Q17 Do the proposed transitional arrangements raise any specific issues for particular plans or areas?
123. There was some concern amongst those planning authorities that were in the process of reviewing their current structure/local plans under the current system. They were concerned as to at what stage in the existing regulations a local plan currently undergoing preparation needs to have reached to proceed under the old regulations.
124. The Scottish Rural Property and Business Association felt that there is "a danger that some local authorities may abandon the development of their plans unnecessarily under the pretext of waiting until the new regime is in place".
125. Loch Lomand and Trossachs National Park Authority stated that "planning authorities currently preparing local plans will all have been doing so in anticipation as much as possible of the forthcoming changes in the development plan system, with the hope that these plans would be easily transferable to the new system, and depending on the stage of preparation could convert to a Local Development Plan. The proposed transitional arrangements do not facilitate this". They are currently in the process of preparing their first local development plan and specifically commented on the transitional arrangements. They felt that "the timescales for the introduction of the new development planning system will not allow us to prepare a new local development plan without significant delays to our programme, and we will continue to prepare our plan under the 1997 Act. It is disappointing that the proposed transitional arrangements will not facilitate our current local plan work transferring to the new system, particularly as we have adopted many aspects of the new system, eg. The production of a development plan scheme. It is requested that further consideration should be given to easing the transition of plans currently under preparation. The requirement for a proposed development plan to be published within 3 years of commencement is also significantly onerous on planning authorities who are currently preparing plans under the 1997 act. It will be difficult for these plans to reach finalisation before beginning work on a Main Issues Report and proposed plan to meet the proposed commencement timescale. It is requested that if the proposed transitional arrangements are to remain unchanged then consideration should be given to extending the commencement time period for planning authority's currently preparing local plans, to allow for these to have a reasonable shelf life".
126. Falkirk Council were also concerned about the overlap of old plans and the new LDPs. They stated that "the Falkirk Council local plan has yet to proceed to the inquiry stage and it is unlikely that it will be adopted before 2010. If the new LDP is to be published only a year later that gives the preceding local plan a needlessly short life span. Moreover, it is doubtful if this council, or many others, has the resources to handle two major development plans in parallel. Either the timescale for preparing the new LDP should be altered to relate to the adoption of plans currently under preparation, or dispensations should be given to individual authorities according to their particular circumstances".
127. Homes for Scotland also suggested that where a local authority had a structure plan which had recently been approved, provision should be made to allow the new LDP to be prepared in accordance with the existing structure plan.
128. Aberdeen City Council were concerned that the consultation paper was unclear whether an LDP could be brought forward in conformity with an existing structure plan or whether LDPs could only be brought forward in support of an SDP. They stated that "to ensure that plan preparation work is not lost and that legislation does not impede the preparation of up-to-date development plans it is essential that the transitional arrangements make provision to allow the LDP to be consistent with an approved structure plan in these circumstances".