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Information Campaign publicising people's rights
Community Councils
Balerno Community Council: With reference to text under the Social Justice heading which states "planning should always give the public the opportunity to influence the future development of their community and to ensure their voice is heard and considered", the respondents comment that these are good thoughts but are not carried forward in the proposals. While a little hope is raise by the proposal to implement a campaign to explain the rights of local people in the planning process, the respondents question what rights this refers to as there is no proposal for a third party right of appeal. The respondents suggest that no rights exist in this connection and observe that the implementation of this proposal will be in the near future and will not await for Parliament the Planning Bill and subsequent primary legislation.
Dalbeattie Community Council: We have also noted that there will be much more emphasis, in the future, for planning decisions to be made in line with the Development Plan. We have also noted that it would appear, in the future, that the key stage for the public to have effective involvement, therefore, is at the stage when Development Plans are drawn up. And it is our understanding that it is within this context that ministers have decided to reject calls for a Third Party Right of Appeal (Paragraph 5.3.4). Given the huge emphasis on the role of The Development Plan, we see this as potentially demanding in terms of time given to public consultation. Nevertheless, we welcome any opportunity for involvement. We do have concerns, however, that the public will not take an active interest in such consultation until it is too late. In conclusion, therefore, we foresee the necessity for a considerable public information exercise in alerting the public to how important it is to take an interest in the drafting of the Development Plan.
Voluntary Bodies
Portobello Campaign against the Superstore: I see no evidence that the Executive is emphasising the need to educate the general public about development. Without a massive training and a raised awareness programme for communities, including community councils, you will fail to take the electorate along with this brave new planning world. Too many people have had too many bad developments thrust upon them in the past forty years for a sudden conversion to take place. Therefore, the adversarial approach will persist and developers, after a promising start, will increasingly revert to an 'us and them' approach.
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