In the wake of the Scottish Parliament approving the Fourth National Planning Framework (NPF4), the Chief Planner, Dr Fiona Simpson, published a letter confirming that regulations will shortly be brought forward to deal with two key issues.
Transitional arrangements
Firstly, in advance of NPF4’s adoption on 13 February, the Scottish Government will “issue advice on transitional arrangements for local development plans, which will also cover implementation of housing policies and some other considerations during the changeover period, including for decision-making”. It will be very interesting to see how far the Scottish Government is prepared to go in directing local planning authorities on the meaning and effect of NPF4’s policies and how they should be applied. Afterall, NPF4’s policies will be part of the statutory development plan and it will be for the decisionmaker to apply them as they see fit. The Scottish Government will need to be careful not to overstep the mark in this respect, or it could have undesirable and unintended consequences. There is no doubt there is an opportunity for guidance to provide clarity and promote uniformity of application, which would be very welcome. However, there is also a risk it could add confusion to an already uncertain landscape. We wait with anticipation to see on which side it falls.
Local development planning
Secondly, the Chief Planner promises “regulations coming into force and publication of related guidance for the new local development planning system this spring.” This is a reference to the local development planning regulations and guidance that Scottish Government consulted on last year. These are very important documents. The new system, which includes the preparation scrutiny of evidence reports, is an entirely new approach to the way in which the public and stakeholders will engage with the plan-making process. As always, the devil is in the detail, and these documents matter and will require careful scrutiny on publication.
The Scottish Ministers have already started publishing certain transitional regulations. On 23 January they published regulations which address the issue of whether or not an emerging development local plan may continue under the “old” process or must follow the new rules. In short, they provide that where a local development plan has been published in a local newspaper before 12 February 2023 it can continue under the “old” process. However, if it has not been published before 12 February 2023, it must follow the new process. We’ve summarised the status of local development plans across Scotland in the table below.
This flowchart demonstrates the stages that planning authorities will undertake when adopting a local development plan under the new process:
Stakeholder engagement in local development planning
The opportunity for the public and stakeholders to give evidence to shape new local development plans under the new local development adoption process will principally be at the evidence report stage. Key agencies, the Scottish Ministers and anyone named in the planning authority’s delivery programme will also be consulted at the proposed plan stage. The planning authority may consult the public and other stakeholders at this stage, but the draft regulations and guidance do not require them to do so. A notable absence from the “old” process is a call for sites – that will be a matter for the planning authority, following whatever comes out of the evidence report process.
This note necessarily provides a simplified overview. Please contact us if you have any specific questions or concerns about what will happen over the next few weeks leading up to adoption of NPF4, and beyond.
Scottish Borders Council
| Snapshot: Scotland's Local development plans - as at 30 January 2023 This is a snapshot only and should not be relied upon - always check the relevant local authority’s website for the most up-to-date position. | |
|---|---|
| Planning Authority | LDP Status |
| Aberdeen City Council | The Aberdeen Local Development Plan 2022 has been published and will be adopted under the old system. |
| Aberdeenshire Council | The Aberdeenshire Local Development Plan 2023 was formally adopted on 13 January 2023. |
| Angus Council | A new Local Development Plan is to be adopted under the new system. |
| Argyll and Bute Council | The Proposed Local Development Plan 2 has been published and will be adopted under the old system. |
| Cairngorms National Park Authority | Cairngorms National Park Local Development Plan 2021 was adopted on 26 March 2021. |
| City of Edinburgh Council | Proposed City Plan 2030 has been published and will be adopted under the old system. |
| Clackmannanshire Council | New plan to be adopted under the new system. |
| Comhairle nan Eilean Siar | New plan to be adopted under the new system. |
| Dumfries and Galloway Council | Local Development Plan 2 adopted on 3 October 2019. |
| Dundee City Council | Dundee Local Development Plan on 15 February 2019. |
| East Ayrshire Council | The proposed Local Development Plan 2 has been published and will be adopted under the old system. |
| East Dunbartonshire Council | Adopted Local Development Plan 2 28 November 2022. |
| East Lothian Council | Adopted Local Development Plan 2 28 November 2022. |
| East Renfrewshire Council | Adopted Local Development Plan 2, March 2022. |
| Falkirk Council | Falkirk Local Development Plan 2 adopted on 7 August 2020. |
| Fife Council | New plan to be adopted under the new system. |
| Glasgow City Council | Work has begun on the new local development plan for Glasgow (Glasgow City Development Plan 2 (CDP2) but it has not yet been published so will likely fall under the new local development plan adoption system. |
| Highland Council | To be adopted under the new system. |
| Inverclyde Council | On 17 May 2021, Inverclyde Council published its Proposed Local Development Plan. This will be adopted under the old local development plan adoption system. |
| Loch Lomond & Trossachs National Park Authority | New plan to be adopted under the new system. |
| Midlothian Council | The 2017 Midlothian Local Development Plan. New plan to likely to be adopted under the new system. |
| Moray Council | Moray Local Development Plan 2020, formally adopted on 27 July 2020. |
| North Ayrshire Council | North Ayrshire Local Development Plan 2 was adopted on 28 November 2019. |
| North Lanarkshire Council | North Lanarkshire Local Development Plan Adopted July 2022. |
| Orkney Islands Council | Orkney Local Development Plan 2017 was adopted on 18 April 2017, likely that the new local development plan will be adopted under the new system. |
| Perth and Kinross Council | Perth & Kinross Local Development Plan (2019) was adopted on 29 November 2019. |
| Renfrewshire Council | Adoption of Renfrewshire Local Development Plan 2021 adopted 15 Dec 2021 (subsequent amendments were made to this following a legal challenge). |
| Scottish Borders Council | The Proposed Local Development Plan has been published and will be adopted under the old system |
| Shetland Islands Council | The Shetland Local Development Plan (LDP) 2014, likely that the new local development plan will be adopted under the new system. |
| South Ayrshire Council | The Local Development Plan 2 was adopted in August 2022. |
| South Lanarkshire Council | South Lanarkshire Local Development Plan 2 2021 was adopted on 9 April 2021 (subsequent amendments were made to this following a legal challenge). |
| Stirling Council | New plan to be adopted under the new system. |
| West Dunbartonshire Council | Local Development Plan 2 has bee published and will be implemented under the old local development plan process. |
| West Lothian Council | New plan to be adopted under the new system. |
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