While our work is now very much focused on renewable energy and emerging technology developments, as well as projects that deliver social benefits, we do of course continue to be interested in wider planning matters that affect us all, with national initiatives to address the housing emergency in Scotland being high on that agenda at the moment. Ultimately, we should all be able to access safe, affordable and comfortable housing (ideally served by renewable energy). For what’s been happening in this context this quarter, and other matters of national interest, read on…
Ministerial and Chief Planner letters – following on from the publication of a bumper number of Ministerial and Chief Planner letters in Q2 of this year (as noted in our June 2025 Bulletin), another three have been published since then, the latter two relating specifically to addressing the housing emergency:
- Ramsar sites: Ministerial and Chief Planner letter (July 2025) – on 9 July, the Scottish Government updated its policy on the protection of Ramsar sites (sites classified under the Convention of Wetlands of International Importance), to the effect that the 51 designated Ramsar sites in Scotland should be treated as if they were European sites for the purposes of land use change decision making. This means that any plan or project which could affect a Ramsar site will need to be subject to a Habitats Regulations Appraisal to determine whether the proposal is likely to have a significant effect on the notified natural features of the site. If it is concluded that there would be an adverse impact on the site, then the plan or project should not be supported unless there are imperative reasons of over-riding public interest to do so. Further details of the updated policy and guidance on how the Scottish Government expects this to be implemented are available here, with this having potentially major implications for any proposals that might affect a Ramsar site;
- Housing: Cabinet Secretary for Housing and Minister for Public Finance letter (September 2025) – on 2 September the Cabinet Secretary for Housing and Minster for Public Finance wrote to planning and other stakeholders to announce the publication of a new Housing Emergency Action Plan, setting out actions to be taken to tackle the housing emergency that was declared in May 2024. Of particular interest to us as planners, the letter highlights that planning has a powerful enabling role, with it stated that planning must do all it can to find solutions to challenges of housing delivery, and we look forward to seeing this being done; and
- Housing applications: Chief Planner letter and Notification Direction (September 2025) – this letter draws attention to the Town and Country Planning (Notification of Applications) (10 or more homes on non-allocated land) (Scotland) Direction 2025 (one of the actions included in the Action Plan referred to above), which also came into force on the 2 September. The Direction requires the Scottish Ministers to be alerted of any planning application for 10 or more new homes on land not allocated for housing in the relevant Local Development Plan, and of the decisions taken on these applications. This applies both to new planning applications and to any that are currently being processed, and is intended to enable evidence-led monitoring of how National Planning Framework 4 Policy 16 ‘Quality Homes’ is being implemented, with the intent of that Policy being to encourage, promote and facilitate the delivery of more high quality affordable and sustainable homes, in the right locations.
Demand for a pause on energy infrastructure projects across the Highlands – in our June 2025 Bulletin, we highlighted calls from a convention of community council representatives for an immediate pause on major energy applications in the Highlands until their cumulative impact can be fully assessed through a national planning inquiry, with a motion to recognise the convention for ‘amplifying the voices’ of those concerned at the ‘industrialisation of natural landscapes’ having been tabled in the Scottish Parliament by Conservative MSP Douglas Lumsden. Since then, a second Highland convention on the impact of major energy infrastructure was held in August, at which attending MSPs and MPs pledged to do all they could to secure urgent debates on the matter at both Holyrood and in the House of Commons. At the heart of the matter is the belief that Highland communities are shouldering some of the highest fuel costs of anywhere in the UK, with Highland energy projects doing little to alleviate this. Rather, these projects are seen to be exporting the benefits of renewable energy to other parts of the country, while the Highlands are left bearing the brunt of the infrastructure, and the impacts of that. Recognising that the need to continue to transition to more renewable sources of energy while also making sure that any such development is appropriately located, this is not an issue that is likely to go away soon and clearly needs to be addressed.
Green light for world’s largest offshore wind farm – renewable energy projects are of course not the sole preserve of the Highlands, with significant developments taking place across Scotland. Of particular note, in July this year, the Scottish Government granted section 36 consent for the construction of SSE’s Berwick Bank offshore wind farm, billed as the world’s largest, to be located around 38km east of the Scottish Borders’ coastline. As with many projects of this nature, this was not without some controversy, with conservation groups raising concerns about the impact on marine birds. However, the Scottish Ministers concluded that any environmental issues had been appropriately addressed by the design of the development and the incorporation of mitigation measures and, while it was not possible to conclude that there would be no adverse effects, there were no alternative solutions that would enable the objectives of the development to be met and that there were imperative reasons of over-riding public interest for the development to be carried out. Specifically, at full capacity, Berwick Bank could generate enough renewable energy to power over six million homes, the equivalent to all of Scotland’s households twice over, with SSE Renewables describing the project as being “vital to the UK’s 2030 clean power mission and to the energy security goals of the Scottish and UK governments”.
Permitted development rights to support provision of new homes – in the context of addressing the housing emergency as set out above, the Scottish Government is consulting on proposals to extend Permitted Development Rights (PDRs) to allow more homes to be created without the need to apply for planning permission to do so. This includes proposals to extend the scope of PDRs allowing existing agricultural or forestry buildings to be converted to residential use, the potential introduction of PDRs allowing the replacement of existing agricultural or forestry buildings with residential property built on the same footprint, and the use of PDRs to promote ‘town centre living’ by allowing the conversion of upper floors of town and city centre shops to such use. At the same time the Scottish Government is also looking at the role of Masterplan Consent Areas (in which a planning authority proactively sets out and grants consent for development it wishes to be delivered, subject to any conditions (for details of which, see the Scottish Government’s Guidance)) in allowing for the change of use of appropriate buildings. In all cases, it is proposed that such PDRs would be subject to exclusions, limits and restrictions to ensure that any homes created are suitable for their intended use, including requiring developers to obtain ‘prior approval’ in respect of certain matters such as the provision of light, access and noise impacts. However, as with existing prior approval procedures, this is anticipated to be a less onerous process than preparing and submitting a full planning application would be. Full details of the proposals are available here, with consultation on these running until 27 October 2025. It anticipated that any changes to be introduced following this would be set out in a statutory instrument to be laid in the Scottish Parliament in early 2026.
Reduction in vacant and derelict land – whilst, as previous items have highlighted, there is still much to be done to address the housing crisis, some good news on that front came as the results of the Scottish Government’s latest survey on vacant and derelict land (published earlier this month) showed that the amount of such land has fallen by more than a quarter since 2016, with more than half of those sites reclaimed for housing. With increasing pressure for new housing, it is gratifying to see these sites being used and that we are not being wholly reliant to greenfield sites to meet that need.
Empower 2030: the RTPI Strategic Plan – in our December 2023 Bulletin we reported on the Royal Town Planning Institute’s (RTPI) campaign ‘It Takes Planner &’ which aimed to tackle misinformation and celebrate the vital role that planners play. This month, the RTPI has published its new strategic agenda for the period up to 2030 which celebrates the achievements of the organisation and aims to further raise the profile of planning, including through enhancing skills and experience of members to make an even more positive impact on the world through placemaking and sustainable development. So, if you are interested in finding out more about the RTPI and its priorities and initiatives for supporting planners over the next five years, it is worth a read.
On us – we have managed to take advantage of the beautiful weather we have had this quarter and have both taken the opportunity to explore different parts of Scotland from Melrose and the North Berwick coast up through Perthshire and into Moray, all of which are beautiful in their own way. This quarter has also seen a couple of milestone events in each of our lives, with Maggie getting married after 37 years with her partner (in a small and low key but fun event) and Pippa’s daughter starting school (it only seems like yesterday since we published our blog Family planning with Pippa’s reflections on the world her daughter would grow up in, the challenges facing that and what planning might do to address some of those!). So definitely a summer to be remembered.
Thanks for reading!
Pippa and Maggie
