Public crushed by weight of planning

APTSec has just received another Scottish Government 'Planning and Building' on-line newsletter and it is getting more and more difficult to keep up with what is going on.

Top of the list of items is the news that the Scottish Government has launched a 'Charrette Mainstreaming Programme' aimed at embedding charrette working at the heart of designs for new and regenerated places across Scotland. More on this in later posts

There is now a new Planning Advice Note dealing with Planning and Noise. This provides new advice on the role of the planning system in helping to prevent and limit the adverse effects of noise. It supersedes Circular 10/1999 Planning and Noise and PAN 56 Planning and Noise. Information and advice on noise impact assessment methods is provided in the associated Technical Advice Note

As of February 1, 2011 significant changes have been made to section 75 of the 1997 Planning Act, introducing a formal process for modifying or discharging section 75 obligations and introducing good neighbour agreements. Guidance has now been published on these changes as an Annex to Circular 1/2010.

For those APT followers who sent in their views there is a 'Partial Analysis of Responses to the Amendments to the Modernised Planning System consultation' available here

Parliamentary consideration will be required for the following regulations:

The Town and Country Planning (Miscellaneous Amendments) (Scotland) Regulations 2011These Regulations amend the regulations on Development Planning , Development Management, Appeals and Local Reviews. Subject to Parliamentary consideration, most of the changes will come into force on April 1, 2011 and a new requirement to consult with the Crofters Commission will come into force on October 1, 2011.

The Town and Country Planning (Environmental Impact Assessment ) (Scotland) Regulations 2011
These Regulations consolidate, update, and replace Part II of the 1999 EIA regulations. Subject to Parliamentary consideration, the regulations will come into force on June 1, 2011. Associated guidance will be published in the future. There are no transitional provisions.

The Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) (Non-Domestic Microgeneration) (Scotland) Amendment Order 2011
This Order amends the Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) (Scotland) Order 1992. Subject to Parliamentary consideration, the regulations will come into force on March 18, 2011. Classes of permitted development referred to include; solar panels; the pipework for ground and water source heat pumps; biomass and anaerobic digestion plant

A good read

An interesting piece on Urban Sprawl which I really enjoyed reading

http://regenbrown.wordpress.com/2011/02/26/urban-sprawl-political-issue/

The right house in the right place?

Interesting item here from 2008

The report, Home Economics: How Housing Shapes City Economies, recommends that cities should plan new housing supply based on a better understanding of the demand from local people. Local authorities should collaborate across boundaries to address ‘real' economic areas, rather than working in isolation. And cities should work together with local employers and house-builders, to make sure that the right houses are built in the right places.

More here

Not all doom and gloom?

Skills and training organisations throughout the Highlands and Islands are to benefit from a multi-million pound boost to the region's economy.

Thirteen projects, worth £10.1 million in total, across Orkney, the Western Isles, Argyll and Bute and the Highlands will offer a range of courses aimed at providing the skilled workforce needed to protect and strengthen economic recovery in the region.

Announcing the European Structural Fund (ESF) package, Skills Minister Angela Constance said:

"This crucial funding boost will support those in the Highlands and Islands who are unemployed, particularly young people, low paid or disadvantaged to improve existing skills and develop new ones to help them into sustainable, rewarding jobs.

More from this Scottish Government Press Release here

Bypass update

I have just recieved a standard response to my very long submission to this consultation

Dear Sir/Madam

INVERNESS CITY - WEST LINK ROAD PROJECT
PUBLIC CONSULTATION

Thank you for taking the time to consider our proposals and for submitting a comment on the
Highland Council’s options for the Inverness City - West Link Road Project.

The Council’s project team comprising officials from TEC Services and Planning and Development will now review your comment along with all other comments received.

If you have asked a specific question, it is my intention to respond to you after I have looked into the issue and have had the opportunity to consider it further.

I can advise you that your views will be taken into account as the Council assesses the feedback from the public consultation.

I will write to you again in due course and I would thank you for your continued interest in this project.

Concerns remain still; The letter from the Council gives no indication that my views or the views of others will be presented in any open and most importantly widely publicised forum, therefore, my main concern remains that the responses to my (or any) questions will not be made widely available and the public will be denied an opportunity to participate meaningfully because of a lack of genuine clarity surrounding the issues.

Scottish Environment Week

Scottish Environment Week is organised by Scottish Environment LINK

Theme: Active Citizens and the Scottish Environment

(Thanks to sponsors Scottish Natural Heritage, Historic Scotland, the Scottish Council for
Voluntary Organisations and Calor Scotland.)

Click here for programme