A freedom of information request from the Scottish Conservatives has revealed that 379 local authority planning decisions have been overturned by the Scottish Government, out of 816 that were appealed in the last five years.

In 2021-22 so far, 90 planning decisions have already been reversed, out of 161 concluded appeals – a rate of 56%.

Four national park authority planning decisions were also overturned, out of eight concluded appeals since the last local elections. In total, 75 decisions were overturned in 2017-18, 81 were overturned in 2018-19, 70 were overturned in 2019-20, 67 were overturned in 2020-21 and 90 have been overturned so far in 2021-22. This totals 383 planning decisions overturned in total since April 2017. This is out of 824 appeals that have been decided on. 

So far this year, the Scottish Government has overturned more planning decisions than in any other year since 2017. In 2021-22 so far, 90 local authority planning decisions have been overturned by the Scottish Government despite just 161 appeals being decided on. One national park authority planning appeal was also decided on, but not overturned. This means the Scottish Government now overturns more than half the planning decisions it decides on, for the first time in the last five years.

Scottish Conservative local government spokesman, Miles Briggs, said: “Planning decisions can have a huge impact on local communities and residents, and that is why they must be decided locally. The fact that so many are being overturned by this SNP government just shows how little the SNP really thinks of local concerns.”