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3 MAJOR DEVELOPMENTS
Context
3.1 The Government's intention is to set clear measurable thresholds for major developments. This will help ensure clarity about which subsequent procedures a particular development should follow. We consider the thresholds for major development should reflect the scale and complexity of these developments.
3.2 All major developments will require pre-application consultation with the community and those significantly contrary to the development plan will require further enhanced scrutiny 3. In defining the classes and thresholds for major development we want to avoid over burdening the system whilst ensuring that major developments are processed efficiently.
3.3 Where it is considered that a particular local development requires additional scrutiny this can be provided. Scottish Ministers have the power to direct that a particular local development should be dealt with as if it were a major development. And local authorities will also be able to set more detailed arrangements in their own schemes of delegation, as to the level of developments in their area which they propose to be delegated to officers or considered by elected members. The Act also provides the opportunity for the planning authority to determine an application which would otherwise fall to be delegated if they think fit: such a decision would require a statement of the reasons for which it has been taken and a copy of the decision served on the applicant.
Defining the hierarchy
3.4 The Schedule in the draft Regulations (at Annex A) sets out the proposed classes of major development and the relevant thresholds in each case. The proposed thresholds for major development are intended to be at a level which reflects that major developments are of a scale and nature which makes them of more than local significance.
3.5 It is proposed that all developments included in Schedule 1 of the Environmental Impact Assessment (Scotland) Regulations 1999 should be classed as major developments. To provide certainty in the hierarchy Schedule 2 developments are not included. The list of EIA Schedule 1 developments can be accessed at http://www.scotland.gov.uk/library/pan/pan58-12.htm.
3.6 For major housing development we propose that the threshold should be 100 or more units, or where the area of the site exceeds 2 hectares.
3.7 The proposed thresholds for developments which are for Business and General Industry, Storage and Distribution uses are 20,000 square metres (sqm) or the area of the site exceeds 4 hectares.
3.8 The threshold being consulted upon for renewable energy is 20 MW. Scottish Planning Policy 6 Renewable Energy (2007) advocates there should be a spatial framework for windfarm developments over 20 MW in size. The Electricity Act 1989 sets out thresholds for which applications will be determined by Scottish Ministers, and applications which exceed the relevant threshold will continue to be determined by Scottish Ministers as s36 cases rather than by local authorities.
3.9 The proposed thresholds for waste management facilities in relation to generating capacity of facilities were developed in consultation with officials in the Scottish Government Waste Strategy Team.
3.10 Thresholds are proposed for transport infrastructure proposals. It should be noted that some proposals which exceed these thresholds may be dealt with under the Transport and Works (Scotland) Act 2007, rather the planning system.
3.11 The Schedule of Major Developments includes a class for 'All Other Development' for which the proposed threshold is 10,000 sqm or the site exceeds 2 hectares. The 10,000 sqm threshold appears in the Town and Country Planning (Notification of Applications) (Scotland) Direction 2007 in reference to major retail development. The class of all other development includes mixed use schemes, which may include developments listed elsewhere in the Schedule.
Q1 Do you support the proposed number of classes in the Schedule of Major Developments?
Q2 Do you agree with the proposed major development thresholds described in the Schedule for:
a) Schedule 1 Development
b) Housing
c) Business and General Industry, Storage and Distribution
d) Renewable Energy Generation
e) Waste Management Facilities
f) Transport Infrastructure
g) All Other Development?
3.12 We do not propose to introduce different hierarchy provisions for different geographical areas to avoid complexity and the creation of regional variations. It is recognised that the impact of a development may be different depending on whether it is built in an urban or rural area. However, the key consideration is the scale and complexity of the proposal and the resources required to process it.
Q3 Do you agree with the proposed approach of avoiding regional variation?
Timescales
3.13 Currently the statutory period for determination of planning applications of 2 months (4 months for EIA development) applies regardless of the scale and complexity of the proposal. It is recognised that major developments will generally require longer than 2 months to progress. The White Paper therefore proposed that for major developments the applicant and planning authority should agree a realistic timetable for the planning application to be efficiently determined, informed by the views of statutory consultees and this would be set out in terms of a 'processing agreement' between the planning authority and the applicant. In this case, the 2 month period would no longer apply. In addition, it is our intention to extend the statutory period for determining applications for major development to 4 months, so that where a processing agreement cannot be made between the parties, the default position will be a longer determination period. This will be discussed further alongside our proposals for processing agreements and time periods for decisions in a forthcoming consultation on the development management procedures.
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