This item was published during the term of a previous administration that ended in April 2007
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First National Planning Framework
01/04/2004
Scotland's first National Planning Framework is published today along with two planning consultation papers - on rights of appeal and on making development plans deliver.
Communities Minister Margaret Curran said the Executive intended to make the planning system more user-friendly and fit for the 21st century by:
- Strengthening the involvement of communities
- Speeding up decisions
- Reflecting local views better
- Allowing quicker investment decisions
Underlining the need for an overhaul of the system, Ms Curran told Parliament:
"Planning policies and decisions affect everyone. They make a significant impact on our economy, environment and communities. Planning helps bring jobs and services, homes and leisure facilities and other things that matter to society.
"It helps us deliver our key policy objectives such as new schools, healthcare facilities and waste recycling, and allows us to deliver development to grow our economy, allowing investment in business and industry.
"Get things right in planning and we make real progress on the country's economic competitiveness, environmental protection and social justice. Get it wrong and we will fail to deliver on our commitment to sustainable development.
"The planning system is often criticised. Sometimes the criticism is unjust; sometimes it is justified. I believe that there are real grounds for concern over delays in decision-making and failing to keep plans up to date.
"Different stakeholders are looking for different things from the planning system. These consultations support and takes forward the Partnership Agreement commitment that 'we will improve the planning system to strengthen the involvement of communities, speed up decisions, reflect local views better, and allow quicker investment decisions'."
Making Development Plans Deliver
The Executive is committed to raising the profile of development planning and ensuring that local people, businesses and organisations are able to engage effectively in the long-term planning of their communities.
This consultation paper acknowledges the often poor record of councils in keeping plans up to date and achieving measurable outcomes. It proposes a range of options to ensure development plans are kept up to date, including a statutory requirement to review plans at least every five years.
Ms Curran commented:
"The Executive believes that development plans are at the heart of a modernised and reformed planning system. Statutory development plans matter. They are not optional extras. They are required because they can, indeed must, make a difference. We want others to share that belief."
Rights of Appeal in Planning
The White Paper Your Place, Your Plan, published a year ago, set out proposals to strengthen public involvement in the planning system. It also included a commitment to consult on third party planning appeals, recognising that this is a complex matter with potentially significant implications for the planning system and beyond.
The Partnership Agreement further defined the subject of the consultation paper as: "We will consult on new rights of appeal in planning cases where the local authority involved has an interest; where the application is contrary to the local plan; when planning officers have recommended rejection or; where an Environmental Impact Assessment is needed".
Ms Curran said:
"The consultation is from a neutral standpoint. The paper seeks views on whether we should introduce new rights of appeal. If we do not, are there other ways to address the concerns which lie behind demands for third party appeals? If we do, how might we best design the appeal system?
"One of the options is to make no change to the right of appeal. We do not want to see imbalance in the planning system, but it is in no one's interest to have a planning system that does not support growth and provide necessary development such as housing. We know that we shall have to make a hard decision. We shall not shirk that responsibility.
"This debate is an important one and it is essential that stakeholders engage in the process. The outcome to this consultation is far from a foregone conclusion. We want people to respond to us to inform our final decision, to make sure that the decision we take is informed, consistent and meets the needs of Scotland in terms of economic growth and social justice.
National Planning Framework
The framework looks at how Scotland is likely to change over the next 15-20 years. It analyses the underlying trends in Scotland's development, the key drivers of change and the challenges to be faced. The framework will help to guide the spatial development of Scotland, providing a context for development plans and planning decisions.
Key points include:
- The challenges and opportunities of Scotland's location in the north west of Europe are acknowledged
- The importance of the Edinburgh-Glasgow relationship is recognised and West Edinburgh and the Clyde Corridor are identified as areas where major changes are occurring and where the complexity of the issues means that co-ordinated action is needed in the national interest
- The East Coast is identified as a strategic corridor where investment in transport infrastructure to reduce journey times can help to unlock development potential and improve the prospects for regeneration
- Ayrshire, where Prestwick Airport and Hunterston play a particularly important role, and the South West feature as an important gateway for Scotland
- For rural Scotland the emphasis is on promoting diversification of the economy in combination with a strong commitment to environmental stewardship. The framework identifies the need to address the particular challenges facing the Western Isles within the context of HIE's wider Fragile Areas programme
Ms Curran said:
"This Framework is not prescriptive. Nor is it a series of expenditure commitments. But it does highlight the opportunities and challenges ahead and will be one of the factors which we will take into account in reaching decisions on policy and spending priorities."