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MODEL POLICIES IN LAND USE PLANNING IN SCOTLAND: A SCOPING STUDY
CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION TO MODEL POLICIES
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Model policies are currently being considered in Scotland as a way of achieving greater consistency in development plan policy statements. Policy harmonisation across Scotland is perceived as a means of providing greater certainty for all the interest groups involved in the planning system. The development and use of model policies is also promoted as a way to speed up development plan preparation for service providers and users, and thus to secure efficiency gains. For the purposes of this study, model planning policies are understood as:
A set of model policies on which councils can draw where there is a strong policy steer from the Executive, or which deal with issues common across most or all Scottish authorities. Their use would not be mandatory.
1.2 Model planning policies are intended to draw on best practice and to promote the sharing of current experiences in making difficult and sensitive policies workable. Model policies could prevent duplication in effort in drawing up policy which is applicable to more than one area. Further, they could pull out the essence of commonly used policy wordings that could thus provide a common approach across Scotland. This would, it is anticipated, provide a better service for users of the planning system. Moreover, the reduction in effort spent in drafting workable policies could be diverted to other areas of the land use planning system. Certain model policies may be capable of being phrased in a common wording that would be suitable for a standardised format, other policies may capture a common policy intent - or 'spirit' - and, thus, be better drafted as model policy versions. Such flexibility could better serve Scotland's complex and varied geographies.
1.3 Critical to any serious consideration of policies as models to be used across Scotland is what form these policies take and how they are drafted and used. This scoping study specifically considers the potential for types of model policies and examines their potential applicability and relevance for local planning authorities across Scotland. Further, in identifying the practical concerns of users and service providers, and the role of the Scottish Executive, the study looks at how model planning policies might be drawn up. It also explores how model policies, once drawn up, might remain responsive to change.
1.4 The objectives underlying the study are:
- to explore how to harness the strengths of existing examples of policies that work;
- to scope how model policies might support the simplification and streamlining of planning practice;
- to provide evidence to facilitate greater harmonisation of policy across Scotland, while preserving the essential openness, fairness, efficiency and effectiveness in the system's operation;
- to consider ways for model planning policies to be responsive to involvement by local communities, individuals, businesses and others interested in the process; and
- to take account of service improvements made possible by new technology.
1.5 In sum, this scoping study is as much concerned with the processes involved in preparing and maintaining model policies as the policies themselves. It thus deals with policy as product and policy as process. Indeed, central to the idea of model policies is to find ways to strengthen our ability to identify, share and build on our collective wisdom and practice in successful planning policy making and implementation.
Structure of the Report
1.6 This chapter has set out the purpose of this scoping study. The next chapter explains the background to model policies. It uses evidence from the Digest of Responses to the Review of Strategic Planning (henceforward the Digest) to outline the potential scope for model planning policies. It also highlights a number of practical concerns associated with model policies which it is important to address if model policies are to be put into effect. Chapter 3 describes the approach used in the study to address the specific research questions. Chapter 4 examines the different types of land use policies that may be suitably expressed in a model form. This allows us to consider the relevance and applicability of model planning policies. Chapter 5 focuses on policies as a product and examines the characteristics that such model policies may take. It presents current examples of attempts to identify and share best practice in policy drafting. Chapter 6 examines a number of processes critical to effective policy drafting, and considers how these ideas can improve policy making. Finally, Chapter 7 presents the conclusions and recommendations of the scoping study.
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