Overview of the Act Applications Section 22:  Declining to determine an application
149.Section 39 of the 1997 Act sets out the discretionary powers for planning authorities to refuse to accept planning applications (decline to determine), where permission was previously refused for a ‘similar application’, i.e. where the development and the land are the same or substantially the same. Different criteria apply depending whether there has been an appeal or local review, but in each case the authority may decline to determine an application if the criteria were met within the previous two years. Section 14A of the Act amends this to be five years in each case. Section 38 of the Act inserts a new section 39A requiring the Scottish Ministers to publish guidance on what constitutes a “similar application” and a “significant change” for the purposes of declining to determine an application.