This item was published during the term of a previous administration that ended in April 2007
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Modernisation package to reform planning system
29/06/2005
Scotland's planning system is to be radically modernised
with improved efficiency, inclusiveness and the delivery of
a fairer and more balanced structure.
Communities Minister Malcolm Chisholm, publishing a
planning modernisation White Paper, said this was a "once
in a lifetime opportunity" to ensure the system delivered
for Scotland's communities and had a positive effect on the
country's economy.
The modernisation plans will ensure the planning system
is:
- Fit for purpose in the 21st
century
- More efficient, effective and
simpler
- More balanced and fairer,
ensuring the views of local people are listened to and
taken into account
- Promoting sustainable growth
Mr Chisholm said: "Planning has a critical role to play
in creating the dynamic, forward-looking, confident nation
to which we all aspire.
"This package of reforms, which I hope people will
consider as a whole, is long overdue. It is a substantial
and well thought out package that will deliver a
wide-ranging and comprehensive modernisation of our
planning system.
"We must take this once in a lifetime opportunity to
bring in a major package of modernisation.
"These reforms will promote the Executive's top priority
of delivering the sustainable growth that Scotland needs,
and bring investment in jobs, housing, schools and
hospitals, as well as regenerating communities.
"We will devolve decisions and appeals to local
authorities wherever possible.
"Our reforms will ensure a planning system based on up
to date, relevant and accessible development plans, that
have been drawn up with the full participation of local
people and with a full assessment of their environmental
impacts.
"For the first time, they will guarantee local people
their rights to make their voices heard while proposals are
still on the drawing board.
"They will encourage debate, engagement and dialogue,
rather than confrontation and frustration, and will ensure
for the first time that listening to local people's views
is central to the development process.
"Above all, this package of reforms will deliver a
fairer, more balanced system, a system fit for purpose in
21st century Scotland and a system that Scotland urgently
needs."
KEY WHITE PAPER PROPOSALS
To make it fit for purpose, a new hierarchy will be
introduced to the planning system, allowing effective
planning for a range of different types of development, and
meaning applications can be responded to in a way
appropriate to their size and impact.
The National Planning Framework (NPF) will be
established as an implement for securing the delivery of
national policies and programmes. Below this, there will be
a new process to determine applications for developments at
national, major and local level, and a review of the extent
to which very small applications can be removed from the
planning system altogether.
The majority of the annual 50,000+ applications fall
under the 'local development' heading, and new procedures
will mean that the determination and appeals of such
developments will be handled at local level.
To make the planning system more efficient, a range of
new requirements in development planning will be introduced
to make the production of plans quicker, more predictable,
more accessible and responsive to local views. Plans should
become simpler and with a clear vision of how areas should
evolve, taking a long-term view, identifying sufficient
land to meet key needs of economic growth and housing
development, and protecting important natural and built
heritage resources. They will be the core documents against
which planning applications will be measured for
determination. Proposals here include:
- Introducing a statutory
requirement to update development plans every five
years;
- Moving to a single tier of local
development plans everywhere apart from the four
largest city regions;
- Replacing the present system of
consultative and finalised drafts with a single
proposed plan.
A range of efficiency measures will also be introduced,
including greater use of e-planning and the introduction of
standard application forms.
To make the planning system more inclusive, a range of
measures will be introduced, giving local people confidence
that their views have been properly considered as part of
the decision-making process. Proposals include:
- A new statutory requirement for
pre-application consultations;
- New procedures to ensure wide
public participation in the formulation of development
plans;
- Requiring more frequent use of
hearings to allow local people to present their views
on applications before they are determined;
- A new requirement for planning
authorities to give their reasons for their decisions,
and notify individuals who had made
representations.
The appeals system will be reformed to create a greater
sense of equality by introducing early determination of
appeals that are not well-founded, and bringing in new
procedures that ensure an appeal is a review of the
decision taken in light of the information submitted and
limiting the right to introduce new evidence to support the
appeal.
The reforms will also ensure that the planning system
plays its part in ensuring that development is sustainable.
Sustainable development will be promoted by:
- Using Strategic Environmental
Assessments to improve the way in which the
environmental consequences of decision-making are
addressed, enhancing the levels of transparency in
policy-making;
- Recognising the need for
development plans to respond to requirements to meet
our wider environmental obligations;
- Striving for high quality design
in all new development.