From April snow showers to glorious sunshine, this month has had it all, and it is no different in the world of planning… For details of which, read on below!
On Holyrood
Draft National Planning Framework 4 (NPF4) – following the end of the consultation period for draft NPF4 (on which, see our January and February Spotlights), a number of high-profile stakeholders have raised concerns about the implementation of the emerging plan, with:
- Holyrood’s Local Government, Housing and Planning Committee having warned that planning departments may lack resources to implement this;
- RTPI Scotland having stated there is a need for ‘more robust policy and a focused delivery plan’; and
- a number of housing related organisations having written to Scotland’s planning minister to urge him to ‘press the pause button’ on the development of the plan to allow time for more work to be carried out on how the core ambitions of this might be delivered.
At the same time though, all of the stakeholders referred to above have also welcomed elements of the draft NPF4, including its focus on the delivery of sites, and the commitments it makes with regards to tackling the climate crisis.
This very much reflects our view on the draft, with regards to which our blog Draft NPF4 – a plan for all seasons? highlights that it was always going to be a challenge for this to balance the role it is expected to play in delivering on potentially competing aspirations in terms of contributing to improving health and wellbeing; increasing the population of rural areas; meeting housing needs; improving equality and eliminating discrimination; and securing positive effects for biodiversity, as well as contributing to meeting emissions targets. With responses to the consultation now being considered by the Scottish Government, we will look out for any further news on the preparation of the Plan with interest, so watch this space…
Coronavirus Acts – regulations to further extend planning, listed building, and conservation area consents that would have expired during the pandemic as referred to in our February Spotlights have now been passed and came into force at the end of last month, as a result of which any such consents which would have expired between 7 April 2020 and 30 September 2022 will now remain live until 31 March 2023, and the suspension of the requirement for a physical public consultation event to be held as part of statutory pre-application consultation will now continue until 30 September 2022.
On local government
Aberdeen City and Aberdeenshire draft housing land audit 2022 – Aberdeen City and Aberdeenshire Councils have published their draft housing land audit 2022, providing details of the location, characteristics and status of sites which make up the housing land supply of the two local authorities. Consultation on this will now run until the 20 May 2022, with any comments to be submitted by email to LDP@aberdeencity.gov.uk, and we would encourage anyone with an interest in any of the sites covered by this to review it and respond to the consultation accordingly.
On planning applications
Peterhead Carbon Capture Power Station – a section 36 planning application has been submitted for Scotland’s first gas-powered power station equipped with a carbon capture plant to remove CO2 from its emissions, to be located in Peterhead. With the aspiration being for this to be fully operational by in 2027, it is understood that the proposed new station could capture an average of 1.5 million tonnes of CO2 a year, representing 15% of the UK Government’s target to capture 10 mega tonnes of CO2 annually by 2030. Whilst this seems like great news, some environmentalists argue that carbon capture simply delays a proper transition away from fossil fuels, thus making the climate crisis worse, rather than better. Yet another example of the challenges planning faces in terms of having to take account of often very differing perspectives on the same development!
Space Hub Sutherland – another significant step has been taken towards the development of Space Hub Sutherland, with Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) having submitted information to discharge many of the pre-commencement conditions. At the same time, a memorandum of understanding has been signed between HIE and Wildland Limited, confirming their commitment to work together constructively on opportunities for sustainable economic and community development in and around the Space Hub area.
On other matters
Housing Statistics – the most recent Housing Statistics published by the Scottish Government show that, in the year ending June 2021, there were 18,974 all-sector new homes completed in Scotland, with this being 1,751 more than were completed in the previous year. However, this was still 2,629 less than completed in the year ending June 2019, and significantly less than the target of at least 25,000 new homes being delivered across all sectors each year that Homes for Scotland has recently called for (on which, see last month’s Spotlights), indicating that more needs to be done to increase the number of homes that are being delivered year on year going forwards. It is though of course important that those homes are of the right quality and in the right places.
A new future for Scotland’s town centres – in response to last year’s review of the Town Centre Action Plan, the Scottish Government and COSLA have published a joint report outlining new measures to revitalise town centres and regenerate local economies, including using the planning system to limit out of town development, requiring developers to install and optimise digital connectivity in new town centre housing developments, and reducing car kilometres by 20% by 2030. The last of these is particularly of interest to us given the ongoing debate around the potential pedestrianisation of Aberdeen’s Union Street (see our guest blog, What’s afoot with pedestrianisation?), and we certainly share the vision of “towns and town centres being places for the wellbeing of people, planet and the economy”, so would hope to see this realised.
Wildlife friendly urban areas – we often highlight the role of planning in balancing economic, community and environmental interests, and so we were very happy to see that a study carried out by Ark Wildlife has identified our home city of Aberdeen as being the third most wildlife friendly urban area in the UK, with great potential for rewilding natural and green spaces as a result of its location on the North Sea Coast and the River Dee, and the high levels of natural land cover and woodland. Edinburgh was top of the table with Dundee coming in fourth, so all round a good result for Scottish cities! Further details on the study and the findings are available here.
On us
Having been named the UK’s best small planning consultancy of the year in the 2021 Royal Town Planning Institute’s Awards for Planning Excellence, we’re delighted that our Director, Maggie, is now one of the judging panel for this year’s Scottish Awards, and she’s very much looking forward to looking at the wide range of projects that have been submitted, showcasing the best of Scottish planning.
Meantime, to find out how we can help with any aspect of the planning process, please visit our website or email us at info@auroraplanning.co.uk. Or, if you would like to see our other blogs or sign up for email updates, please click here.
Thanks for reading!
Pippa and Maggie
