§ Mr. Kirkwoodasked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he has any plans to introduce legislation to make milk pasteurisation and bottling plants on farms part of an industrial process for planning and rating purposes in Scotland; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. AncramThe present position as regards planning is that, under class V in schedule 1 to the Town and Country Planning (General Development) (Scotland) Order 1981, the carrying out on agricultural land having an area of more than 0.4 hectares and comprised in an agricultural unit of building or engineering operations requisite for the use of that land for the purposes of agriculture is development permitted without express planning permission. The Government take the view that an agricultural building is permitted development only if its intended use is ancillary to an agricultural activity carried out on the open land in that agricultural unit.
Whether milk pasteurisation and bottling plants on farms are permitted development or require express planning permission will depend on the facts in any individual case and will be a matter for the planning authority in the first instance to determine.
In a consultation paper on amendments to the General Development Order issued by my Department in January 1984 it was proposed that the wording of class V should be revised to make it clear that permitted development rights were allowed for agricultural buildings and engineering operations which are sited on an agricultural unit of 0.4 hectares or more and are needed for the furtherance of an agricultural activity on the unit. My right hon. and learned Friend is considering whether these changes should be included among the further amendments which will be made to the General Development Order, as announced in the White Paper "Building Businesses … not Barriers" (Cmnd. 9794, May 1986).
The present position as regards rating is that agricultural lands and buildings as defined in the Valuation and Rating (Scotland) Act 1956 are not entered in the valuation roll. My right hon. and learned Friend has no plans to change this.