How planning decisions happen

Every major development in Glasgow passes through the same sequence of gates, and knowing them explains most of the questions readers ask us — why nothing seems to happen after an approval, why demolition can start while a tower is still "in planning", and why a granted scheme can still fall over.

Major applications (50 or more homes, or sites over two hectares) must begin with twelve weeks of public consultation before anything is even submitted. The application itself then faces neighbour notification, statutory consultees and a case officer's report before a decision — two months is the target for small schemes, four for major ones, but legal agreements under Section 75 routinely stretch decisions past a year.

Consent is not the finish line. Conditions must be discharged — often the first public signal that construction is genuinely imminent — and building warrants, a separate regime entirely, govern the actual works. Demolition can run under its own warrant long before the main construction is signed off, which is exactly what happened at Charing Cross this year.

The true final gate is the completion certificate, accepted by Building Standards, without which a building cannot legally be occupied. Between first sketch and that certificate, seven years is not unusual — and the paper trail spans four public registers that rarely mention each other.