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INTRODUCTION
1. The National Planning Framework ( NPF) is an important part of the planning system and the Planning etc. (Scotland) Act 2006 placed it on a statutory footing. The preparation of the NPF provides the opportunity for a national debate about Scotland's long-term spatial development and a means of efficiently delivering national policies and programmes on growth, regeneration and environmental protection. The aim is to publish the second NPF in 2008, providing a strategy for sustainable spatial development to 2030. The intention is to review the NPF every four years. Scottish Ministers are committed to ensuring that a full range of stakeholders and the public are involved in its preparation. This participation statement summarises how and when this will be achieved.
WHAT IS THE NATIONAL PLANNING FRAMEWORK?
2. The second NPF will set out the Executive's strategic development priorities. It will play a key role in ensuring the effective co-ordination of policies with a spatial dimension, integrating and aligning strategic investment priorities and indicating where inter-regional choices need to be made. It will set out strategic aspirations as a key means of delivering projects and proposals of national significance. There will be close links to the Executive's Infrastructure Investment Plan and the investment programmes of public agencies and infrastructure providers.
3. The NPF will focus strongly on priorities for the improvement of infrastructure to support Scotland's long-term development. For transport infrastructure, it will need to look beyond the current delivery programme, drawing upon the National Transport Strategy and the outcome of the Strategic Transport Projects Review. It will set out strategic priorities for investment in water and drainage capacity and waste management facilities, and consider the requirements of the next generation of high bandwidth communications technology. It will reflect the Executive's policy commitments including those on climate change, sustainable development and regeneration, and the outcome of consultations on marine spatial issues. A strategic environmental assessment ( SEA) will test the impact of the National Planning Framework on Scotland's environment, ensuring that issues of environmental sustainability are explicitly addressed throughout.
4. The Planning etc. (Scotland) Act 2006 established a statutory requirement to prepare the National Planning Framework. The new legislation places a duty on Scottish Ministers to exercise their functions in preparing the NPF with the objective of contributing to sustainable development.
NATIONAL DEVELOPMENTS
5. The Act makes provision for the NPF to be used to identify certain projects as "national developments". Scottish Ministers will make a statement to Parliament on the considerations they will take into account in deciding whether a particular development should be designated as a national development in the NPF. A key test in deciding whether a project is a national development will be whether it is essential to Scotland's strategic spatial development. Major strategic transport, water and drainage and waste management infrastructure projects may fall within this category of development. Many of these will already have been the subject of consultation and debate as part of the development of other strategies and programmes. The Executive intends that identification in the NPF should be the mechanism for establishing the need for such developments and the new legislation requires planning authorities to take the NPF into account in preparing their development plans.
PARTICIPATION COMMITMENT
6. The Executive is strongly committed to encouraging interest and wide public involvement in the preparation of the NPF. In line with the Planning Advice Note on Community Engagement and the National Standards on Community Engagement, the Executive will ensure that:
- arrangements for participation are inclusive, open and transparent,
- the selection of participants is representative of the public, private, voluntary, academic, community sectors and of the various equality groups;
- information is provided early to allow full consideration;
- communication is provided through a range of formats and locations, including easily understood jargon-free formats;
- all representations will be fully considered; and
- feedback will be provided promptly on the conclusions drawn.
7. The participation exercise will involve engagement with a wide range of stakeholders in the public sector (including key departments and agencies, planning authorities including national park authorities, regional bodies, the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (Co SLA)), the private sector (including business interests, developers and planning consultancies), the community and voluntary sector (including community councils, other community and voluntary groups and environmental organisations), as well as academic experts, professional bodies and learned societies. A particular effort will be made to reach beyond the constituency of organisations normally involved in planning consultations to a wider range of public interests such as young people, pensioners, ethnic minorities and the disabled.
8. The schedules below set out in as much detail as is known at this stage when, how and with whom consultation will take place, and the steps to be taken to involve the public. The schedules will be kept up to date on the webpage so that stakeholders and the public know exactly how the preparation process for the NPF is to be conducted and what opportunities they will have to participate and engage with it. We are continually looking for new ways to engage and additional opportunities will be added as they are identified.
PREPARATION PROCESS AND TIMETABLE
9. The preparation process will involve the following 5 stages:
1) Initial engagement on scope and content - February-June 2007
2) The issue of a draft for public consultation - Autumn 2007
3) Revision in the light of reaction to the consultative draft - Early 2008
4) Scrutiny of a final draft in Parliament - Spring 2008
5) Final considerations and publication of the NPF - Autumn 2008
10. Extensive engagement with stakeholders and the public will begin early in the first and second stages. Full consideration of the representations received will be ongoing through all stages. Reports on how the representations have been taken into consideration and any conclusions which have been drawn will be made available on the NPF webpage promptly. A final draft will be scrutinised by Parliament at stage 4, prior to Ministerial approval.
Stage 1) Initial engagement on scope and content of NPF
11. Initial consultation will focus on raising awareness and the scope and content of the NPF and seeking views on projects which might be identified as national developments.
Details | Target | Timing |
|---|
a) Leaflet - "Small Country - Big Plans" | Stakeholders and the public | February - May 2007 |
An awareness-raising leaflet will be distributed widely to stakeholders including local authorities, public agencies, interest groups, representative organisations, communities of interest and individuals during the first half of 2007. The leaflet will be made available in public buildings such as libraries and council offices and on the NPF webpage. The leaflet will set out the purpose of the NPF, why it is important to get involved and where to get further information. It will seek views on the scope and content of NPF2 and the main themes to be addressed. |
b) NPF Webpage | Stakeholders and the public | Throughout the process |
A dedicated NPF webpage on the Scottish Executive's Planning homepage will provide immediate access to NPF publications (including those relating to the strategic environmental assessment) and allow feedback and enquiries to be submitted. |
c) Seminars on regional and thematic issues | Local authorities, public agencies, interest groups, representative organisations, communities of interest and individuals. | February 2007 |
Regional seminars proved an effective way of engaging stakeholders in the preparation of the first NPF and we propose to retain these as a feature of the participation exercise for NPF2, broadening their scope to include focused discussions on key policy themes. Stakeholder seminars will be held in:
-Aberdeen - 13 th February
-Dundee - 14 th February
-Stirling - 19 th February
-Inverness - 20 th February
-Newtown St. Boswells - 22 nd February
-Ayr - 23 rd February The seminars will be independently chaired. Following an introductory presentation and discussion on the role and scope of the NPF, stakeholders will be invited to participate in workshops on key policy themes and to offer views on projects which should be identified as national developments. |
d) Seminar on regional and thematic issues | Councillors | 12 February 2007 |
The seminar will be held at the Scottish Executive with Councillors and independently chaired. Following an introductory presentation and discussion on the role and scope of the NPF, Councillors will be invited to participate in workshops on key policy themes and to offer views on projects which should be identified as national developments. |
e) Meetings with key stakeholders | Key agencies and representative organisations | January to May 2007 |
Meetings will be held with public agencies (including Scottish Enterprise, Highlands and Islands Enterprise, Scottish Natural Heritage, the Scottish Environment Protection Agency, Historic Scotland and Scottish Water) and representative sectoral bodies and organisations (including CBI Scotland and business organisations, Scottish Environment LINK and the Royal Town Planning Institute (Scotland)). |
f) Convention of the Highlands & Islands | A range of key stakeholders | 5 March 2007 |
A paper on NPF2 will be presented for discussion with a range of key stakeholders at the Convention. |
g) Events | A range of interest groups and representative organisations | February to May 2007 |
Display material will be erected at conferences and events such as the Scottish Awards for Quality in Planning and the Scottish Young Planners' Conference. Officials will be available to discuss issues, answer questions and receive feedback. Display material can be made available on request for use at other events. |
h) Advisory Committee | Key experts | Throughout the process |
An Advisory Committee will be appointed to provide expert advice on the content of the NPF and to comment on the SEA as it progresses. |
i) Meetings with Scottish Parliament's Communities Committee. | Ministers of the Scottish Parliament. | January 2007 to May 2007 |
Meetings will be held with the Scottish Parliament's Communities Committee. |
j) Communications Strategy | All stakeholders and the public | Throughout the process |
The participation process will be supported by a communications strategy, involving the use of electronic newsletters and the briefing of the national and local media and relevant technical and specialist publications at key stages. |
k) Helpline and email inquiry point | All stakeholders and the public | Throughout the process |
A telephone helpline and email inquiry point will allow individuals and organisations to contact the NPF team. Members of the team will be available to explain the participation process and provide assistance with making representations on the scope and content of the NPF. |
Stage 2) Issue of a draft for public consultation
12. The second stage of consultation will focus on raising awareness and seeking feedback on the content of the draft NPF in Autumn 2007. The draft will include a provisional list of national developments for discussion. A range of techniques will be used to ensure that communities who are likely to have a particular interest in aspects of the NPF are involved in the process.
Details | Target | Timing |
|---|
a) Draft NPF | Stakeholders and the public | Autumn 2007 |
The draft NPF will be published on the NPF webpage. Paper copies will be available free of charge. Requests for material in large print, or in other formats or community languages should be directed to the NPF Team. The SEA Environmental Report will be published at the same time. |
b) Non-technical summary | Stakeholders and the public | Autumn 2007 |
A non-technical summary of the draft NPF will be distributed to an extensive range of stakeholders and the public at large. This will also be made available in public buildings such as libraries and council offices as well as on the NPF webpage. A non technical summary of the SEA Environmental Report will also be distributed. |
c) NPF Webpage | Stakeholders and the public | Throughout the process |
The dedicated NPF Webpage on the Executive's Planning homepage will provide access to the draft NPF and accompanying SEA documents and allow feedback and enquiries to be submitted. |
d) Targeted engagement with communities | Communities with a particular interest in an aspect of the NPF | Autumn 2007 - |
Additional targeted participation events could be arranged for communities with a particular interest in an aspect of the NPF, such as a proposed national development. |
e) Meetings with key stakeholders | Key agencies and representative organisations | Autumn 2007 |
Further meetings will be held with key agencies and representative organisations to discuss the draft NPF and the accompanying SEA. |
f) Involving Young People | Scottish Youth Parliament Debate | Autumn 2007 |
We hope to provide support for a debate on the NPF in the Scottish Youth Parliament |
g) Events | A range of interest groups and representative organisations | Autumn 2007 |
Display material will be erected at appropriate conferences and special events. Officials will be available to discuss issues, answer questions and receive feedback. Specific events will be identified and listed closer to the time. Display material can be made available on request for use at other events. |
h) Seminars on regional and thematic issues | Local authorities, public agencies, interest groups and representative organisations, communities of interest and individuals. | Autumn 2007 |
A second round of regional seminars will engage stakeholders in the content of the draft NPF. They will again be independently chaired and held in a range of location throughout Scotland. Presentations, open discussions forums and Workshops will be facilitated. |
i) Advisory Group | Key experts | Throughout the process |
The Advisory Committee will continue to provide expert advice on the content of the NPF and the SEA. |
i) Meetings with Scottish Parliament's Communities Committee. | Ministers of the Scottish Parliament. | January 2007 to May 2007 |
Meetings will be held with the Scottish Parliament's Communities Committee. |
k) Communications Strategy | All stakeholders and the public at large | Throughout the process |
The participation process will be supported by a communication strategy involving the use of electronic newsletters and the briefing of national and local media and relevant technical and specialist publications at key stages. The availability of the draft framework and key SEA documents will be advertised in the national press. |
l) Helpline and email inquiry point | | Throughout the process |
The helpline and email inquiry point will continue provide advice on the participation process to individuals, organisations and the public wider pubic at large. A member of the NPF team will be available to discuss the draft, explain the process and assist with providing feedback. |
Stage 3) Revision in the light of reaction to the consultative draft
13. All representations, comments and feedback will be fully taken into account in drafting the final draft of the NPF. This process will take place early in 2008. A summary of the issues raised and the changes made in the light of the participation exercise will be published on the NPF webpage and made available in hard copy free of charge.
Stage 4) Scrutiny of a final draft in Parliament.
14. The final draft of the NPF will be considered by Parliament for a period of 60 days during spring 2008.
Stage 5) Publication of the second National Planning Framework
15. In laying the published NPF before Parliament, Ministers will report on (a) the extent to which their programme of engagement and involvement of the public at large has conformed with or gone beyond the terms of this Participation Statement and (b) how the views of Parliament have been taken into account.
STATUTORY ASSESSMENT OF NPF2
Strategic Environmental Assessment
16. The National Planning Framework will be subject to strategic environmental assessment ( SEA) to ensure that issues of environmental sustainability are explicitly addressed. The Scottish Executive will ensure that key stakeholders and the public are properly consulted at key stages in the SEA process and that a statement on how the SEA was conducted is published. The Scottish Executive intends to go beyond the basic requirements of the SEA process, to provide additional opportunities to comment on the SEA.
Appropriate Assessment
17. The Executive will consider whether anything proposed for inclusion in the NPF (a new Forth crossing, for example) is likely to have a significant effect on a European Habitats site, and, if necessary, will undertake an appropriate assessment in accordance with Article 6 (3) and 6 (4) of the Habitats Directive prior to the final draft being laid before Parliament.
Equality Impact Assessment
18. A key part of the new duties on race, disability and gender is the requirement to assess all of our policies to ensure that we do not inadvertently create a negative impact for equality groups. The NPF will therefore be subject to an Equality Impact Assessment.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION
Write to:
NATIONAL PLANNING FRAMEWORK TEAM
SCOTTISH EXECUTIVE DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT
PLANNING DIVISION
AREA 2-H SOUTH
VICTORIA QUAY
EDINBURGH
SCOTLAND
EH6 6QQRequests for material in large print, or in other formats or community languages should be directed to the NPF Team.
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