Planning Bill "reimagines the future"
The new Planning (Scotland) Bill, laid before Parliament this week, reimagines the future of our planning system.
The Bill forms the statutory response to May 2016’s independent review into the planning in Scotland, and largely reflects the Scottish Government’s Position Statement published in response to the review.
Kevin Stewart, Minister for Local Government and Housing, has situated proposed changes to the planning system in the twin contexts of sustainable growth and climate change mitigation.
This new approach sets the planning system up as a driver for sustainable growth, and as a facilitator of adaptation to long-term climate change.
Just as notable as what is contained in the Bill is what is not - most significantly the absence of a third-party right of appeal, in line with Scottish Renewables' recommendations.
In this blog we break down elements which may affect renewable energy deployment, including:
- Changes to Development Plans
- The introduction of Simplified Development Zones
- A new Infrastructure levy
Development Plans
The most obvious change contained in the bill is the abolition of the Strategic Development Plan and Statutory Supplementary Planning Guidance.
Scottish Planning Policy will be incorporated into the National Planning Framework (NPF), while the NPF will also form part of the development plan, and be reviewed every ten years.
Local Development Plans (LDP) will contain a consistent restatement of the NPF, while the duration of each LDP will double from five to 10 years, in alignment with the NPF.
Communities will be encouraged to create their own Local Place Plans, which must be taken into account during the preparation of LDPs.
In addition, it will now be possible to change LDPs during their lifetime.
Taken together, these provisions mean that the planning system will frontload community engagement and facilitate a more strategic approach to preparing plans.
The Bill also introduces Simplified Development Zones (SPZ), which will replace Simplified Planning Zones and which grant planning permission for specified types of development within an identified zone.
This means that decisions on infrastructure and other key structural questions, as well as community engagement, could be addressed at the earliest stage of the planning process.
Development Management
The Bill attempts to streamline the planning permissions process by, among other things:
- Altering the time limits surrounding permissions
- Expanding the categories of application that can be processed by delegated authorities
- Permitting financial payments to form part of planning obligations
- Permitting planning authorities to propose their own obligations rather than simply accepting or rejecting those proposed.
It also begins to respond to the widespread dissatisfaction with the Pre-Application Consultation process, but more alterations to this will be forthcoming in secondary legislation in the months that follow the Bill’s passage through Parliament.
Fees and performance monitoring
The Scottish Government has already recognised that the planning system in Scotland is under-resourced.
As part of its solution, planning authorities and Scottish Ministers will be able to charge for certain aspects of the system which do not currently have fees attached, including for an expedited decision-making process.
In order to improve consistency of decision-making, local authority councillors will be required to undertake training in planning matters before being able to take up a seat on a planning committee or local review body.
Scottish Ministers will also increase their monitoring of decision-makers’ performance through the introduction of annual reports. Ministers will also be able to make recommendations and, in certain circumstances, direct individual planning authorities to improve.
The Infrastructure Levy
The Scottish Government mooted a ‘community infrastructure levy’ in its Position Statement, and the Bill brings forward proposals for one.
Its purpose is to raise money to pay for services and amenities which are necessary to enable development, or to facilitate growth linked to development.
The levy will exist in addition to existing Section 75 obligations and will be linked to land value uplift in order to ensure broader community benefit is derived from planning decisions.
There is little elaboration on the specifics of such a levy other than it being payable to local authorities, and that it will be payable upon consent being granted for a development.
Whilst a bill of this nature is designed to set out the high-level principles and structure of the planning system, many significant questions of detail remain.
This bill is just the beginning of a process of transformation for Scotland’s planning system.
And as with another festive treat, the proof of this Christmas planning pudding will be in the eating.
Blog by Scottish Renewables Public Affairs Manager Peter Speirs.