In our June 2024 bulletin, we reflected on Harold Wilson’s observation that a week can be a long time in politics, and the pace of political change in the preceding few months. Since then, the pace has, if anything, only ramped up, with a new Labour Government at Westminster promising planning reforms in England, and the recently announced Scottish Programme for Government for the coming year also including key proposals for changes to the planning system here. For more on which and more, read on…
Scottish Programme for Government – at the beginning of September, the First Minister, John Swinney, announced his Programme for Government for 2024 to 2025, which includes the intention to establish a Planning Hub for Scotland to build capacity and resilience. This is to be hosted and co-ordinated by the National Planning Improvement Champion, with the hub’s work guided and supported by the Government, COSLA, Heads of Planning Scotland, SOLACE, other members of the High Level Group on Planning Performance, as well as by the development industry. It is intended that the Hub will help respond to the housing emergency by supporting planning authorities to, for example, focus on the delivery of homes on larger, legacy, and stalled sites. But it is of particular interest to us as, while the Hub’s initial priority is to be to help planning authorities make quicker decisions on hydrogen planning applications, there are also plans for it to support wider developments too, including onshore wind, and so we look forward to seeing this established.
Green Industrial Strategy – we have often highlighted that planning does not exist in isolation, and is crucial in delivering other Scottish Government objectives, and that has been stressed in the Government’s new Green Industrial Strategy. With the aim of helping Scotland realise the maximum possible economic benefit from the opportunities created by the global transition to net zero, the Strategy recognises that coordinated action is required, including the delivery of an agile planning and consenting system. Specifically, that is to be achieved by: improving the quality, consistency and pace of the planning and consenting process through recruitment and the introduction of the new Planning Hub; supporting training and upskilling across public sector resources and ensuring a pipeline of future planning and consenting professionals; making technical improvements to standardise processes and working with statutory consultees to improve efficiencies across the system; and investing in the evidence base to reduce uncertainty and improve decision making. It is difficult to argue with any of that, and so it is hoped that these measures will be implemented to deliver the desired outcomes.
Planning and Climate Change Guidance – in July, the Scottish Government published a Report on Research to Inform National Planning Framework 4: Planning and Climate Change Guidance, intended to develop understanding of the approaches currently being used to assess and minimise lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions of development proposals. Notably, this concludes that appropriate and best practice tools for assessing emissions already exist and are being used. However, having been published just after the decision in R (Finch) v Surrey County Council [2024] UKSC 20 (which, as set out in our June Bulletin, established a need to assess ‘downstream’ greenhouse gas emissions in certain cases), this does not address the implications of that, and so further work may be required to provide clear guidance on this.
Masterplan Consent Areas – earlier this month, the Scottish Government laid before the Scottish Parliament the final Regulations covering the process for making Master Plan Consent Area (MCA) schemes and the Environment Impact Assessment provisions of those. As noted in our March 2024 Bulletin the Planning (Scotland) Act 2019 introduced MCAs as a new upfront consenting mechanism, intended to allow planning authorities to take a place leadership role by proactively consenting the type and quality of development they wish to see in their areas through a MCA ‘Scheme’. MCAs will offer a coordinated approach to consenting, being able to grant not just planning permission, but also roads construction, listed building and conservation area consent, where provided for in the particular MCA scheme.
Development Plan Amendment Regulations – our March Bulletin also covered consultation that was then being carried out on proposed Development Plan Amendment Regulations, intended to make the amendment process (between the statutory full 10 year review) a responsive and streamlined version of the full review process, whilst balancing the need for due process (including appropriate justification and consultation on the proposed amendment). Following closure of that consultation in March this year, a summary of the responses has now been published, and Regulations have been placed before Parliament to enable local development plans to be amended between full review cycles if/when newly emerging issues arise. These are expected to come into force at the end of this year.
Investing in planning – picking up another theme from our March Bulletin, responses to the consultation on investing in planning that was referred to in that have also now been published. In terms of which, the two proposals which received most support were those relating to the introduction of a Planning Hub (see above) and an annual inflationary increase to planning fees, whilst there was little support for devolving the setting of planning application fees to planning authorities and an increased fee for development on sites not allocated in the development plan. Ring fencing of planning fees and the need for additional resources to be reinvested within planning services was a common theme to the responses, something that we have long advocated for. It will therefore be interesting to see where this ultimately leads.
Flamingo Land – for more than 5 years now, a recurrent topic in our bulletins and blog has been proposals by developer Flamingo Land for a tourist resort on the banks of Loch Lomond, with the most recent iteration comprising two hotels and a spa, 104 self-catering holiday lodges, a water park, leisure pool, restaurants, craft brewery, pub, parking for 372 vehicles, a monorail, and the renovation and conversion of the A-listed Woodbank House into 24 holiday flats. However, following submission of a second planning application in 2022, the Board of Loch Lomond & The Trossachs National Park Authority this month decided to refuse this, citing concerns about flooding, the scale of the proposed development, and the removal of trees and woodland. So, is the scheme now dead in the water? Many who have consistently objected to it over the years may hope so, but Flamingo Land don’t seem to give up easily, and so they may yet appeal or come forward with revised proposals for the site… time will tell.
World Heritage Site status for the Flow Country – as regular visitors to Sutherland, and recognising the unique nature of the blanket bog habitats of the Flow Country, we welcome the UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee’s decision to grant this World Heritage Site (WHS) status. This makes the Flow Country the world’s first peatland WHS, covering an area of 4,000km2. Although no additional statutory controls result from WHS designation, NPF4 makes it clear that the impact of proposed development upon such a site’s outstanding universal value is a material consideration in determining planning applications. So, something to be aware of if considering any future development in the area.
A new national park – at the other end of the country, Galloway has been confirmed as the proposed location for Scotland’s next national park, subject to carrying out further investigation on its suitability. This follows a call for communities for nominations for a new national park, with a commitment by the Scottish Government to designate at least one new park by 2026, as reported in our March 2024 Bulletin. As highlighted in that Bulletin though, it is still not yet clear what the implications of this will be for planning, given that our existing national parks each have different planning arrangements, and so we will await further details with interest.
Impact of the Beauly-Denny grid infrastructure – although not a material planning consideration, we are often asked when consulting on new development proposals whether that development will affect the value of nearby houses. And, while our focus is always on ensuring that residential amenity is protected, we understand why people might be concerned about this. So, we were interested to see that BiGGAR Economics was recently commissioned by Scottish Renewables to provide evidence of the impact of the Beauly-Denny grid infrastructure on the housing market. Their report concludes that house prices along the route of the Beauly-Denny transmission line have mirrored house price trends across the wider area coved by the local authorities of Highland, Perth and Kinross, Stirling, and Falkirk, and that the line had no discernible impact on house prices. We hope this provides some comfort to people concerned about the impacts of similar forms of development on the value of their homes too.
Elsewhere in the UK – as part of a wider drive to deliver more sustainable growth, consultation has recently been carried out on proposed changes to the National Planning Policy Framework in England, including providing more support for onshore wind and renewables developments. This follows the publication of a policy statement in July this year in which a previous de facto ban on onshore wind developments in place since 2015 was lifted, such that onshore wind should now be treated in the same way as other energy proposals. And the further changes now proposed are intended to help the Labour Government delver on a manifesto commitment to double onshore wind by 2023. Specifically, the proposed changes would direct decision makers to give significant weight to the benefits associated with renewable and low carbon energy generation, and the proposals’ contribution to meeting a net zero future, with the aim of increasing the likelihood of local planning authorities granting permission to renewable energy schemes and contributing to reaching zero carbon electricity generation by 2030. The consultation closed on 24 September, and so it has not yet been confirmed if these changes will be implemented, or, if so, when. But, if they are, it is likely to be welcomed by renewable energy developers, and is one to watch.
On us – we were delighted this month to have submitted a planning application for Banchory Community Football Club, seeking planning permission for a multi-purpose all weather sports pitch at Tillybrake in Banchory. The Club is a registered charity which seeks to enable football to be played and enjoyed by all, regardless of ethnicity, gender or ability, and to enhance members’ life skills in a supportive environment. Having its own dedicated facility will help the Club to further these aims, and it has been a pleasure working with a committed multi-disciplinary team to get this application over the line. We are now keeping our fingers very firmly crossed for a positive outcome.
We were also again excited that the Aurora Borealis put on another show whilst our Director Maggie was on holiday in Pitlochry at the end of August, with this month’s banner photo taken from there.
Meantime, to find out how we can help with any renewable energy infrastructure or emerging technology related developments, or if you are a charity or community group looking for assistance, then please visit our website or email us at info@auroraplanning.co.uk. Or, if you would like to sign up for email updates, please click here.
Thanks for reading!
Pippa and Maggie
