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5.2.1: Modernising Development Plans
Local Authorities
Aberdeenshire Council: The re-emphasis of the primacy of development plans is also welcomed. We agree with the view expressed in the White Paper that the development plan is the principal way in which an inclusive system can be maintained. We would agree that shorter plans concentrating on the spatial planning issues, backed by an action programme and more flexible supplementary planning guidance, creates a system that is "fit for purpose".
Dumfries & Galloway Council: We welcome the closer involvement of Elected Members and the public in development plan preparations.
Falkirk Council: The aim of shortening and simplifying development plans is accepted, however this should not be at the expense of having robust policies. The more simplistic a plan is, the more likely decisions will be founded on material considerations, something which a plan led system should aim to reduce.
Moray Council: The White Paper does not resolve the conflict between the inefficiency of Development Plan preparation and the big new ideas of inclusiveness, environmental sustainability, and rights of third party adjudication. Efficiency will not thrive unless there is more compromise on these fronts. Some of the White Paper's innovations are actually adding to the burden ( SEAs, Action Programmes) and will worsen the pressure on timescales - even if Authorities could afford to put more resources into Development Plans. Legislation to remove two-tier planning needs to be hastened. We are still having to submit a Moray Structure Plan and then will have to amend the Local Development Plan ( LDP) in 2 or 3 years time. Development Plans are still encumbered by having to be set "in the context of" the National Planning Framework ( NPF): they have to acknowledge in the text national and international ( e.g.SEAs) policies, and obligations to accommodate national or regional strategic priorities ( e.g. transport plans). These need to be much more succinct than at present. If there was a real drive for efficiency, the Development Plan could presume to adopt the NPF, and then only publish policies, which deviate, or propose a local interpretation.
North Ayrshire Council (Chief Executive): The consequences for North Ayrshire Council are in setting up a process for full and proper member engagement throughout the process. It may also require the review of whether or not the two local plans should be integrated into one local development plan. In North Ayrshire Council's experience substantial delay can be encountered on single issues at the end of the plan making process. This has not been addressed in the White Paper. Scottish Executive should make provision for appropriate advice on member engagement in the local development plan process. The Scottish Executive should introduce measures to allow plans to be adopted with outstanding issues to be resolved later and included in an addendum.
North Lanarkshire Council: The aim of reinforcing the primacy of development plans is firmly supported. The proposals for early engagement in the process are being implemented in the preparation of the new North Lanarkshire Local Plan. Mandatory 5-yearly updates and 2-yearly Action Programmes are considered to be appropriate as a general principle. It is expected that these measures will require more resources, as will the requirement to notify neighbours of site specific proposals. There can be external factors, particularly references to the Courts, that can drastically affect the timetable for preparing plans, and it would be necessary for the mandatory requirement for 5 - yearly plans to allow for exceptional circumstances. Engagement of local people at the earliest stage is strongly supported but this is one of the most fundamental challenges. Customarily, community focus has tended to develop around the planning application stage when detailed information is available about proposals. It will be vital that a much wider understanding of the new process is cultivated - and again, increasing this understanding will need to be resourced. Development of e-planning can certainly assist in making information widely available, but genuine involvement does require considerable time and skills.
Scottish Borders Council: The proposals for Strategic and Local Development Plans are supported in principle subject to this Authority's previous representation that it would be opposed to any proposal to split the Scottish Borders for the purposes of strategic planning. The resource implications for smaller authorities should also be acknowledged.
Shetland Islands Council's (interim response): We generally welcome the proposals relating to development planning and we have already designed our development plans to take account of the need to merge them into a Local Development Plan. We think the White Paper may assume an unrealistic degree of prescience on the part of the Local Development Plan and those preparing it. There appears to be a shift towards the more prescriptive sort of development plan common in most other countries and away from the more flexible approach which has distinguished the British system. In remote rural areas especially, a development plan must be able to cope with opportunities as they arise. Finally, it is not easy for even the most up-to-date development plan to anticipate technological and funding change, and it is entirely possible that, within a five-year plan period, the conditions for investment in (say) some form of energy development might change significantly. On a related point, we would incidentally observe that there would be merit in bringing developments that are subject to Electricity Act procedures within the same body of legislation as other developments and we think the Draft Bill should address that opportunity.
Non Departmental Public Bodies
Health & Safety Executive: Development plans need to provide a clear vision of how or if development should proceed around MAH sites and pipelines This becomes particularly crucial once HSE has devolved its standing advice [ PADHI - Planning Advice for Developments near Hazardous Installations] to PA s and it comes into the ownership of Councils. PADHI needs to sit in an overall context of the Seveso 2 Directive [Council Directive 96/82/ EC as amended by Council Directive 2003/105/ EC], in particular, Article 12 which relates specifically to Land Use Planning and a development plan which is clear about whether or not development and what type is advisable around MAH sites.
Highlands and Islands Enterprise: We firmly support the raft of proposals for Modernising Development Plans and the recognition that cultural change as well would be necessary to make what is proposed fully effective.
Historic Environment Council for Scotland:HEACS welcomes the principle of seeking to make the development plan system more efficient, inclusive and effective within a five year timescale. It is noted this will be achieved largely through culture change both within local authority leadership and the profession rather than to rely on penalties for default that, at one point, had been suggested previously. This is unlikely to be sufficient and it appears necessary, therefore, for the Executive to have to introduce significant incentives for change to take place and to guarantee the success of a plan led system. If the system fails at this time, the opportunity to change will have been lost for many years.
The Theatres Trust: We particularly support the general thrust of the modernisation which places development plans firmly at the heart of the system. LAs regularly consult us when drafting their Development Plans as the provision of arts facilities is an essential factor to take into account.
Scottish Enterprise: The Network is generally supportive of wider consultation at the formative stages of the planning process, and believes that this would offset the need for third party rights of appeal, as all concerned parties should have a chance to voice concerns. However, wider consultation must not lead to a further extension of the planning process, the excessive duration of which has often proved detrimental to many planning investments.
Scottish Enterprise Dumfries and Galloway: The increased focus on Local Development Plans and the introduction of the new hierarchy is a positive step, as long as the process by which these plans are developed includes key stakeholders, and is part of a continual lifecycle approach to reviewing and updating. The current local system of an aging Structure Plan without appropriate Local Plan coverage, based on inherited land banks, does not help to stimulate economic community prosperity.
Scottish Enterprise Edinburgh and Lothian: Development Plans must be relevant and up-to-date for the reasons given that it is important investors know they can plan with confidence; to allow local people to know exactly when key decisions which affect them are to be made and how they can influence them; and to ensure that all users of the system are getting value for money. In this regard the idea that Development Plans should be updated every 5 years should be applied rigidly. The proposal that there should be total Local Plan coverage for the whole of Scotland, with Strategic Development Plans for the four largest city regions is also supported.
Scottish Natural Heritage: We welcome the broad thrust of these proposals. The proposed statutory duty to update development plans should help to maintain their relevance and credibility, and the proposed introduction of development plan schemes should help to underpin this process. The proposed role of Ministers is predominantly directive; we wonder if there may not be scope for the Executive to assume a more supportive role, for example by monitoring the progress of local authorities and seeking to provide assistance where necessary. It will also be important to ensure that the new development plans are well integrated with, and link to, other plans and strategies at the appropriate level. River Basin Management Plans and Regional Transport Strategies might, for example, connect most logically with strategic development plans, while plans which apply to a more restricted area, including Access Strategies, Core Path Plans and Local Biodiversity Action Plans, might better be linked into the local development plan. It would be helpful to clarify how strategic linkages will be achieved across areas which are covered by a single tier of development plans, and between these areas and the City Regions. It would also be helpful to produce further guidance on the relationships between the new development plans and National Park Plans, to ensure consistency of approach across the areas of the two Parks, and within the development plan areas which overlap with them.
Sportscotland: We welcome the commitment to reinforcing the primacy of development plans and an obligation to keep plans up to date. However to be effective we believe that there is a need for plan policies to be more precise -there are too many cases when it is unclear whether or not a development proposal conforms with the development plan or not and often depends on the subjective judgement of individual planning officers.
Other Public Bodies
Central Scotland Forest Trust:CSFT supports development plans as the primary instruments of the planning system and agrees therefore that they need to be up-to-date, targeted and focused on delivery and outcomes. We agree that shorter plans which are produced more quickly will help, not least because they will be easier to update. It will be important to ensure that the new development plans integrate well with key plans and strategies outwith the development planning system. At a local level these should include Community Plans, LBAPs, Access Strategies and Core Path Plans, while at a strategic level a good fit with Regional Transport Strategies and River Basin Management Plans will be important. In the Central Scotland Forest area strategic and local development plans should integrate broadly with the Central Scotland Forest Strategy and its associated Local Forestry Framework.
Strathclyde Passenger Transport: Welcomes inclusion of strategic projects of national and regional importance within development plans and the facilitation of better integrations of land-use planning and transport planning. Seeks clear guidance on the procedural method and policy approach that stakeholders such as SPT should take for the introduction of strategic projects into the development plan process. The evaluation and analytical bases required for projects to be included in development plans needs to be spelt out to facilitate any future joint working of regional development plan teams and transport planning organisations.
The Development Industry
Bett Homes: Bett Homes provides a qualified support for the proposal for Strategic Environmental Assessments ( SEAs) provided that Planning Authorities have sufficient expertise and funding to cope with this additional layer of plan preparation. It is vitally important that the Scottish Executive provides the appropriate resources to Planning Authorities so that the benefits of the SEA process are not lost due to potential delays in the plan preparation process
Dawn Homes Limited: We are heartily weary of reading local housing strategies prepared by local authorities who come up with figures for affordable housing which are impossible to be married up to the much smaller figures of overall housing needs contained in development plans. It is our view that such Local Housing Strategies must be subject to the same degree of scrutiny as Local Plans face at Local Plan Inquires. In our view, as in the Republic of Ireland, Local Housing Strategies must be a component of the Local Plan, so as to ensure they face the same degree of scrutiny. We also frown above some Councils' currently seeking to impose housing needs assessments through their current Structure Plans knowing full well such polices will not be subject to the same scrutiny as they would at a Local Plan Inquiry. We appreciate the revised strategic development system will insist on examinations in public but clearly there are several structure plans still to be approved under the current system which will avoid this process entirely which is unacceptable with regard to these Local Housing Strategies.
Manor Kingdom Group: Regarding links to other legislation - We note that the White Paper is silent on the links between development plans and Local Housing Strategies. Local Housing Strategies are becoming an increasingly important component of the planning system but are often based on poorly researched and incomplete housing needs assessments. The Scottish Executive should set out a standard format of their form and content so that there is a consistent methodology across Scotland. The White Paper fails to demonstrate a joined-up Government approach on this matter with the scope for stronger links between planning and housing legislation. We support the proposal in the "Options for Change" ( OFC) (page 19) that Section 25 of the 1997 Act should be reworded to give 'material considerations' equal weight to 'the development plan'.
Stewart Milne Holdings: This Company has been heavily involved in the submission prepared by Homes for Scotland and as a consequence would endorse their submission concerning Forecasting Housing Demand; Monitoring of Strategic Plans; the emphasis on housing completions rather than simply allocations; and, the view that Reporter's Findings especially if based on a panel of experts, being binding on the Local Authority in question
Stewart Milne Homes: There is a requirement for a set of new development plans to be prepared. Timescales should be set in statute so that 24 months after the legislation all authorities will have up-to-date plans. It should be made clear that authorities can employ other parties to prepare these plans. If the authorities fail to prepare their plans within this timescale, it should also be made clear that the SEDD will take steps to prepare the plans on their behalf. The data that will inform development plans also needs to be considered. We are of the opinion that a demographically led system is no longer relevant when planning for economic growth and further research to determine what indicators of growth should be considered is required.
Walker Group (Scotland) Ltd: We endorse even-thing which the Paper says about the need to keep development plans up-to-date. However, we understood that this was already a requirement which is explained in SPP1. This has all been said before and yet it appears that it needs to be said again. Is there a need to reform and modernise the Planning System in order to "reinforce the primacy of development plans'"! Our current experience is that the primacy of the development plan is being enforced to a level which goes beyond the intentions of s.25, as clarified in City of Edinburgh Council v the Secretary of State for Scotland 1998 SLT120. SPP1, para48 also states that the critical link between up-to-date and relevant plans and sound development control decisions cannot be over-emphasised. Yet we have experience of planning appeals (ref PPA/320/138) being dismissed on the basis of being contrary to 10-year-old development plans. This cannot be allowed to continue. We are concerned that a call to "reinforce the primacy of development plans" will, notwithstanding all of the advice about having up-to-date development plans, simply lead to a continuation of decisions such as the one referred to above.
Waterfront Edinburgh: The proposal for shorter more targeted development plans is welcome, especially as on major projects market and economic circumstances can change and in consequence dictate the pace and change the nature of development plans. A more strategic approach combined with the use of Supplementary Planning Guidance is the way forward.
Other Businesses
Arqiva: It is agreed that reinforcing primacy of plans will aid the process. It should be stressed as highlighted that the development plans and strategic development plans must reflect and contain clear objectives and guidelines around strategic national policy issues. Government support for broadcasting and communications must be included within these plans.
Civil Engineering Contractors Association: We welcome the importance placed on making Development Plans the cornerstone of all local planning strategies. We also welcome the statutory requirement to update Development Plans every five years and the single tier for non-city areas. We acknowledge that there should be wider public involvement during the formulation of development plans to ensure that there is a "no surprises" culture with major development proposals.
Confederation of UK Coal Producers: CoalPro welcomes the White Paper's emphasis on a plan-led system and agrees
with the statement that "it is essential that development plans are
authoritative and up-to-date". Coal producers have identified examples of plans which have failed to properly identify areas of shallow coal. In the development of plans, therefore, it is imperative that if plans are to be "authoritative", then planning authorities must apply best endeavours to ensure the information contained within, or supporting them is complete. Planning authorities should therefore consult both the Coal Authority and coal producers when identifying areas of shallow coal.
Crown Castle UKLTD: We agree that the present development plan system requires radical change because it is cumbersome, unresponsive to change, unduly lengthy and resource hungry. CCUK is therefore supportive to the suggested approaches to speed up delivery and quality of development plans through reducing the number of Structure Plans and replace with four Strategic Development Plans for the main cities and Local Development Plans elsewhere.
Edinburgh Chamber of Commerce: We welcome the suggested "primacy of development plans" and the process of shortening their lives to five years and that of action plans to two years, and trust that there will be legislation and resources to make these promises actual. We accept that adequate public consultation and proper commitment to these plans will speed the planning process by removing the necessity for 'outline planning permission'. It is of prime concern to us that development plans should include adequate pre-planning of infrastructure improvement. There have been too many previous large scale developments (in Edinburgh we would cite Victoria Quay, the new ERI and West Edinburgh developments, where the opportunity has been missed to improve transport, communications and utility provision in advance of the development).. Infrastructure fit for purpose should precede large scale developments and not be a fire fighting response after the event.
Federation of Small Businesses: We agree with the need for a plan-led system but have concerns relating to the obvious failure of existing plans. We have no doubt that the involvement of the public (including businesses) in preparing development plans will be a huge challenge for planning authorities. Planning authorities must be realistic in approaching developing plans as a means of managing development, rather than directing or manipulating it. They must also make this important distinction clear to the public. The certainty associated with a plan-led system also needs to be balanced with the flexibility required by business. Five years is an extremely long time in terms of business development
National Grid: We support the suggested approaches to speed up delivery and quality of development plans through the introduction of a single tier of development plans, except for the four city regions, and for 5 yearly reviews. An issue for national consultees, such as ourselves, is our ability to monitor development plans across Great Britain, so any simplification to the process is welcome.
Quarry Products Association (Scotland): It is also noted the strong emphasis on development plans in the White Paper but no outline of measures to deal with individual authorities who refuse to make provision for "areas of search" for mineral/aggregate extraction is proposed.
RWE Npower plc: We share the Scottish Renewables Forum ( SRF) concerns at the proposed enhanced status for supplementary planning guidance. SPG should not be allowed, in effect, to override policy established at national level, and should be subject to review on a comparable time cycle to the development plan to which it relates. We also share SRF's concerns about the potential for additional complications, argument and delay if plans are to include spatial guidance on the location of renewable energy developments. The latter will themselves generally be subject to EIA and will not benefit from the acceptance of the principle of a proposed use in the development plan. Spatial planning policies are in any case less relevant to hydro schemes since the locations where such schemes can economically be developed are much more limited than for (for example) wind farms and schemes can come forward unexpectedly. Even on a 5 year plan revision cycle, it is not realistic to expect development plans to provide specifically for all such developments, neither is it necessarily desirable for them to do so. Simple criteria based policies may be useful in countering arguments that developments not expressly provided for in a Plan are contrary to it. However, where development plans make no relevant provision for - or against - the particular type of development proposed, this should not give rise to any presumption by default against the development proposal: it should be assessed on its merits against such established policies as may be relevant..
Scottish Environmental Services Association ( SESA): The second National Planning Framework will be published in 2008 and provide national context for development plans. However, the average of age of local plans is 10 years and therefore many need to be reviewed urgently. Consequently, the Scottish Executive needs clearly to state when the review of Development Plans should begin and to set out how this relates to the publication of the National Planning Framework. SESA would be concerned if the review of development plans was delayed until after 2008. SESA welcomes the insistence that plans should be up to date. However, we also urge caution. If there are continuous policy changes developments, which can take years to progress through the process and which were consistent with policy when submitted, may rapidly fall into conflict with the Plan. A situation could arise where an authority might amend policies directly in opposition to a development. SESA is not persuaded that the proposals outlined in the White Paper will lead to development plans being produced more quickly. First, the process could be delayed by a slow response from a statutory consultee. To address this concern, SESA sees merit in introducing a statutory responsibility on all statutory consultees to respond to requests within 28 days for information/comments relating to the Plan. To measure the performance of statutory consultees, each should then be required annually to report to Parliament on the number of occasions they have failed to meet this deadline. Second, the process could be delayed by a local authority seeking agreement from the Scottish Executive to depart from the recommendations. The Reporter's Unit is independent and to avoid delays, we believe all recommendations from it should be adopted by a local authority without recourse to appeal. SESA believes that there should be a greater role for Scottish Enterprise in responding to Development Plans to ensure that they are consistent with regional economic strategies and support and facilitate economic development. SESA sees merit in Scottish Enterprise becoming a statutory consultee.
Scottish Power: We do not support the detail of these proposals, as currently outlined. .Making the development plan preparation and approval system more efficient is welcome. However, enhancing the weight given to development plans must be balanced by ensuring that all development plans are subject to full and fair consultation. We have strong concerns over certain elements of 'plan led' development and a 'closed doors' approach to non-conforming development. Infrastructural development often has a specific locational requirement that has a technical justification. An opportunity for variance from the Development Plan must be accommodated where there is a specific locational need for a given proposal.
Scottish Rural Property & Business Association: We are encouraged by the shift in emphasis away from controlling and restricting development, towards facilitating and managing well designed, appropriate development, but we feel that more could be done in development plans specifically to encourage the appropriate housing development in rural areas, and not simply affordable housing. The concept of Rural Exception Sites must be explicitly dealt with and highlighted in the National Planning Framework, as well as individual sites identified in the local development plans.
SITA ( UK) Ltd: The Company noted the Executive's expectation that development plans are required to make provision for waste management. It expects the Executive to intervene in the plan-making process where an authority is failing to address the admittedly difficult issues surrounding the industry, particularly given the weight to be placed on the development plan in the reformed planning system.
Tarmac Ltd: Would highlight that the presumption for greater detail at plan stage will not easily apply to aggregates without consideration of the wider picture. The direction from structure plans in this regard is generally very limited and many local plans are silent or limited to rehash of general policy considerations. Minerals can of course only be worked where they are found but even clearly known deposits are rarely identified in any way in local plans. Care will be needed therefore if applications for new quarries or extensions are not to fall more often than not as contrary to the development plan and then as a matter of course to struggle against the enhanced rigours of the development plan now envisaged.
Unison (Scotland):UNISON Scotland welcomes the primacy given to development plans in the White Paper. We also support the statutory requirement to update development plans every five years. However, this and many other aspects of the proposals will be meaningless unless planning departments are properly resourced. Simpler plans and model policies are also welcome although these should still enable plans to reflect local needs and aspirations and not impose a 'one size fits all' approach across Scotland. They must be flexible and more clearly link in with community planning and other local policies. It has to be recognised that simpler plans may create more scope for conflict and involve planners in significant workload.
Wm Morrison Supermarkets PLC: Supports the proposed review of development planning in Scotland. In particular, Morrisons support the focus on improving the efficiency and timely updating of development plans. In particular the speeding up of plan preparation is welcomed. While the frequent update of plans is also helpful it should not be seen as an alternative to being able successfully promote major development through the development control process even if it does not accord with development plan provisions. It will be important to maintain an element of flexibility in the statutory development plan structure to accommodate rapid change in land use priorities which might occur ahead of a formal development plan review. The retail sector is fast moving and a review every five years may not be a sufficient timescale. There may be a role for action plans to deal with this.
Professional Organisations
Chartered Institute of Housing: The Local Housing Strategy ( LHS), as with the proposed Development Plans, is updated every 5 years and although a clear link exists between these two strategic documents it should be unambiguous that they are developed with strong links between them, so that they continue to compliment each other and provide a coherent approach to housing planning. At a local level the housing and planning departments should sign up to a spatial and investment strategy based upon joint work on development plans, the LHS and availability of public and private resources. These strategies should address new housing development, obsolete housing and demolition needs, housing refurbishment and targeting low demand housing areas. Wider consultation and involvement of the public and interested bodies in the strategic planning process, along with closer working between planning and housing departments, should make longer term strategic planning possible. As both the Development Plans and LHS develop over time, the Scottish Executive and Communities Scotland should use the detail of both documents to inform their decision making about future development funding for affordable housing. They should also monitor the delivery of affordable housing investment across Scotland in line with the aims of housing and planning strategic documents.
Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport: The reasons for more public involvement at an earlier stage in the planning process are understood but care should be taken that such liaison does not increase delays in reaching decisions. In this regard avoiding the 'approval in principle' stage is likely to be beneficial but care should be taken to ensure planning authorities respond timeously to consultation on proposals at an early stage in their development. Recognition of the essential requirement that development plans must be kept up to date is welcomed and there must be a discipline to ensure this together with wide public dissemination. Where approvals are at variance with development plans or with professional advice, e.g. with respect to the effects of climate change, full details of the reasons for the decision should be made available to all interested parties.
RTPI Scotland: As indicated in our general comments, efficiency and inclusion can only be reconciled through early engagement in a plan led system. This is the vital ingredient which underpins the whole package of reform. The philosophy of the Executive is to appeal to political leadership and professional pride rather than rely on penalties for default or incentives for performance, but these will not be enough in the light of experience of the last 58 years of a plan led system. What are required are very significant incentives and a realistic backstop to guarantee a plan led system.
Planning Consultants, Architects and Lawyers
Colliers CRE: In terms of Modernising Development Plans, the primacy which has extended to development plans since 1991 will now have to be seen to work in practice. It has failed to do so to date. It is also imperative that the full extent of Lord Hope's judgement (City of Edinburgh Council v Secretary of State for Scotland 1998 SLT 120) is understood, in that the decision maker requires to balance the development plan factors and relevant material considerations and, in their judgement, come to a planning view of the development proposal. It is too self evident in the decision making of local authorities and the SEIRU that there is a lack of balance in these equal considerations and that the development plan is often the sole consideration of the decision maker.
Hargest & Wallace Planning: Despite the primacy given to the development plan for a significant period there is no evidence of any cultural change having taken place so far. A key issue here is ensuring that resources are directed to the development plan sections of planning departments. Most planning authorities are under-resourced. This in part reflects lack of qualified planners to take up posts but also reflects a reluctance by local authorities to direct funds to planning departments and local plans in particular. This is also indicated by the apparent gradual down-grading of the status of planning within local authorities. Financial incentives and penalties need to be in place to make sure this happens cf the planning resource grant in England can be a "carrot" but a "stick" is also required. This could be reducing the status of an out-of-date local plan.
Humberts Leisure Consulting:HLL welcomes the proposed drafting of quicker plans which are to be fit for purpose. HLL would welcome opportunity to be consulted on caravan, mobile home and affordable homes 'model' policies. HLL welcomes idea of 'approval in principle' in plans for allocated sites.
Paull & Williamson: We welcome the proposals for the reform of the development plan system. Planning authorities locally have been unable to keep their plans up-to-date and we understand that that is a picture which is reflected throughout much of Scotland. We have been trying to make the existing system work for more than thirty years with no more than limited success so it is time for change.
Roberts GM: If there is to be greater public interest and involvement in this crucial part of the planning process, these plans will have to be easy to read and visually attractive. They will have to be more comprehensive, so that there are fewer major windfall sites appearing- where there is no development plan guidance on preferred use. Health, education, transport and other infrastructure proposals, often now appearing as PPP projects and not identified in any development plan, must be included. These are often huge capital investment projects and are sprung on local people, after the principal of approval has already been accepted by the politicians- local and national.
Stark, Alastair G: The White Paper's proposals relating to the development plan are generally welcome, subject to adequate arrangements and resources being made for their implementation.
Some adjustments could be very beneficial. In particular, shifting the emphasis from periodic repeal and replacement to thorough monitoring and more frequent alteration would ensure that plans are kept up-to-date and better synchronised with relevant external policy instruments. The frequency of development plan monitoring and the infrequency of development plan departures should become local authority performance indicators.
In relation to strategic development plans: -
- The proposed strategic development planning authorities should be chaired by independently-appointed persons; and
- Thorough monitoring should be carried out and widely publicised to inform the proposed annual update of development plan schemes and to support the possibility of promoting timely minor alterations.
In relation to local development plans: -
- By January 2011 every part of Scotland must have in place a local development plan adopted or thoroughly examined and updated within the previous five years.
- Thereafter, thorough monitoring should be carried out and widely publicised to inform action, leading as necessary to frequent, closely targeted refreshment of individual policies and proposals or, occasionally, to refreshment of the whole plan.
Turley Associates: The proposed continuing primacy of the development plan is supported, as this provides certainty for developers and the public alike. Simplification of development planning is supported.
Warren Consultants: Although it now seems entrenched in the Development Plan system, we are opposed to the primacy of Development Plans. This encourages, in our view, a lazy reliance on the presumption in favour of the Development Plan even if its policies have long since been superseded by events. We, however, support the White Paper's desire for more efficient Development Plans and we have further ideas that might help achieve this purpose. We feel that there is scope for local authorities to prepare Local Plans which do not attempt to cover every land use topic comprehensively (Local Subject Plans). For example, policies which seek to protect nature conservation and areas of great landscape value are likely to be long term, robust and not open to question. On the other hand, housing proposals are likely to alter more frequently in line with changing housing land requirements. Associated with the above point is the desirability of smaller local plan areas. We appreciate that this goes completely against the current trend for local authority wide Local Plans, but there is a lot of merit in preparing Development Plans for smaller geographical areas and therefore distinguishing between areas of development pressure from areas where there is less need for frequent changes in policy. We agree with all of what the White Paper says about the importance of culture and that legislative changes are not sufficient to improve the planning system. However, the finances of local authorities are constantly under pressure and council leaders have to decide where their priorities are. There should be some very specific incentives to local authorities in keeping their plans up to date. One idea might be to limit the local authorities' ability to charge for planning applications. For example, there might be no charge for any planning application which is submitted in an area where there is no local plan or it is more than five years from its date of adoption. Somehow there needs to be more "bite" in the system to persuade local authorities to give a higher priority to local plan preparation.
Academic Bodies and Individuals
Macaulay Land Use Research Institute: The review of development plans every five years is welcome as is the preparation of one plan. The experiences in England, and particularly Wales, could be drawn upon to maximize the lessons learnt from this system. The need for joined up strategic plans is sound in all the four city regions but seems to us to be an approach which could be tied more closely into the NPF.
Community Councils
Ardross Community Council: We welcome the statutory duty to update plans within 5 years. This will give less opportunity to argue that it is out of date. However we would like to see the Draft Plan retained as without this then there is less opportunity for local input yet the executive profess to want to have a more local people led planning system which is what happened with our recent Local Plan. However we welcome the Involvement of Local Inquirer's for unresolved issues.
Balerno Community Council: Regrets the proposed replacement of the present two tier system of Structure and Local Plans, with a single development plan, and a development plan for each of the four city regions. Suggests that a single development plan cannot hope to give community people sufficient information on policy implications to enable them to comment with understanding on proposed developments, especially in terms of what are material considerations, and how they may affect local affairs, both now and in the future. The respondents suggest the proposal does not give the necessary detailed picture of local affairs as is intended in the 1980s Local Plan for their local area.
Balmerino, Kilmany and Logie Community Council: Development Plans are correctly identified as crucial to the planning process and as such should be updated every 5 years as suggested. Good idea to simplify this process by avoiding various consultative drafts etc as is the case at present.
Currie Community Council: Regarding reduction in number of development plans, we are not convinced of the benefits (other than financial) that might derive from this change. It appears that people will be less able or willing to participate in large plans where they have little interest. There needs to be a way found of relating these plans down to community level. There would be a move to single tier of local development plans everywhere with four large City Plans for Edinburgh, Glasgow, Dundee and Aberdeen. It is not clear how many other development plans there would be so that the whole of Scotland would be covered. We have no objection to modernizing Development Plans but we now note that these are becoming so large that communities have little influence in the process. Increasingly centralised Local Authorities can only deal with the general and local people are progressively being treated as little more than "numbers" to be managed by an Authority incapable of understanding local needs. We note that planners will need the support of "stakeholders", which includes "members of the public" - but in no clearly defined capacity.
Grange-Howard Community Council: The proposal to move to a single tier of local government plans (outwith) the areas of the four large cities) is accepted, as is the proposal to have one plan to replace the present system of consultative and finalised drafts. The need for phased development plans at national and local level is evident, as is the need for updating.
Greengairs Community Council and Greengairs Environmental Forum: Our main concern is that it is too removed from the public for them to understand how relevant it is to their local area. There is also concern that emphasis on participation at the National and Strategic Development Plan stage will result, in the inequity in distribution of development, being given more impetus. An additional landfill facility in our area has recently been given a "mind to grant" by Ministers, on the basis that Glasgow - not North Lanarkshire - needs the capacity. The peripheral City areas are vulnerable to an inequity in the distribution of bad neighbour developments as long as the City is allowed to devolve its responsibility for difficult and controversial decisions to the adjoining regions through the Strategic Plan. . Local Development Plans will be hostage to both the National Planning Framework and Strategic Development Plans limiting the effectiveness of local input.Public participation in the Local Development Plan will only be as effective as the NPF and Strategic Development Plan allows. These pitfalls and inequalities have not been addressed in the White Paper. We are continually reminded that we should use the ballot box to indicate our satisfaction/dissatisfaction with Elected Members but there are some areas where a voting poverty means we have no power to influence Elected Members either locally or nationally. The democratic process in its simplest form does not, on its own, guarantee social justice for all, to restore public confidence and ensure equality for every community, additional measures will be needed.
Hillhead Community Council: If structure plans are abandoned, development plans needs to be extended in scope and quality. If structure plans are retained, e.g. for the regions around cities, which have an influence beyond their boundaries, they should not be so vague. (Of particular concern are educational establishments, playing fields, parks and other open space.; hospitals and trauma centres; parking and communication systems. ) They also impose a straightjacket on development plans. For these reasons the public needs to be better informed and fully consulted.
Kiltarlity Community Council: Comments that while the Community Council scrutinised their Local Plan very carefully and were fully involved in the Inquiry, they were 'caught out' by a failure to appreciate the implication of a small piece of land being designated as 'Housing' and failed to foresee, and therefore to discuss in advance, potential development on this land. Concludes that very great attention will need to be given to public involvement and information, and while welcoming emphasis on this, they stress the need to preserve or increase statutory obligations to consult and inform rather than rely on developing a culture.
Knightswood North Templar Community Council: The statutory proposals to require local authorities to update development plans on a 5 yearly basis receives our wholehearted support. Although most of the major urban authorities already undertake 5 yearly reviews, particularly since the adoption of unitary plans, many outlying areas and rural areas still use plans that are significantly out of date. We would however remind the executive that this is often down to financial and manpower constraints.
Liberton Community Council: Worried that the Edinburgh Local Plans are being rolled into one - the resultant lack of detail is likely to obscure the specific characters and needs of local communities.
Mid Atholl, Strathtay & Grandtully Community Council: We note that once plans, (either strategic or local) are in place all applicants "must work with the grain of the plans". Not only they, but all planning authorities must so work. We have, in this area, a local plan dated 2000. Since its adoption there have been numerous examples of the planning authority ignoring its provisions. The best way to build local confidence in the planning process is for the authority to adhere rigidly to the plan. This does not happen. Is there good reason why applications contrary to the plan should not be summarily rejected?
Strathblane Community Council: We approve of the opportunity to be consulted over the drawing up of the local development plan but we are concerned about the practicalities of the increased importance being placed on this. Very few members of the public have a sufficient knowledge of planning matters to be able to make informed comments at this level. Very few have the time to give to this level of consultation. We presume that local development plans will be developed through the community planning processes currently being established by Local Authorities. Given the reliance on the use of local development plans to define permissible development one way of achieving local involvement would be to notify neighbours of possible future development at the stage of formulating the plan. The most valuable contribution that most members of the public can make is their detailed knowledge of local issues that would effect a particular planning application. We would not wish to see this lost.
The Royal Burgh of St Andrews Community Council: We support basing the planning system on development plans. The requirement for regular review of the development plans is welcome. This process must be inclusive of local communities and the open to examination, preferably without having to use the provisions of Freedom of Information legislation. The opportunity to become involved in the development plan review process is not a substitute for involvement in decisions on specific applications. Very few people have the stomach for the more theoretical side of planning policy. It is only when sites are named and plans drawn that the community becomes fully involved.
Voluntary Organisations
Avondale Civic Society: The paper falls into the trap of assuming that the general public is interested in and will become involved in development planning. There seems scant evidence of this. Individuals only become involved when their personal interests are affected. Much will be required to resolve this issue. A start would be if Councils actually seemed to believe in the development plan process. In many cases the perception is that the plan is done because it has to be and thereafter it can be ignored. That is why regular reviews are not undertaken, plans contain bland platitudes and non-policies, implementation is ignored and local plan teams understaffed. Development control is the driving force in planning departments because its speed of output can be controlled and measured, earning 'brownie points' for all concerned. The development industry has to be brought into the development plan system in a different way. At present developers, particularly in the private housing sector, participate in the process as individual interests. Local Plan inquiries are in effect a series of appeals into various housing sites with little concern as to overall planning objectives. This cannot be allowed to continue as it almost inevitably results in pressure on the application process by unhappy developers.
Colinton Amenity Association: We support the focus upon modernising Development Plans and the aim to deliver a fairer and more balanced system. However, how a reasonable balance is to be achieved between growth and environmental and quality of life issues must be set out explicitly if the new system is to have any credibility. The various issues to consider must be clearly specified and a recognition that local issues can be just as important as national, in their effects upon the quality of life of communities. The phrase '…..there is a structured consideration of the plan's environmental implications' does not necessarily imply balance and is not good enough! We welcome the encouragement of local authorities and others to anticipate the new procedures for improving the system, as far as this is possible.
Friends of the Earth Scotland: Fo ES supports a planning system centred on development plans. We welcome the statutory requirements for development plans to be reviewed every five years and for local authorities to give reasons for all their planning decisions. Plans must be produced and updated in a wholly inclusive way and must be open to effective examination. Proposals to encourage public involvement in development plan preparation are welcome, but cannot substitute for rights of involvement in planning application decisions because so much of development planning is not rooted in firm site specific proposals, and it must be recognised that it is only when such proposals come forward that ordinary people will become fully engaged.
Garden History Society: We welcome proposals to update development plans every five years but note that under the current system of structure and local plans the protection offered to designed landscapes is patchy across Scotland, and only those designed landscapes currently included in the Inventory of Gardens and Designed Landscapes in Scotland are usually delineated on plans. It is imperative that if the new development plans are to become an effective tool for the future protection of designed landscapes, that local authorities are given the resources to survey and record all designed landscapes so that they may be delineated in the Development plan and afforded the necessary level of protection, whether they be of National, Regional, or Local significance. The need for watertight Development Plans is emphasised by the removal of the Outline Planning Permission stage in the consultation process. With the removal of this stage of consultation process the status and relevance of development plans is critical to the success of the planning system.
Hamilton Natural History Society: The central aim of the proposals is to reinforce the primacy of Development Plans. We are in general agreement with this, but it therefore follows that these Plans must be correct initially, or the whole proposed system will fail. We would request that there must be extensive consultations about the Plans, and environmental bodies like ourselves should automatically be included in this process. It should then be made mandatory that planning applications be compared against these Plans, and only in exceptional circumstances should any deviation from them be allowed. There should be an assumption that if a proposal is contrary to the Plan it be refused.
Pollokshields Heritage: We note you want shorter plans. Part One of our current City Plan is 103 pages, we must also refer to Part Two, which is 318 pages and to relevant maps. And there is no index. However, the City Plan does not include the Conservation Appraisal, which has yet to be prepared. We do wonder whether it is feasible that one shorter development plan can cover adequately the many policies and development management guidelines needed for a city this size. We approve of the five year approach to plan preparation and to the abolition of Structure plans apart from the City Regions
Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations: Whatever system of local development plans is now to be put in place must match current realities and expectations, otherwise there is a danger that the alienation from the process on the part of stakeholders will increase. One very simple means of allowing for improved participation would be to compel local authorities to hear representations from interested local groups or organisations based in the area in the preparatory stages of local development plan work. At present, the planning authority has the discretion to determine whether it will hear any such representation. SCVO recommends that this right to representation in the preliminary plan stages be written into the legislation. The proposals are presented as a package. This gives rise to concerns that the package as set out is the only way forward which is on offer. This perceived lack of flexibility risks reinforcing the existing distance between practitioners and other stakeholders. SCVO believes that there needs to be explicit provision as to how proposed planning developments should be assessed for their impact on Regeneration Outcome Agreements and coordination and integration with local Community Planning delivery. As community involvement is a key ROA indicator, bringing the two systems together in this way is seen by SCVO as crucial to delivering policy consistency. In this way, planning developments can deliver maximum impact in regeneration by improving infrastructure, labour market opportunities and the quality of life objectives set out in the Local Government Scotland Act 2003.
Scottish Council for National Parks:SCNP welcomes the intention to reinforce the primacy of development plans. We accept that development plans must take a long-term view but there are clearly dangers in trying to build in long-term assessments of land supply needs in a world whose needs change so rapidly. It will be vital that the new development plans are regularly monitored and updated so that they can remain 'ahead of the game' in providing a proper balance between development pressures and the need to maintain a sustainable future.
Scottish Federation of Housing Associations: To facilitate rather than hinder the provision of affordable housing, the reformed planning system of the future would in the first instance produce Land Release Plans. These plans would set out an agreed view of the quantity and preferred locations of land to be brought into use for affordable housing and associated land uses. The land release plans would be integrated with flexible and responsive local development plans as well as the Local Housing Strategy. The reformed planning system must also facilitate development by having statutory powers to implement Development Plans and specific measures covered in Planning Advice Notes. The objective would be to meet agreed local requirements to secure sufficient development of housing, retail space, commercial space, industrial use, open space and social infrastructure. The reformed planning system must have a greater focus on development planning and a lesser focus on regulation and control. This will require a shift in culture, redistribution of resources to place greater focus on, and investment in, strategic planning and deregulation of a greater range of minor developments.
Shelter Scotland: Scottish Planning Policy considered the overlap between planning and housing to ensure the provision of affordable housing. It set out that housing and planning departments should work together to ensure consistency between the Development Plan and the local housing strategy in identifying housing needs. Clear links exist between these two strategic documents and there should be much clearer guidance about how they should be reviewed in tandem. The White Paper should set out the need to dovetail the processes for producing development plans and local housing strategies so that they complement each other and provide a coherent approach to housing planning. The new structure needs precise information about housing needs at a local level to demonstrate the need for an affordable component (whether that is through a partnership with a housing association to produce rented housing or through lower cost housing for sale). It may also need new approaches to assessing housing need at a community level
The Council for Scottish Archaeology:CSA applauds the commitment to put robust development plans at the heart of the new system and that these will be subject to 5-yearly review. The commitment for all development plans to undergo Strategic Environmental Assessment ( SEA) is a positive commitment which should lead to more holistic plans that seriously deliberate the heritage and the environment in considering sustainable development. However this depends on both the planning authorities and the statutory bodies operating SEA having sufficient resources to produce robust plans. CSA has a particular concern with the production of adequate assessments of buried archaeology, historic buildings and historic landscapes given current knowledge. Resources to evaluate these have not historically being paid for by Councils, funding normally being covered by the proposed developers under the ' polluter pays' principle.
The Grange Association: The evident desire to speed up the development process must not be at the cost of proper consultation with all stakeholders. There indeed appears to be something of a conflict between the aims of both a speedier planning process and fuller consultation, even though some of the consultation may be at an earlier stage in formulating Development Plans.
Private Individuals
Anonymous: County Plans conforming to white paper directives will be prepared by the Local Authorities on a 4 year cycle whose first act will be to approve these plans and rescind all previously made. Each plan would be monitored and reviewed annually. White Paper, SE Directives are required to obtain uniform plans that have a sound narrative and easily understood standard graphics (for instance showing zoned land clearly in an agreed colour).
Barham, Paul: Development Plans must be necessarily abstract and generic and cannot foresee all the eventualities that the planning process will need to deal with. To move the emphasis from a case-by-case consideration to increased reliance on the development Plan may have the opposite effect to that stated. Projects may be approved because on paper they fit the Plan even though in fact they may be of little benefit to the community, environment or economy.
Milligan, James: Land use plans, at every level, should be based on a survey of relevant facts and figures, on community inputs (national, regional and local) and on governmental (national and local) policies. Each plan should indicate clearly how it reflects those facts, inputs and policies and how it is to be implemented. It should include reasons for the successes, inadequacies and failures of the existing plan (if any). It should be summarised in outline form and distributed to schools, community groups and businesses. If this is done, plans will improve in quality and 'updating' them will become a much simpler and speedier process:
Reeves, Dory Dr: The development plan process needs to involve the collection and presentation of data which identifies the needs of different groups of people; women and men, and so on. The Scottish Executive has undertaken extensive work on mainstreaming and this has shown the importance of collecting disaggregated data. Housing, transport and education legislation has recognised this. Planning also needs to ensure that this social component is built into all phases and aspects of planning. In anticipation of equality legislation, planning should be addressing how it promotes equality. A focus on 'accessible' environments needs to be widened out in future planning guidance.
Walls, John: In recent times, potential regeneration areas have often been neglected, or worse, have been tackled as a housing, economic development or environmental problem by individual agencies rather than holistically in a balanced way. This has often resulted in unsustainable outcomes. Thus if a measure was introduced into the development planning toolkit such as the ability to designate a regeneration area, a status which attracted, say, a 10-25% grant, it could act as a great catalyst for change in a more sustainable way. In addition, it is an excellent way of mobilising both public and private sector resources. Often all that is required to secure action is a local government commitment to give the private sector confidence to invest. This can be achieved by having such a power to designate. This could accelerate the renewal of the areas in greatest need by tapping into private resources. Investing such a power in the development plan system could bring about a major culture change very quickly and could be achieved by re-routing existing fragmented resources which are often targeted at an unfocused range of initiatives.
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