Pioneering agreements between Highland Council and Historic Scotland paves the way for improved service delivery

Following a successful pilot project, the Highland Council is to apply to Historic Scotland for the Removal of Duty to Notify for certain types of category B listed building consent applications. 

Previously applications for listed building consent for category A and B listed buildings had been formally notified to Historic Scotland who then had an opportunity to review and call in for determination if they disagreed with the council’s decision.  This process proved to be cumbersome and time consuming.

In June 2008 changes in the Planning (Scotland) Act 2006 allowed Historic Scotland to issue directions to local planning authorities which removed the need to notify them when determining listed building applications. To qualify for this the Council has improved its procedures and ensured staff are suitably trained.

Through this pioneering arrangement the Council will be able to deliver a more efficient development management service to applicants for listed building consent in relation to Category B listed buildings.

The Council will also sign and commit to a Partnership Management Agreement with Rio Tinto Alcan and Historic Scotland, the first such agreement in Europe. As with the Removal of Duty to Notify, this agreement will ease and speed up the process of applying for listed building consent on their estate.  All parties will formally sign the Agreement in July of this year.

Chairman of the Planning, Environment and Development Committee, Councillor Ian Ross welcomed the decision.  He said: “This is excellent news that will result in less bureaucracy and a more streamlined and efficient service.  The council has a statutory duty in relation to the historic environment and we take this responsibility seriously. The Management Agreement and the Removal of duty to Notify are the first agreements of its type in Scotland and indeed the whole of Europe and it is therefore an important innovative piece of work which has generated a great deal of interest from other organisations.  We have proved that we have the necessary in-house expertise and the correct policy in place. I would like to praise the work of all the planning staff involved in this ground breaking work.  It really demonstrates the confidence Historic Scotland has in our procedures and I am sure other local authorities will be keen to follow in our footsteps.”