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The National Planning Framework ( NPF) is a strategy for Scotland's long-term development. It's about what we want Scotland to be like in 25 to 30 years and where things need to happen to make that possible.

The story so far…

Ministers are committed to extensive stakeholder participation in its preparation. The initial phase of engagement has focused on raising awareness and has been seeking views on scope and content of the NPF as well as identifying potential "national developments". It has involved 6 regional seminars; events and conferences with a range of interest groups; the distribution of a consultation leaflet circulated to a wide range of stakeholders to stimulate debate; and a busy schedule of meetings with key public agencies, business and environmental organisations, professional bodies and Elected Members. Further details of the programme for public engagement are contained in the National Planning Framework Participation Statement

The spring edition of the NPF newsletter provided feedback from the regional seminars which were held in February 2007. Since the regional seminars, the NPF Team has been engaged in stakeholder meetings with Scottish Executive Directorates, key agencies and representative bodies. This edition provides feedback from those meetings and from the comments received on the Small Country Big Plans leaflet campaign which has been distributed widely. The first stage of participation has allowed a very valuable range of views to be gathered to help inform the draft NPF which will be issued for consultation at the end of 2007.

Stakeholder feedback from 'Small Country Big Plans' campaign

The Small Country - Big Plans campaign generated some 308 submissions comprising completed leaflets and supplementary papers. The NPF team would like to thank all those who took part for their time to make views known. The following have been identified as key themes for the development of NPF2:

• Economy
• Sustainability
• Communities
• Connectivity

Stakeholders were asked to rank the four key themes in order of importance and for views on how these should be dealt with in NPF2. Many respondents were of the view that the themes are so interconnected that they warrant equal importance and that they cannot be meaningfully ranked one above the other. For those who did rank the themes there was some consensus that sustainability and growing the economy should be the top priorities for NPF2. This is in line with the Scottish government's strategic objective of a "wealthier and greener Scotland". Responses to the questions posed in the leaflet are summarised below.

1. Economy: How can the NPF contribute to sustainable economic growth? Should it be seeking to change the existing pattern of economic activity in Scotland?

In terms of contributing to sustainable economic growth, respondents consider that:

• NPF2 should promote the city regions as the drivers of the economy and carry forward the emphasise on growing the knowledge economy. Edinburgh and Glasgow are driving Scotland's growth and NPF2 should further facilitate city collaboration. NPF2 should promote West Edinburgh and Edinburgh Waterfront as dynamic areas of change. For Glasgow, NPF2 should help sustain Glasgow's economic competitiveness and environmental quality with an emphasisis on sustainable transport connections, re-use of vacant and derelict land, increased focus on education and on housing matters, and build on the importance of place and on Clyde Waterfront and Clyde Gateway corridor. If the Edinburgh City Region is identified as a key area of planned growth in NPF2, then infrastructural investment must reflect this.
• On the East Coast, Dundee has established itself as a leading centre for biotechnology and multi-media software development and successfully transformed its city centre. NPF2 has a role in underlining Dundee's role as a strong regional centre and major Scottish City. Stakeholders consider that NPF2 should be helping to facilitate Dundee Central Waterfront development, Dundee Western Gateway and the Dundee Western Strategic Business Development Site. Aberdeen is building on its strengths as an international energy centre. There are major issues forAround the future of the oil and gas industry and economic restructuring. NPF2 should seek to enhance the perception of the North East as a competitive business location. NPF2 could highlight what might be a practical agenda in taking forward the concept of a "Metro East", the corridor between Aberdeen and Newcastle, where collaboration between Dundee and Aberdeen could be encouraged. NPF2 should also seek to enhance the competitiveness of Inverness. Inverness is broadening its economic base and developing its role as the Highland capital. Substantial growth is programmed for Inverness and the Inner Moray Firth, particularly in the A96 corridor between Inverness and Nairn.
• NPF2 should set out the spatial priorities to ensure that Scotland's cities are complemented by well-connected regions which can provide supporting services, contain multiple centres of employment and provide residential and recreational amenities. NPF2 can support the objective of making Falkirk, Stirling and Clackmananshire even better locations for business and investment, in particular by supporting the expansion of Grangemouth as the main port for Scotland, an important transport hub, home to the petrochemicals industry and location of the largest bio-fuels plant in Europe. NPF2 should help reposition towns in areas such as West Dunbartonshire, Inverclyde, and Ayrshire as creative, distinctive and successful regional centres.
• NPF2 should address the agenda below City/Metropolitan regions if Scotland's small and medium sized towns are to achieve their potential and help relieve pressures many are facing from increased rates of commuting and loss of retail provision.
• Rural Scotland presents a distinct set of challenges. NPF2 should promote the South of Scotland Competitiveness Strategy which seeks to strategically position the rural south of Scotland as a vibrant / strategic rural economy. Potentially, towns within Dumfries and Galloway such as Stranraer have more of a connection to Belfast City Region than Glasgow City Region. The regeneration of Stornoway Harbour is an important part of the spatial strategy for the Western Isles and the challenges may be seen as generic to coastal towns. Building a stronger economy in the Highlands and Islands will help to sustain and develop local communities. The lack of grid capacity and transport connections are constraints for more peripheral areas, including the Highlands and Islands.

2. Sustainability: What should NPF2 say about sustainable development, environmental conservation and climate change?

NPF2 should:

• Pick up on the Scottish Executive's strategies for climate change; environmental, landscape and biodiversity protection and enhancement; protection and enhancement of cultural heritage; and social justice. Three documents are of significance: Choosing our Future; the consultation on Planning and Sustainable Development; and the Stern Report.
• Provide a range of models of sustainable development to reflect Scotland's geographical diversity. These could include a compact city model and models for urban, rural and island areas to help combat the depopulation of rural/peripheral areas.
• Consider the potential of Scotland's canal network as an energy producer through the development of small-scale hydro-electric schemes and heat extraction from the water.

• Promote mixed use and sustainable settlements which incorporate employment, leisure and retail as well as housing and which can be reached by walking, cycling and public transport. This may require significant commitment to bring sites in the most sustainable locations to a developable condition; for example, urban land which currently cannot be developed due to contamination or other constraints.
• Assist in the identification of sustainable development corridors (Borders rail, A96 corridor east of Inverness, for example) which would facilitate the development plan approach and infrastructure provision.
• NPF2 should be promoting afforestation in areas which are suitable for planting and should engage with the Forestry Commission on work already undertaken to map areas appropriate for forestry. Forestry and biomass are key to Scotland achieving committed reductions in CO₂ emissions.
• Support the decentralisation of service provision in order to reduce the need to travel.
• Place a strong emphasis on energy saving, renewables and carbon capture, and focus on strengthening key electricity transmission links.
• Indicate the potential of marine and coastal areas for renewable energy to help establish the 'need' for the transmission infrastructure.
• Encourage local solutions to waste reduction, reuse and recycling according to the hierarchy in the National Waste Strategy.
• Consider the potential contribution of waste to the energy stream, the roles of "clean" coal and carbon sequestration, micro-generation and Combined Heat and Power, and facilitate the development of a more dispersed pattern of energy generation and supply.
• Highlight the fact that the Western Isles have significant potential for renewable energy generation.
• Identify where coastal defences are required to protect areas against a rise in sea level.
• Promote major infrastructure investment to create new high quality environments and exemplars of sustainable development in areas of major change such as the Clyde Gateway. National Parks should be identified as exemplars of sustainable development and Scotland's New Towns could be remodelled to make them more sustainable.
• Promote green networks in urban and rural areas to enable people to enjoy Scotland's heritage and to promote health, biodiversity and sustainable transport modes, for example, the expansion of woodland cover in the Central Belt.
• Continue to promote the reuse of vacant and derelict land.
• Support national and regional distinctiveness.

3. Communities: What can NPF2 do to help ensure that all of Scotland's communities enjoy access to economic opportunity and high quality environments?

NPF2 should:

• Address issues of environmental justice and seize the opportunity of major infrastructure investment to create new high quality environments.
• Help deliver an improved quality of life to attract a growing population and make a commitment to good design and creating public and green spaces which people want to use.

• Support the creation of mixed and sustainable communities and identify the infrastructure required to bring about the economic, social and physical renewal of deprived communities.
• Address the specific issues that arise in peripheral, fragile and disadvantaged areas by ensuring than access to training, job opportunities and public services is assisted by suitably-located facilities and amenities supported by physical and electronic links.
• Promote quality of space and place to prevent areas becoming deprived; foster pride in the built heritage and environment and encourage a network of sustainable transport modes.
• Send out a strong signal about the role of strategic development plans in housing supply strategies.
• Highlight the links between planning and human health.

• Include high-level statements about national priorities for major urban expansion, regeneration, the provision of affordable housing, new infrastructure to support housing and high quality design. The national regeneration priority is the Clyde Corridor, encompassing the areas covered by the Clyde Gateway and the Clyde Waterfront initiatives. The three pathfinder Urban Regeneration Companies ( URCs) in Clydebank, at Craigmillar in Edinburgh and at Raploch in Stirling are also priorities.
• NPF2 should also pursue opportunities for regeneration with a regional impact in Inverclyde and across Ayrshire, addressing specific constraints in these areas, with positive benefits ultimately percolating throughout their regional economies.
• Consider the regeneration of Scotland's canal network within the context of national regeneration priorities.
• Consider regeneration needs in the Aberdeen City Region. Increasing in-migration to Aberdeen (proportionately more than Edinburgh and Glasgow) is exacerbating the shortage of brownfield land, which raises the question of where people should be housed in the future. There are urban and rural parts of the Aberdeen City Region where access to housing, employment and skills training is limited. Some of the remoter communities have been overlooked in the provision of new services and facilities, while others have lost what they had.
• Promote further regeneration and neighbourhood renewal in Dundee (including the waterfront). Add to the quality of urban living and improve connectivity with the Central Belt.
• Consider how best to support communities in areas such as Caithness and some of the islands, which are still experiencing decline. For example, windfarms are giving the Western Isles the chance to reinvigorate the economy, creating opportunities for young people and retain a balanced population.
• Address the big strategic challenges posed by the number of elderly people, particularly in Orkney and in the Western Isles.
• Address the problems of depopulation in Scotland's more rural settlements, particularly the loss of young women and young people from Island communities. A full University of the Highlands and Islands would benefit many individuals and communities, helping to retain young people.
• NPF2 needs to address the geography of social, economic and environmental disadvantage.

4. Connectivity: How can the NPF help to maintain and enhance Scotland's external and internal connectivity in a sustainable way?

NPF2 should:

• Provide for good quality connectivity which is fundamental to Scotland's economic success. This can either be by means of improved physical connections (trains, boats, planes, roads, cycle and path networks) or digital connections (web, email, television).
• Be informed by, and inform, the Strategic Transport Projects Review ( STPR). The relationship between NPF2 and STPR is crucial and the teams need to liaise closely on transport infrastructure, including national developments. Suggested infrastructure improvements include: Completion of the motorway network (M74, M8, M80); A9 and A96 dualling, A82 upgrading; improvements associated with the A720 Edinburgh City Bypass and Sherriffhall junction; replacement Forth Crossing, Aberdeen Western Peripheral Route; rail links (Stirling Alloa Kincardine link, Edinburgh and Glasgow airports, Glasgow and Aberdeen Crossrail, Airdrie to Bathgate line, Waverley Rail Route; Waverley station redevelopment, high speed rail links to London from Scotland's cities, improved connections between Edinburgh and Glasgow; improvements to the East Coast main line); improvements to Scotland's canal network; Edinburgh trams; and the network needs of ports (including the identification of passenger ferry and freight links and corridors).
• Reinforce the role of strategic transport networks as identified in the National Transport Strategy, which are: 'particularly important for connecting Scotland's cities, connecting towns with cities and bringing people and goods to those cities. They are also critical for providing key routes to wider regions, including the Highlands and Islands, to regeneration areas, to England and global markets to contribute to the accessibility of Scotland as a whole through road, rail and port connections. This means the strategic networks have a particular role in providing for the longer intercity and inter-region journeys. They are critical for commuters and visitors alike.' Essentially, then, the focus is on city regions, freight, external connectivity and visitors.
• Highlight long-term sustainable transport options including intercity, local rail services and water transport improvements as being more sustainable than road and rail.
• Promote the Scottish Enterprise Metro-Scotland agenda which places a strong emphasis in connectivity and shorter journey times. Investment in high speed rail links should be a priority to enhance external and internal connectivity.
• Promote collaboration between Edinburgh and Glasgow, ensuring fast, efficient and high quality transport systems.
• Address the key connectivity issues for the islands, which are speed, timing and the costs of air and ferry links for domestic passengers and, more significantly, for the import/export of goods.
• Identify the connectivity needs of the Grangemouth and Falkirk area given the economic resource which is located in the area.
• Promote the potential opportunities created by the advent of the new Territorial Cohesion funding regime for cross- border connections. Connectivity to Ireland (Belfast) is an important issue for NPF2.
• Support a larger role for short sea shipping.
• Promote the improvement of the canal network to allow non time-critical traffic (such as timber and waste) to be diverted from the roads and provide more sustainable connections.
• Support green networks and long and short distance walking and cycling routes.
• Promote sustainable transport options to and from Scotland's airports. NPF2 should reflect this issue by identifying projects such as the Glasgow Airport Rail Link, Cross-Glasgow Rail Connections, the Edinburgh Airport Rail Link and the Edinburgh tram as national developments.
• Support the extension and reinforcement of the national grid, in particular strengthening grid interconnections to the north and western parts of Scotland in support of renewable development and with England to safeguard energy supplies in the UK. Eilean nan Siar identifies the need for an energy interconnector hub at Arnish with a sub-sea cable to the mainland, in order to develop the renewable energy potential of the Outer Hebrides.
• Support the Q&SIII programme of investment in water and drainage.
• Begin to outline the potential strategic development locations in the period 2014 to 2030, in order to inform future Scottish Water investment programmes.
• Signal the impact of flooding on existing infrastructure and indicate which elements of Scotland's connectivity are vulnerable to climate change.
• Promote greater activity in the "e" business sector as a contribution to reducing the need for internal travel and offer enhanced opportunities for international linkages. Broadband, videoconferencing and other electronic communications all help cut travelling to work and meetings and can aid productivity.
• Address the potential for the emergence of an urban - rural accessibility gap in relation to high bandwidth broadband services.

Spatial priorities and place potential

There is close agreement between the Executive's Planning Directorate, Scottish Enterprise, Communities Scotland and stakeholders on place potential and spatial priorities.

National Developments

The Planning (Scotland) Act 2006 makes provision for NPF2 to be used to identify developments of national strategic importance - to be known as "national developments". Identification in the Framework will establish the need for such developments and the Planning Act requires their incorporation into development plans. It will still be up to local authorities to consider national developments through the development management process, however the Planning Act provides for national developments to be called in by Scottish Ministers where it is necessary to expedite decisions in the national interest. Any inquiry in relation to a project which has been designated as a national development will therefore focus on matters such as location, size, design and environmental mitigation rather than the question of need.

Criteria for national developments

Scottish Ministers will make a statement to Parliament in the Autumn on the considerations they will take into account in deciding whether a particular development should be designated as a national development in the NPF. This statement will be informed by the views expressed by stakeholders during the initial round of consultation.

There is consensus that in order to maintain strategic focus it will be important to keep the number of national developments within manageable proportions. There is also consensus that developments which are essentially of regional or local significance should not be designated national developments simply because they raise controversy. It has been suggested that a national developments need not be a single proposal at a single location, but could be made up of a series of smaller, related projects or initiatives which are of national importance when taken together. Stakeholders suggestions on the criteria that Ministers should apply in designating national developments are listed below:

• Developments for which an national need has been clearly demonstrated.
• Developments which are of more than regional significance, for example where impacts cut across city region boundaries.
• Projects which enhance Scotland's external and internal connectivity such as improvements to road, rail, port and airport infrastructure, broadband and energy transmission systems.
• Developments which further the Executive's objectives in relation to the climate change agenda and sustainable development.
• Developments which are essential elements of a national programme of investment in infrastructure, for example key water, flood management or waste recycling infrastructure investments.
• Schedule 1 EIA development proposals or major environmental or regeneration projects, for example a biomass energy plant.
• Nationally significant regeneration areas.
• Nationally important social facilities, for example a prison or new higher education institution.
• Nationally important leisure, sporting and tourism developments such as national stadia.

Suggested "national developments"

Suggested candidate national developments put forward during the initial phase of participation on NPF2 are listed below:

Implementation / Delivery

Stakeholders have commented that NPF2 should provide a clear commitment to timescales for action, identifying how it will be delivered and the agencies involved in delivery and, identifying the scale and sources of funding. The team are keen that NPF2 is not purely aspirational but also practical and so the Framework will include an Action Programme specifying when, how and by whom aspects of the strategy will be implemented.

Key issues for Strategic Environmental Assessment ( SEA)

A full strategic environmental assessment is being undertaken for NPF2 to ensure that the issues of environmental sustainability are explicitly addressed. SEA provides a methodology for developing and testing alternatives as a key input to policy development. The NPF webpage contains further information about the SEA including the SEAScoping Report; a paper summarising the assessment of strategic alternatives and an easyread guide to SEA.

Next Steps

The next steps in the preparation process involve the following stages:

- A draft NPF will be issued for public consultation in late Autumn, subject to the policy timetable of the new Scottish government;
- Revision in the light of reaction to the consultative draft Early 2008;
- Scrutiny of a final draft in Parliament - Spring 2008; and
- Final considerations and publication of the NPF - Autumn 2008.

Further Information

-The National Planning Framework webpage at www.scotland.gov.uk/topics/planning/national-planning, including the Participation Statement, will be refreshed as and when significant new information is available, so add it to your favourites list! A number of stakeholders have provided the NPF team with papers setting out their views on the scope and content of the draft Framework and those submitted on a non-confidential basis are available online. If you have not already done so, please download the Small Country - Big Plans leaflet, complete it and sent it to the NPF team.

Should you require further information or clarification, please contact the NPF team:

- Email: NPFTeam@scotland.gsi.gov.uk
- Telephone: The NPF Helpline 08457 741741
- Write to: Freepost RRHE-GBSA-BJLR, National Planning Framework Team, Scottish Executive, Planning Division, Area 2-H South, Victoria Quay, Leith, Edinburgh EH6 6QQ.

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