Next round of consultation on Scottish planning reform begins

It is, however, "minded to propose a statutory link between development planning and community planning" in any future legislation, and intends to press ahead with plans to replace regional-level strategic development plans with "more flexible" arrangements, according to a 'position statement' published in response to its January consultation on planning reform.

Planning law expert Gary McGovern of Pinsent Masons, the law firm behind Out-Law.com, said that the Scottish Government appeared to be taking feedback on its proposals into account. It has now begun a further consultation, on the contents of the position statement and its likely environmental impacts, which runs until 11 August 2017.

"There remains little detail on what are arguably the four key planks and most controversial proposals: flexible regional partnership arrangements in place of strategic development plans; ten-year development plans; local place plans; and the infrastructure levy," McGovern said. "The overall effect of the proposals therefore remains hard to gauge."

"But there are welcome signs that the Scottish Government is listening and prepared to change course in the face of clear evidence – for example, it is positive that they decided not to take forward the proposal to remove or limit the ability to modify or discharge section 75 agreements – suggesting there is still scope to seek to shape the proposals," he said.

Local government and housing minister Kevin Stewart said that the government's intention was "to take forward changes that make a real difference to planning in Scotland - ensuring we have a system that can deliver the quality homes, buildings and modern infrastructure we need to make great places in the future".

The position statement provides a response to, and builds on, the 20 proposals for change to the Scottish planning system published for consultation in January. As well as confirming its intention to remove and replace strategic development plans, the statement also confirms the Scottish Government's intention to move to a 10-year development plan cycle and to introduce a form of neighbourhood-led planning, known as 'local place plans', despite concerns raised during the previous consultation.

The Scottish Government has dropped a number of its proposed changes to the planning appeals system following the consultation. For example, it has dropped proposals to change the legislation so that more decisions are subject to local review bodies rather than appeal to the Scottish ministers. It has also dropped plans to introduce fees for lodging either reviews or appeals, and no longer intends to pursue a proposal for ministers, rather than reporters, to take decisions more frequently.

Legislative changes will be brought forward to refresh and rebrand simplified planning zones (SPZs) and allow them to be progressed in a wider range of circumstances. Scottish ministers may also have the power to direct that an SPZ is established in the national interest, according to the statement. The Scottish Government intends to continue to explore the case for introducing an infrastructure levy despite concerns raised in the previous consultation, but is no longer minded to make changes to the procedure for modifying 'section 75' planning obligations.

"Developers will in one sense breathe a sigh of relief that a series of suggestions on more cases going to ministers, more to review bodies and revisiting third party appeals have been dropped," said planning law expert Craig Connal QC of Pinsent Masons. "On the other hand, there will be a depressing feeling of 'déjà vu' that some of the proposals are at best tinkering around the edges and even that will be some way off in time."

"What is worse is that the policy statement contains no significant moves to deal with delay in the release of land for housebuilding, which was one of the original ideas that prompted a fresh look at planning policy in the first place. These developments still lack the 'push' needed to overcome inertia and 'nimbyism' if the statistics are to tell a better story in the future," he said.

Gary McGovern noted that there was no mention in the paper of an expected timetable for the introduction of new legislation, which he said "may suggest the original timetable to introduce a Planning Bill this calendar year may slip".

"However, the position statement does confirm that the next, and potentially enhanced, versions of the National Planning Framework and Scottish Planning Policy will be delayed by about 6-12 months, and will not now be adopted before 2020," he said.