The Town and Country Planning (Masterplan Consent Areas) (Scotland) Regulations 2024 and The Masterplan Consent Area Scheme (Environmental Impact Assessment) (Scotland) Regulations 2024: impact assessments

Introduction

The Planning (Scotland) Act 2019 (the Act) introduces Masterplan Consent Areas (MCAs) as a new upfront consenting mechanism. Planning authorities will be able to use MCAs as part of a proactive, place-making approach to planning and consenting – enabling the type of development they wish to come forward in their places. MCAs would effectively enable planning authorities to grant up-front consent for planned development, offering benefits to potential investors in terms of certainty and removing much of the risk.

The Act provides the planning authority would prepare a MCA 'scheme', with scope to give a range of types of consent, including planning permission, plus roads construction consent, listed building consent and conservation area consent – where provided for in the particular MCA scheme. Development that is in line with the MCA scheme could be brought forward without the need to apply for permission.

The Town and Country Planning (Masterplan Consent Areas) (Scotland) Regulations 2024 provide additional procedural detail around the requirements set out in the 2019 Act for preparing MCAs across Scotland.

The Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Regulations will mirror the provisions within The Town and Country Planning (Environmental Impact Assessment) Regulations 2017, and ensure MCA schemes are compatible with wider EIA requirements.