GETTING planning permission from the council could be about to get easier.

From August 24 the process will be quicker and easier thanks to a new Scotland wide initiative.

The Scottish government are launching a new eBuildingstandards.scot portal, designed to simplify the way in which applications are made.

The portal will enable people to apply for building warrants and other related forms, such as completion certificates, online.

Councillor Jim Roberts, East Ayrshire Council Spokesperson for Planning said: “We welcome the launch of the new portal. Anyone who has ever dealt with a planning or building warrant application knows how frustrating and time consuming the process can be. With this new portal online applications will be simple, save time and money, and will be delivered to our planning service swiftly, enabling our officers to start considering applications more quickly.

“We’re already seeing the benefits of using a portal for planning applications through our ePlanning.scot portal which was introduced in January 2016. It has proved very popular and simple to use. This is the next stage in bringing the whole process together online. Both portals will be accessed through the eDevelopment.scot home page – a new single landing page leading to both the new eBuilding Standards service and also to the ePlanning service.

“There’s a single eDevelopment.scot login process, so if you’re already registered on ePlanning.scot, you will be able to use the same login details for eBuildingstandards.scot. Our East-Ayrshire.gov.uk website has full details and links. With this launch it’s now easier than ever to make an application. For our planning team, the whole process is much more streamlined and efficient, enabling us to help developers, builders and building owners to carry out their plans as quickly and easily as possible.”