Builder decides to put Scottish projects on hold until planning overhaul |
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Published
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Sun, 18 Dec 2005 16:05
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Evans Easyspace, a company that specializes in building utility spaces for small and medium businesses has decided to bring the curtain on its Scottish operations since the planning delays in the country are more than what prevail in England.
The company says that for projects to come down from the drawing board, the delays are as much as nine months. “It is just not viable for us. We have nine centres open or under development in Scotland and would love to open more but it is just too difficult," Tom Stokes, managing director at Easyspace told The Sunday Times.
“Economic development, business investment and employment growth opportunities are being jeopardized because of a lack of flexibility.” The Scottish Executive is currently reviewing the planning system in the country, but Stokes said that they could not wait around for it to happen.
According to the prevailing laws in Scotland, local authorities cannot give the green signal for a construction project unless a building warrant is issued. This means that all through the negotiating stage and till the finer points are hammered out, the company has to keep its staff in abeyance, thereby hitting productivity. There is a key difference in England, though. The construction can begin before the warrant is formally issued provided the builder and the local development agree to the same.
“This achieves the same result as in Scotland in that companies cannot occupy developments until a completion certificate has been granted, which ensures compliance with building regulations,” Stokes asserted. “But it speeds up the development phase, while maintaining the local authority’s control over the process.”
He added that while the executive had assured speedy clearance, the firm would not build until an overhaul is affected. The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) has voiced similar complaints and has said that only 53 percent of on-domestic applications are cleared in 60 days as against the target of 80 percent.
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