Scottish Government

August 2005

ISBN 0 7559 2672 2
ISSN 1741 1203

This document is also available in pdf format (97k)

Contents

Covering letter

PLANNING SERIES:

• Scottish Planning Policies ( SPPs) provide statements of Scottish Executive policy on nationally important land use and other planning matters, supported where appropriate by a locational framework.
• Circulars, which also provide statements of Scottish Executive policy, contain guidance on policy implementation through legislative or procedural change.
• Planning Advice Notes ( PANs) provide advice on good practice and other relevant information.

Statements of Scottish Executive policy contained in SPPs and Circulars are material considerations to be taken into account in development plan preparation and development management.

Existing National Planning Policy Guidelines ( NPPGs) have continued relevance to decision making, until such time as they are replaced by a SPP. The term SPP should be interpreted as including NPPGs.

Statements of Scottish Executive location-specific planning policy, for example, the West Edinburgh Planning Framework, have the same status in decision-making as SPPs.

The National Planning Framework sets out the strategy for Scotland's long-term spatial development. It has the same status as SPPs and provides a national context for development plans and planning decisions and the ongoing programmes of the Scottish Executive, public agencies and local government.

Important Note: in the interests of brevity and conciseness, Scottish Planning Policies do not repeat policy across thematic boundaries. Each SPP takes account of the general policy in SPP1 and highlights the other SPPs where links to other related policy will be found. The whole series of SPPs should be taken as an integral policy suite and read together.

Dear Sir/Madam

CONSULTATION ON DRAFT SCOTTISH PLANNING POLICY 8: TOWN CENTRES

I enclose a consultative draft copy of Scottish Planning Policy ( SPP) 8: Town Centres which, when finalised, will replace NPPG8: Town Centres and Retailing.

Responding to this draft consultation document

We are inviting written responses to this draft consultation document by 11 November 2005. Further copies of the document are available by telephoning (0131) 244 7543. The document is also available on our web site: www.scotland.gov.uk/planning

Please send your response to:
spp8@scotland.gsi.gov.uk

Sandra Carey
Scottish Executive Development Department
Planning Division
2-H
Victoria Quay
EDINBURGH
EH6 6QQ

If you have any queries contact Ken Jobling by emailing ken.jobling@scotland.gsi.gov.uk or by telephoning (0131) 244 7548.

We would be grateful if you could clearly indicate in your response which questions or parts of the consultative draft you are responding to as this will aid our analysis of the responses received.

For future engagement:

If you wish to access this consultation online, go to http://www.scotland.gov.uk/view/views.asp You can telephone Freephone 0800 77 1234 to find out where your nearest public internet access point is, if you prefer to submit your response by e-mail to spp8@scotland.gsi.gov.uk

SEConsult

A new email alert system for SE consultations ( SEconsult) was launched in December 2003. This system will allow stakeholder individuals and organisations to register and receive a weekly email containing details of all new SE consultations (including web links). SEconsult will complement, but in no way replace SE distribution lists, and is designed to allow stakeholders to 'keep an eye' on all SE consultation activity, and therefore be alerted at the earliest opportunity to those of most interest. We encourage you to register as soon as possible.

Access to consultation responses

We will make all responses available to the public in the Scottish Executive Library and on the Scottish Executive consultation web pages unless confidentiality is requested. All responses not marked confidential will be checked for any potentially defamatory material before being logged in the library or placed on the website.

Yours faithfully

KEN JOBLING

C. The Scottish Executive Consultation Process

Consultation is an essential and important aspect of Scottish Executive working methods. Given the wide-ranging areas of work of the Scottish Executive, there are many varied types of consultation. However, in general Scottish Executive consultation exercises aim to provide opportunities for all those who wish to express their opinions on a proposed area of work to do so in ways which will inform and enhance that work.

While details of particular circumstances described in a response to a consultation exercise may usefully inform the policy process, consultation exercises cannot address individual concerns and comments, which should be directed to the relevant public body. Consultation exercises may involve seeking views in a number of different ways, such as public meetings, focus groups or questionnaire exercises.

Typically, Scottish Executive consultations involve a written paper inviting answers to specific questions or more general views about the material presented. Written papers are distributed to organisations and individuals with an interest in the area of consultation, and they are also placed on the Scottish Executive web site enabling a wider audience to access the paper and submit their responses

. Copies of all the responses received to consultation exercises (except those where the individual or organisation requested confidentiality) are placed in the Scottish Executive library at Saughton House, Edinburgh (K Spur, Saughton House, Broomhouse Drive, Edinburgh, EH11 3XD, telephone 0131 244 4552).

The views and suggestions detailed in consultation responses are analysed and used as part of the decision making process. Depending on the nature of the consultation exercise the responses received may:

indicate the need for policy development or review
inform the development of a particular policy
help decisions to be made between alternative policy proposals
be used to finalise legislation before it is implemented

If you have any comment about how this consultation exercise has been conducted, please send them to:

E-mail: ken.jobling@scotland.gsi.gov.uk