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DEVELOPMENT MANAGEMENT
45. Decisions on planning applications should be made in accordance with the development plan unless material considerations indicate otherwise. Relevant and up-to-date development plans, which contain positive policies on renewable energy developments, are therefore important for enabling effective and consistent handling of planning applications. This SPP will also be an important material consideration, particularly where there are no up-to-date development plan policies in place.
Pre-application considerations
46. An efficient, reliable and consistent planning application process can help promote developer and community confidence in the planning system.
Pre-application discussions with planning authorities are strongly recommended and the intention should be for planning authorities to be explicit in setting out what information and supporting documentation should be included in a planning application. The Scottish Executive's Energy Consents Unit is currently revising, in consultation with consultees, its scoping opinion guidance. This will set out many of the issues that will need to be addressed in Environment Statements required under Section 36 of the Electricity Act 1989.
47. The provisions of the Planning etc (Scotland) Act 2006 require some applicants to undertake pre-application consultation with local communities and submit a report of consultation alongside the planning application. This is intended to allow developers and communities to consider where changes to the proposal can be made. Once the provisions are fully in force, compliance with any requirement for pre-application consultation with communities will be considered by the planning authority and, in cases which come before them, by the Scottish Ministers.
Environmental Impact Assessment
48. Environmental Impact Assessments ( EIA) may be required for projects where the developments falls into a category within the scope of the Environmental Impact Assessment (Scotland) Regulations 1999 10. Further guidance is set out in SEDD Circular 15/1999 and supplementary advice included in Planning Advice Note 58: Environmental Impact Assessment. Proposals under sections 36 of the Electricity Act 1989 will be considered under the Electricity Works (Environmental Impact Assessment) (Scotland) Regulations 2000. Applicants should use the assessment process to demonstrate the appropriateness of the chosen location for accommodating development. This will be particularly important where development is proposed outwith broad areas of search identified in development plans.
49. The level of assessment needed will be directly related to the size and scale of the proposed renewable energy development and its location. The reduction in scale of proposals may lead to the visual and other impacts being significantly lower. Consequently, the information sought by planning authorities from a developer should be tailored to the scale of the proposal and the sensitivity of the location and should generally be less onerous for smaller projects than that required for larger proposals.
Peat
50. The reduction of carbon emissions is a key objective of renewables energy policy. In some instances, soil disturbance may lead to the release of carbon stored in soils, thus potentially contributing to greenhouse gas emissions. This is of particular relevance for soils rich in carbon, like peat. Developments should therefore be designed to minimise soil disturbance when building and maintaining roads and tracks, turbine bases and other infrastructure to ensure that the carbon balance savings of the scheme are maximised. Where relevant, applicants will be expected to provide geotechnical and hydrological information in support of applications, identifying the presence of peat at each site, including the risk of landslide connected to any development work. Further guidance is provided in the Executive's Peat Landslide Hazard and Risk Assessment at www.scotland.gov.uk/161862
Cumulative impacts
51. Planning authorities should ensure that, where relevant, applicants adequately address the cumulative impact that their proposal would have on the area. This will apply primarily to larger scale developments although it should be recognised that smaller community developments may also contribute to a cumulative effect, particularly if poorly sited. In reaching decisions on individual applications, planning authorities should take account of those projects in the vicinity that have been built, those which have permissions and those that are currently the subject of valid but undetermined applications. Where relevant, the views of neighbouring authorities should be taken into account. Decisions should not be unreasonably delayed because other schemes in the area are at a less advanced stage in the consideration process and, in such circumstances, the weight that planning authorities should attach to undetermined applications should reflect their position in the application process.
Environmental, social and economic benefits
52. Applications should include details of the environmental, social and economic benefits that will arise from the project, both locally and nationally, including the overall number of jobs and economic activity associated with the procurement, construction and operation of the development. Planning authorities should consider whether any such benefits could or should be secured by way of a planning condition or planning agreement.
Grid information
53. General information on the availability of transmission capacity is publicly available in the Seven Year Statement published by the National Grid Companies ( NGC). Specific information about the availability of capacity for a particular development is discussed in detail between the Transmission System Operator ( NGC), the relevant Transmission Owner ( SHETL or SPTL) and the developer once an application is made for connection to the transmission system. Developers may wish to provide a statement of the likely grid connection with their application. Available capacity on the grid to accommodate a project should be a material planning consideration. However, it should not be the sole determining factor, particularly where upgrade or installation of the grid is required to enable development in those areas where considerable renewable energy potential exists.
Considering applications
54. Consideration of the significance of any adverse impacts of a renewable generation proposal should have regard to the projected benefits of the proposal in terms of the scale of its contribution to the Scottish Executive's targets for renewable energy. Projects making a small contribution to renewables targets should not be dismissed as of little benefit, as they may have the potential to make a significant contribution cumulatively, although unacceptable impacts should be satisfactorily mitigated. In all instances, the integrity of national and international designations should not be compromised.
55. Where valid concerns have been raised as part of the planning process, the applicant will need to demonstrate how these can be overcome or how any detrimental environmental effects can be minimised, where appropriate advancing any material arguments which might outweigh objections to the proposed development.
56. It is common practice for temporary consents of 20 or 25 years to be issued for some renewable energy developments. Planning authorities should include appropriate conditions for the decommissioning of renewable energy developments, including their ancillary infrastructure, when they reach the end of their life and the restoration of the environment, taking into account any proposed after-use of the site. In addition, planning authorities should ensure that sufficient finance is set aside to enable operators to meet their restoration obligations. An authority should satisfy itself that this finance is secured irrespective of whether the developer or operator of the development is still in business at the end of the consent period, and may for example require financial guarantees, binding against the developer or operator and any successors in title, by way of a Section 75 planning agreement, as part of the approval of planning permission to ensure that restoration will be fully achieved.
57. SODD Circular 4/1998 The Use of Conditions in Planning Permissions sets out policy and guidance on the use of conditions in planning permissions. An addendum to circular 4/1998 sets out model conditions. Additionally, SODD Circular 12/1996 Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act 1972: Planning Agreements covers the use of planning agreements.
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