Planning privacy notice

All personal information is held and processed by us as data controllers in accordance with data protection law.

For further information on the role of data controller, data protection officer and contact details for the Council, please refer to our  privacy statement or contact our data protection officer.

Our data protection officer can be contacted using the details at the bottom of this page. 

We collect the personal information we need to provide you with relevant information, services and support.

The personal data we collect includes, but is not limited to:

• name
• address
• telephone numbers
• email
• financial and business information
• land ownership details
• your occupation
• health information
• your expressed opinions or intentions in respect of a planning application

The information you provide to us is required to allow us to carry out our statutory functions.

We require this information:

• to process pre-application planning enquiries
• to process and determine planning applications and building warrants
• to investigate and resolve planning and building standards enforcement cases
• to maintain the Planning, Building Standards and the Planning Enforcement Registers
• to prepare the Development Plan and develop our Planning Policy
• to prepare and serve statutory notices
• to verify your identity where required, contact you by post, email or telephone
• to maintain our own records

The processing of information within the Planning Service is necessary for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest or in the exercise of official authority vested in the data controller. Information is required to allow us to carry out our statutory functions based upon the following legislation:

• Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act 1997 and 2006 as amended
• Building (Scotland) Act 2003
• Planning (Listed Building and Conservation Areas) (Scotland) Act 1997 as amended
• Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003

Data protection legislation defines special category data as data relating to the processing of personal data regarding:

• racial or ethnic origin
• political opinions
• religious or philosophical beliefs
• trade union membership
• processing of genetic data
• biometric data
• data concerning health 
• data concerning a person’s sex life or sexual orientation

Special category data may be processed by the Planning Service in limited circumstances.

When special category data is collected by us, the lawful basis for processing is:

1. Necessity for reasons of substantial public interest, on the basis of union or member state law which shall be proportionate to the aim pursued, respect the essence of the right to data protection and provide for suitable and specific measures to safeguard the fundamental rights and the interests of the data subject.
2. Consent.

Where necessary your information will be shared with:

• Scottish Ministers, Planning and Environmental Appeals Division (DPEA)
• Scottish Government and its Agencies
• Non-departmental government bodies
• Scottish Environmental Protection Agency
• Scottish Natural Heritage
• The Procurator Fiscal

The service may make any disclosures required by law and may share information with other bodies responsible for detecting/preventing fraud or auditing/administering public funds. We will also generally comply with requests for specific information from other regulatory and law enforcement bodies where this is necessary and appropriate.

Personal data you have provided may also be made available online as required to allow us to carry out our statutory functions under the above mentioned legislation.

We will ensure that any external agency which received disclosed information is fully aware of and accepts it responsibility as outlined in within the General Data Protection Regulations and the Data Protection Act 2018.

We will only keep your information for the minimum period necessary. After this time, information is deleted/destroyed in accordance with our  corporate retention schedule (PDF 814 KB).

It is important that we hold accurate and up to date information.

If any details have changed, or change in the future, then individuals should ensure that they inform us as soon as possible so that they can update their records accordingly.

Under data protection legislation, individuals have a right to request access to information about them that we hold. Further details can be found in our  privacy statement.

Individuals also have the right to:

• object to processing of personal data that is likely to cause, or is causing damage or distress
• prevent processing for the purposes of direct marketing
• object to decisions being taken by automated means
• in certain circumstances, have inaccurate personal data rectified, blocked, erased or destroyed
• in certain circumstances, transfer their data to another organisation (data portability)

Individuals can contact us regarding their data protection rights and the processing of their data. Details of how to do this can be found in our privacy statement.

If individuals have a concern about the way our Planning Service is collecting or using their personal data, they should raise their concern in the first instance with our data protection officer.