SCDI calls for more reform in planning laws

Economic development group says reform must continue, despite new law

News, 20 October 2006

The Scottish Council for Development and Industry (SCDI) is calling for further sweeping changes to Scotland's planning system, The Press and Journal reported today.

The economic development group said current proposals did not go far enough. The comments came in a report, Change in the Planning System Beyond the Planning Bill, looking at what should follow the change in law.

It concludes that key strands of implementing the new proposals will necessitate a change of culture by all those involved and the allocation of more resources to planning authorities, the newspaper said.

In the report, the SCDI says: "The Scottish Executive's proposals are built around a vision that effective consultation will reduce the tensions within the planning system. At the heart of this vision are new development plans which engage both developers and the public in constructive debate about development needs and options."

The SCDI said, however, that the ambitions lying behind the proposals would only be realised if there was widespread support for their subsequent implementation. It said the Planning Bill was potentially a major step forward in achieving the Scottish Parliament's economic, social and environmental objectives, and urged MSPs to support the new legislation.

It said four aspects of the document were particularly important to improving the planning system.

These were: the proposed new national planning framework, with fast-tracking of major government-partnered infrastructure projects; a more streamlined development process involving effective public participation before planning applications are decided; the new statutory duty on councils to update development plans every five years; and the bill's rejection of third-party rights of appeal.

The executive has rejected the third-party right of appeal in favour of a new statutory requirement for greater public involvement at every stage of the process. If a planning application is refused under the new legislation, an applicant can appeal, but the same right will not be extended to objectors if a controversial development has been approved by councillors.

A coalition of environmental groups called on MSPs recently to introduce a third-party right of appeal, claiming its absence would result in a planning system weighted heavily in favour of applicants, the newspaper reported.