National Planning Framework-message from the Government
Added on 15 January 2014
To all Scottish Community Councils
As you will recall the Scottish Government has been consulting on key land use planning documents – Scotland’s third National Planning Framework (NPF3) and Scottish Planning Policy (SPP). This e-mail provides you with an update on the work being taken forward to finalise both documents.
Laying of the Proposed NPF3 in Parliament
Derek Mackay MSP, Minister for Local Government and Planning, laid the Proposed NPF3 in the Scottish Parliament earlier today. As you will be aware, the NPF3 Proposed Plan is subject to 60 day Parliamentary scrutiny. This will end on 22 March 2014.
You can access the Proposed NPF3 plus associated documents such as the participation statement, environmental report, draft Action Programme, Business and Regulatory Impact Assessment and result of the Equality Impact Assessment at: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Built-Environment/planning/NPF3-SPP-Review/NPF3.
An ebook version of the Proposed NPF3 will also be available shortly.
A limited number of hard copies are available. If you are unable to download copies of any of the documents, please contact the NPF Team at npfteam@scotland.gsi.gov.uk.
The Scottish Government has undertaken a Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) of NPF3 and the Scottish Planning Policy (SPP), as required by the Environmental Assessment (Scotland) Act 2005. Whilst the Government does not consider the Environmental Report requires updating, during the period of Parliamentary scrutiny, an Annex to the Environmental Report, which updates the SEA findings, is available for comment. Further details of how to make such comments are available at: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Built-Environment/planning/NPF3-SPP-Review/NPF3/Env-report.
The parliamentary process provides a further opportunity to influence the content of the finalised NPF3. This is managed by the Scottish Parliament and further information about the handling of the Parliamentary process is available from the Scottish Parliament’s website: www.scottish.parliament.uk. You may also wish to talk to your MSP about the Proposed NPF3.
Finalisation of Scottish Planning Policy (SPP)
There is no requirement for the SPP to be scrutinised by Parliament. However, the Scottish Government has published an SPP Position Statement which provides an update on the review process and outlines the Government’s position as of January 2014 on 10 key policy issues relevant to the review of the SPP. You can find more information at: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Built-Environment/planning/NPF3-SPP-Review/SPP-Review.