Highland-wide Local Development Plan: history

So why are we having a Highland-wide Local Development Plan? The following is an extract from a report to a meeting of the Planning, Development, Europe and Tourism committee on 31 January 2007:

"The purpose of this report is to set out the requirements for Development Plans arising from the Planning etc. (Scotland) Act 2006 and to identify the key challenges for The Council in seeking to deliver them. The report recommends that work is progressed during 2007 on a Highland Wide Local Development Plan to replace parts of the Highland Structure Plan as well as to inform the next Scottish Executive National Planning Framework which is expected to be published in 2008. Committee approval is also sought on the principle of moving towards a coverage below this strategic level of three Local Development Plans for Highland and that the current work programme be rearranged to accommodate this.

2.1 There are a number of key challenges for the Council in delivering the Development Plans which are envisaged under the new Act. These are summarised here to provide the context to the proposals outlined in the next part of this report.

2.5 Key Challenge 2:

The delivery of a clear vision and spatial strategy for land use in the Highlands through the preparation of strategic guidance, which will fully inform National Planning Framework 2, due for publication in 2008. This exercise must be shared by our community planning partners – the Development Plan must be the land use element of the Community Plan.

2.6 As Members are already aware, the Planning Act makes no provision for the preparation of a replacement Highland Structure Plan. However Members will see from the draft Development Plan Scheme shown in Appendix 1, I am suggesting that the Committee consider the preparation of a Highland-wide Local Development Plan to deal with strategic issues across the Council area. This Plan will comprise the vision and spatial strategy for the area, as well as set out the strategic policy framework. If this is the preferred way forward, the content of such a document may include:

• Strategic Development Context in terms of Population Change, Household Change, economic prospects (linked to HIE strategy), Housing Land Supply, Strategic Industrial and Business land Supply, Infrastructure priorities

• Key Strategic Policies – Design for Sustainability, Housing, Retailing, Waste Management, Natural and Cultural Heritage, Renewable Energy, Transport priorities etc

• Key Strategic Action/Regeneration Areas - e.g. A96 Corridor, Inverness Action Areas (Torvean, Longman, Muirtown, Campus etc), Dounreay, Invergordon, Nigg, Evanton, Fort William Waterfront, etc.

• Spatial Strategy – key diagram which would form the basis of our lobbying commitments

2.7 The timescale for the delivery of this Highland-wide document will be critical given the ongoing preparation of the National Planning Framework, which is to be delivered in 2008. It is therefore necessary to start work now on an Issues Report for approval by the new Committee some time in Autumn 2007 to enable some public consultation, and to give the document some status, before ultimately becoming the formal LDP. In the interim, it could be a powerful Highland contribution to the suggested content of the National Planning Framework."

Director of Planning & Development
Date: 25 January, 2007
Author: Malcolm Macleod, Policy & Information Manager

http://www.highland.gov.uk/NR/rdonlyres/46A0B3BA-F980-4872-AC94-6F5569D159CB/0/PDET707.pdf

The dates all all askew but that might well form the subject of another post.

I am sure you will agree that it does make for very interesting reading.