HwLDP examination; what's to come?

It is early days yet for the examination of the Highland-wide Local Development Plan; to get an idea of the sorts of things that the Reporter's unit asks for why not check out a couple of other Local Authority web sites:

• Mid Fife Local Plan examination page

• North Lanarkshire Local Plan examination page

DPEA Current Examinations page

It seems it may not take too long for the Highland Council's 'Examination' web page to fill up with requests for info - and details of hearings?

No right to be heard

The examination will be led by the Reporter, and neither the objector nor the planning authority have a right to be heard at a public local inquiry;

Recent changes to the Planning Act require planning authorities to prepare local development plans for their area. These are to replace the previous local plans.

If representations have been made to the planning authority about the plan and any matters of dispute have not been resolved, the planning authority must submit the plan to the Scottish Ministers for examination.

Ministers will appoint a person, or persons (normally Scottish Government Reporters), to carry out the examination.

The arrangements for the examination will be made by the Directorate for Planning and Environmental Appeals.

The main features of the new process are:

• The planning authority will be expected to submit, at the outset, all the material necessary for the examination, including a summary of the unresolved issues arising from the unwithdrawn objections;

• The Reporter will decide how to conduct the examination and, for each issue, whether s/he requires further information;

• The examination will be led by the Reporter, and neither the objector nor the planning authority have a right to be heard at a public local inquiry;

• For most issues, no further information should be required, but if it is, the Reporter will decide who will be asked to provide it;

• A written submission setting out the information requested should usually be sufficient;

• The Reporter may decide to hold a hearing if that is needed to explore the information further, and will decide who to invite to participate in the discussion at the hearing;Only exceptionally will an inquiry session be necessary to test the information through cross-examination;

• The Reporter will submit a report of the examination to the planning authority, containing his or her conclusions and recommendations on each issue; and

• Any modifications to the plan which are recommended by the Reporter will generally be binding on the planning authority.

Web page here

Examination update HwLDP - update

Planning asked to provide coloured copies of Maps more here

General Page here

Community Council Financial arrangements

Extracts below from Report here which is to be presented to councillors at the next meeting of the Highland Council. Members will be asked to approve principles and select options

The total budget for Community Councils is £207,413 with an average grant settlement of £1,347, however this varies considerably. Appendix 1 sets out the current funding levels of Community Councils. The current arrangements date from 2002 when an attempt was made to equalise funding across Community Councils. This was unsuccessful and the current formula has not been reviewed since this time. Anomalies therefore exist in relation to funding levels both across and within wards.

It is recommended that new funding arrangements, based on either option 1, 2 or 3, are in place for Community Councils from the beginning of the financial year 2012/13. The arrangements will be based upon the principles set out in section 3.1 and section 4. It is recommended that the implementation of these arrangements be staggered over a two year period




NB there is also an item on CC Elections

Scotland's Six Cities

Scotland's Six Cities

"A Shared Vision for Scotland's Success"

Councillors will be asked to agree the key priorities for the City of Inverness and Region at the next Highland Council meeting*. These priorities are as set out in section 3 of the Report here and include:

The Beechwood Campus;
A96 Corridor Development;
Scottish Open in July - tourism;
Centres for excellence in Health Sciences;
Air Links through Inverness Airport;
Trunk Road Network with A96 Corridor development heavily dependent on developer contributions and Government investment;
Broadband;
Renewables;
Inverness City Centre Development Brief - along with others as part of ICV

*A meeting of The Highland Council will take place in the Council Chamber, Council Headquarters, Glenurquhart Road, Inverness on Thursday, 23 June 2011 at 11.00am (or following the Special Joint Meeting with the NHS Highland Board – whichever is the later)

HwLDP Examination latest

On 4 May 2011 The Highland Council submitted the Proposed Highland wide Local Development Plan to Scottish Ministers for examination. The Scottish Ministers appointed Mr Trevor A Croft BSc Dip TRP ARSGS FRSA MRTPI, and Mr Malcolm Mahony BA(Hons) MRTPI on 18 May 2011 to carry out the examination of the Highland wide Local Development Plan 2010 in accordance with Section 19(3) of the amended Town and Country Planning Scotland Act 1997. Additional Reporters may be appoint to support the delivery of the report.

Please note that on 10 June 2011 Mr Robert W Maslin BA DipTP MRTPI was appointed as an additional reporter to carry out the examination of the Highland wide Local Development Plan 2010.

More Here

The latest DPEA information relating to the Highland Wide Local Development Plan Examination

1. Letter from DPEA re: Conformity Statement (1 June 2011)
2. Highland Council response to DPEA Letter re: Conformity Statement (9 June 2011)
3. Letter from DPEA confirming commencement of HWLDP Examination following confirmation of Participation Statement compliance (15 June 2011)