The Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act 1997 (c. 8) is the principal piece of legislation governing the use and development of land within Scotland.^[1] The act's forerunner was the Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act 1972.

Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act 1997

Act of Parliament
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Long title	An Act to consolidate certain enactments relating to town and country planning in Scotland with amendments to give effect to recommendations of the Scottish Law Commission
Citation	1997 c. 8
Territorial extent	Scotland, England and Wales (s. 70 and Sch. 7 only)
Dates
Royal assent	27 February 1997
Other legislation
Amended by	Planning etc. (Scotland) Act 2006 Planning (Scotland) Act 2019
Status: Amended
Text of statute as originally enacted
Text of the Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act 1997 as in force today (including any amendments) within the United Kingdom, from legislation.gov.uk.

The 1997 act is supported by various pieces of subordinate legislation, such as the Town and Country Planning (General Development Procedure) (Scotland) Order 1992, the Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) (Scotland) Order 1992, and the Town and Country Planning (Use Classes) (Scotland) Order 1997.

More recently, and following a white paper on Modernising the Planning System,^[2] the Scottish Parliament passed the Planning etc (Scotland) Act 2006, which sought to amend certain parts of the 1997 Act; including development plan preparation, development control, now known as development management in Scotland,^[3] and enforcement. These changes came into force on 3 August 2009 and amended the 1997 Act, which still remains the principal planning act in Scotland.

One change brought in by the 2006 Act was the formation of a Strategic Development Planning Authority to prepare a strategic development plan in each of the four city regions.