any more money in Argyll & Bute…
15 years later the estate agency is still in business at the premises we renovated and employing 2 to 3 people. But those 203 pieces of paper were an utter nightmare. So study this next segment bit carefully. If you make a mistake, it could cost you a lot of time, stress and even your job…
Source: Click Here
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Town & Country Planning (Use Classes) (Scotland) Order 1997
Variations in council planning policy relating to our rebooted shop and office re-opening initiative. Specifically 280 High Street, Arbroath, Angus, DD11 1JF. This was formerly a big branch of Swinton Insurance brokers. The permitted use was and is “Class 2”. Office and professional. That will do us thank you. If/when we specifically need retail units , we have will simply buy another closed premises with A1 general retail use.
Between 2021 and 2024 we will be buying 15 closed shops in Scotland, plus a further 15 closed premises in England + Wales + Northern Ireland.
A total of 60 empty shops and at least 120 new jobs over 3 years.
So if you are a local councillor, you might like to think twice about whether the red-tape is more toxic to peoples’ lives than protective. If too many of your electors lose their jobs, then councillors tend to lose theirs too.
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=> Angus Council precedent: asking permission to go from being a shop to an office… A1 => A2: Click Here.
=> Angus Council experience illustrating the planning appeal process and effectively setting some local planning precedent: Click Here.
=> Best use “existing” class and not be exposed to the hassle.