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Background
3. Planning authorities will be aware that the European Court of Justice ( ECJ) has ruled (see extract Annex 3) that the UK is not compliant with the Habitats Directive because the transposition of the Directive to the UK Habitats Regs does not specifically require land use plans to be considered under Articles 6(3) and 6(4) of the Directive. The ruling holds that the Habitats Directive applies, not only to projects, but also to the process for the production of development plans within the planning system. As a result of this judgement, it is our understanding that structure plans cannot therefore be approved by Scottish Ministers or, in the case of local plans, be adopted by planning authorities unless:
- there has been a determination by the planning authority based on objective information that the provisions of the plan are not likely to have a significant effect on any European site; or
- an appropriate assessment has been carried out in respect of the provisions of the plan in line with the requirements of Article 6.3 and 6.4 of the Habitats Directive.
4. This has implications for development plans in preparation, plans before Scottish Ministers and for future plans under both the current and reformed planning system. This guidance deals with plans under the current planning system.
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