INTRODUCTION
1. This circular provides guidance on the circumstances in which planning authorities must notify Scottish Ministers where they propose to grant planning permission. It updates and replaces the guidance previously given in SODD Circular 4/1997.
2. Annex A contains the Town and Country Planning (Notification of Applications) (Scotland) Direction 2007, which consolidates and replaces the 1997 Notification Direction and all subsequent amendments. The new direction also acts on commitments made by Scottish Ministers as part of the wider modernisation of the planning system, specifically through changes to the arrangements for notifying Ministers of local authority interest developments, departures from the development plan and EIA developments.
3. The circular also offers guidance on the provision of relevant information when planning applications are to be notified to Scottish Ministers, and it explains the types of circumstances where Ministers may call in applications for their own determination.