The Scottish Parliament is in recess from 28 June to 31 August. We will respond to petitions as soon as we can.
If your petition is seeking emergency action or an urgent policy change, we would advise you to contact one of your 8 MSPs or the Scottish Government directly. Please be aware that the public petitions process is a thorough and often lengthy process and is not designed to respond to emergencies.
Thank you for your patience and understanding.
The Citizen Participation and Public Petitions Team
Under consideration PE2105: Safeguard Scottish Listed Buildings at risk of unnecessary demolition
Calling on the Scottish Parliament to urge the Scottish Government to set a minimum evidence requirement to prevent unnecessary use of emergency public safety powers to demolish listed buildings.
Background information
The emergency powers in the Building (Scotland) Act 2003 can, in our view, allow for the demolition of listed buildings without sufficient evidence to justify the decision. This is in conflict with planning safeguards in the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) (Scotland) Act 1997. The following policy controls are needed to address this loophole in legislation and to ensure listed buildings (LBs) are not exposed to unjust demolition:
1. Enhanced policy guidance on the minimum evidence and processes required by local authorities before making decisions on the demolition of LBs under emergency powers.
2. A mandatory policy requirement for local authorities to engage with conservation accredited engineers in all cases involving LBs.
3,923 signatures
This petition is now under consideration
Click here for further information about the consideration of this petition.