This item was published during the term of a previous administration that ended in April 2007
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Parliament approves Planning Bill
16/11/2006
The Planning Scotland Bill was passed in a vote by MSPs in the Parliament tonight.
Communities Minister Malcolm Chisholm said Scotland now had the basis of a modern planning system far better equipped to serve the needs of its people.
He continued:
"This is the most fundamental and comprehensive reform of the planning system in 60 years.
"It heralds the start of a new era where communities will be involved from the start in shaping their futures. It will bring in a much more efficient planning system to support the economy and help it grow in a sustainable way.
"These reforms will encourage engagement and openness; not confrontation or imposition.
"We still have long way to go to bring about the much broader cultural change in planning we are all seeking. This landmark legislation provides the bedrock on which we can - and will - build that transformation.
"I would like to pay tribute to the enormous amount of work by my deputy Johann Lamont and members of the Communities Committee over the last year. Their tireless and detailed scrutiny has made this a much stronger Bill.
"Considering this is one of the most complex pieces of legislation ever considered by this Parliament, that is a huge achievement."
The Planning etc. (Scotland) Bill received Stage Three approval from the Parliament. It is expected to receive Royal Assent next month.
Key features of the Bill are:
- it will introduce a hierarchy into the planning system, where planning applications will be dealt with differently, depending on whether they are developments of national, major, local or minor significance
- it will ensure that the next National Planning Framework can better deliver developments of national importance
- it introduces new measures for the quick and reliable processing of major developments
- decision making and appeals will be devolved to a local level in certain cases
- the Bill will introduce a statutory duty for development plans to be updated every five years
- it introduces a range of measures to promote opportunities for communities to participate in development planning and on individual planning applications, and to ensure that their views are taken into account
- it sets out new measures to ensure that planning authorities can deal effectively with breaches of planning control (enforcement)