This item was published during the term of a previous administration that ended in April 2007
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Tightening up Green Belt planning
05/08/2005
The role of green belts in the development of towns and
cities will be strengthened and enhanced under new planning
policy published for consultation today.
Scottish Planning Policy (SPP) 21: Green
Belts also encourages greater stability in the
role of designated green belts to increase their
effectiveness.
The draft SPP sets out the key objectives of green belt
policy as:
- Directing planned growth to the most appropriate
locations and support regeneration
- Protecting and enhancing the character, landscape
setting and identity of town and cities
- Protecting and giving access to open space within
and around towns and cities, as part of the wider
structure of green space
Communities Minister Malcolm Chisholm said:
"We want a Scotland with vibrant towns and cities, where
change is managed effectively, and where we make the best
use of available land. Green belt policies can help to
achieve this.
"We recognise the vital role that our towns and cities
play in the growth of the Scottish economy, and recognise
the need to avoid urban sprawl and unmanaged, unplanned
growth.
"In some areas, existing green belts are not providing
long term certainty and have been undermined by piecemeal
development management decisions.
"This SPP aims to strengthen and enhance the role of
green belts and encourage greater stability to increase
their effectiveness, which will improve quality of life for
local people and manage land carefully to guide growth of
our settlements.
"This first policy review of green belts in 20 years
sets out the objectives of green belt policy and the way it
should be used and enforced.
"Green belt policy should be used to provide clarity and
certainty on where development will and will not take
place. Green belts should have a timeframe of at least 20
years, consistent with our policies on housing land
supply.
"There should continue to be a strong presumption
against development in green belts, and where it is
considered necessary, the proposed release of green belt
land should be taken forward as part of a long-term
strategy in the development plan.
"In this way, local people can be closely engaged in the
process at an early stage."
The SPP sets out that land that is designated as green
belt in an area's development plan, in association with
wider networks of green space, can provide a number of
benefits, including outdoor recreational opportunities for
local people, biodiversity and enhanced quality of life.
Opportunities should be taken to protect and enhance these
benefits.
Management plans agreed between local authorities,
landowners and other interests, as well as a range of
funding schemes, have an important role in maximising the
benefits of green belt land in a co-ordinated way.
The new SPP 21 will replace the policy on green belts
contained in Circular 24/85: Development in the Countryside
and Green Belts which is now 20 years old.
Research into green belts, intended to inform the
drafting of the SPP, was carried out by a team from
Heriot-Watt University and Robinson Associates and was
published in August last year.
Green belts currently exist in Aberdeen; Edinburgh;
Glasgow; Falkirk and Grangemouth; Ayr and Prestwick;
Clackmannanshire; and Stirling.
A further three green belts for St Andrews, Dunfermline
and Perth are now approved in principle in Structure
Plans.