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06: Sustainable Development

The introduction of a new framework and hierarchy for planning, along with measures to improve efficiency and support better inclusion, are not an end in themselves. They are, instead, a means to securing better outcomes from the planning process. The proposals in the White Paper increase the opportunities for planning to fulfil its potential and to play its role in delivering sustainable development. For development to be sustainable it must be the right development, in the right place, of the right quality and at the right time.

We are committed to a plan led system. We want plans to be drawn up in an inclusive and transparent manner. We expect these plans to provide clarity and certainty about the way communities will change and evolve in the longer term.

Development planning provides both a framework and a process by which the interaction of economic, social and environmental considerations as they affect people and places can be identified and evaluated. In preparing strategic development plans and local development plans, issues should be considered as they relate to and connect with each other and not in isolation. At the same time the long term consequences, as well as the short term effects, of development and change can be addressed.

The introduction of Strategic Environmental Assessment ( SEA) marks not just a significant improvement in the way that the environmental consequences of decision making are addressed, but also introduces enhanced levels of openness and accountability in policy making. We will therefore integrate SEA into the process for drawing up the National Planning Framework.

Although it has been normal practice for planning authorities to consider the likely environmental consequences when preparing a development plan, the introduction of SEA has now formalised this. SEA introduces an explicit, systematic method of taking account of environmental considerations and it also places public participation at the heart of that process. Key stages include: the preparation of an environmental report; carrying out full public consultations; taking account of the environmental report and consultation responses in the decision making process; and finally, a requirement to make information available on the decisions made, helping stakeholders to understand better how these decisions were reached.

Development plans must make provision for development. Scotland's future depends on it. We need jobs, houses, services and utilities to enable the people of Scotland to fulfil their hopes and aspirations as individuals, families and communities. But that does not mean development at any cost or in any place or to any standard. There are consequences from badly located, ill considered and poorly designed development. The growth areas of today cannot become the regeneration priorities of the future.

We expect plans to make provision for developments that are required to meet our wider international and EU obligations, notably in waste management and water quality. We recognise concerns of some communities about developments that have significant environmental impacts not just individually but also cumulatively. Our emerging policies on opencast coal, waste and minerals will seek to ensure that any community is not subject to a disproportionate burden of negative environmental impacts. These national planning policies need to be reflected in development plans and in decisions on planning applications and appeals. We expect planning permission to be refused if unacceptable impacts cannot be mitigated.

Since 1988 certain types of planning applications which are likely to have significant effects on Scotland's environment have been subject to the formal requirements of Environmental Impact Assessment ( EIA) legislation. EIA provides a means of drawing together, in a systematic way, an assessment of a project's likely significant environmental impacts. Once again, public consultation is an explicit requirement and key stage in that process.

The current Regulations are due to be further strengthened to take account of expanded provisions on public participation which have been introduced at European level. These changes, which are themselves currently the subject of a full public consultation, will introduce new procedures designed to enhance further the rights of local people and to make it easier to participate fully in the decision making process.

We have also indicated that where an EIA is involved, the developer should engage with the local community prior to submitting a planning application. If the planning authority is not satisfied with the level of engagement or believes that the developer has not done sufficient to take account of local concerns, they may refuse to register the application. We are also proposing to pilot the use of Good Neighbour Agreements. This will allow communities an active role not just in planning for new development but in ensuring that it is carried out to agreed planning and environmental standards.

We have attached a high priority to improving design quality in Scotland. Publications such as Designing Places, SPP1: The Planning System, SPP20: Role of Architecture and Design Scotland, together with a series of Planning Advice Notes, set out our aspirations for higher standards of development. We have also emphasised the importance of raising design awareness and improving skills within the planning profession and will continue to support a range of measures and incentives to achieve this.

Location, in particular ready access to jobs and key services, is the starting point, but development should be designed in a way that is well integrated with the existing urban form, has well planned and well connected public spaces that bring people together and which provides opportunities for physical activity and recreation. Our aim goes beyond discouraging poorly located or badly designed proposals. Instead we want to encourage development that will enhance the quality of places and provide neighbourhoods for living, working and recreation which will increase community well-being. The objective is not just to create places that look good but which function well and add to the quality of life for all.

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