The Highland Council Planning Department Response; CONSULTATION ON AMENDMENTS TO THE MODERNISED PLANNING SYSTEM

CONSULTATION ON AMENDMENTS TO THE MODERNISED PLANNING SYSTEM

Extract

The Modernisation of the Planning System introduced a range of new procedures in relation to development planning, development management and appeals. The efficient operation of these procedures is important to ensure that the planning system is supporting planning’s contributions to sustainable economic growth.

The purpose of the consultation is primarily to seek views on a number of refinements and amendments to the procedures on development management and appeals introduced in 2009. The Scottish Government invites written responses to the consultation paper by Friday 28 January 2011.

Full Response on Council web site click here

Rules of the Game; sound familiar?

Readers may well 'enjoy' some of the comments I came across recently on the 'Planning Blog'. The English Planning System is trying to get to grips with 'Localism' and a blog post invited views on how planning rules could be rewritten - click here

Whiteness Marina; any news anyone?

APTSec is not finding much up to date info in terms of likely development interest in this major site (short of ringing up the agents and asking what progress is being made) What happens at this site may well have long term implications for development in other areas of the Inner Moary Firth.

I did however come across this:

Scotish Parliament Written Answers Thursday 17 June 2010

Robin Harper (Lothians) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive whether an appropriate assessment has been carried out regarding the marina developments in Inverness, Whiteness and Avoch, each of which are within the EU Habitats Directive designated bottlenose dolphin special area of conservation.

(S3W-34124)

Stewart Stevenson: The marina developments at Inverness, Whiteness and Avoch were approved under separate applications, under various consenting procedures and on differing timescales.

The development at Inverness Harbour was enabled by a Harbour Revision Order in 2005. An appropriate assessment was not completed as Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) advice indicated that the proposed development, subject to mitigation measures identified by SNH, was not likely to have a significant effect on the special area of conservation (SAC). The Scottish Government understands that the mitigation works have been carried out.

A Harbour Revision Order was made in November 2008 to enable Whiteness Marina Company to carry out physical works to the harbour and operate as a Statutory Harbour Authority. An appropriate assessment of the Whiteness development was carried out in January 2010 as part of the planning application approval process which specifies the number of berths permitted.

Avoch Harbour works were authorised by consent under Section 34 of the Coast Protection Act in August 2009. Advice from SNH relating to the increased number of berths proposed was that these would not have an adverse effect on the integrity of the SAC. This advice was used as our Appropriate Assessment prior to issuing the consent.

I have also come across this from September 2010

More Success For WDCS. No Marina Development At Whiteness - click here

Bypass or Distributor Road

APTSec's efforts to compose a response to the latest Highland Council consultation on the Inverness City West Link (to be submitted by 28 January 2011) are being hampered by the fact that I do not know the answer to one simple question; does this road qualify as a bypass? As far as I can tell it is phase of The Southern Distributor Road, which has been represented as a Bypass and Trunk Link Road.

Our MSP David Stewart appears to regard the consideration of this road as a bypass as important to the economy:

Extract from

Scottish Parliament

Thursday 23 December 2010

Inverness Bypass

10. David Stewart (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it has recently had with Highland Council regarding the proposed Inverness bypass. (S3O-12525)

The Minister for Transport and Infrastructure (Keith Brown): My predecessor, Stewart Stevenson, met representatives of Highland Council on 10 November to discuss developments regarding the proposed Inverness bypass as part

Col 31976

of the strategic transport projects review joint action plan.

Highland Council is progressing a study into connectivity in south-west Inverness that includes options to cross the river Ness and the Caledonian canal. Transport Scotland continues to work with Highland Council as part of the stakeholder group for that study, meeting most recently on 10 December.

David Stewart: The minister will be well aware that the city of Inverness desperately needs a bypass because of the staggering population growth in the area over the past decade. Does he share my view that a bypass would slash traffic congestion and provide well-needed stimulus to business and tourism? Can he offer any message of hope today as an early Christmas present for the Highlands?

Keith Brown: I am aware that the member is very well versed in these matters, including the circumstances of the Scottish Government's commitment on the eastern link and the council's commitment on the western link. Those options, which include crossings of the river Ness and the Caledonian canal, are out to public consultation at the moment. The consultation does not close until 28 January. I assure him that we will take a very close look at the responses as soon as we can, once the consultation process is closed.

Col 31977

Various comments in several articles in the Inverness Courier since September 2008 have also referred to the need for this section of the road to be considered as a bypass.

The Reporters conclusions** at the Inverness Local Plan Public Local Inquiry made the points:

6.58 Given the need for significant further design work, and the procedural and technical complexities likely to be encountered in this type of project, there is no guarantee that Phase V would be completed by 2011, irrespective of the route that is selected. However, a good quality link road between the A9 and the A82, around the southern periphery of Inverness, to cater for cross-city and through traffic without adding to pressures in the city centre and on radial routes, is likely to have significant traffic advantages. Despite funding uncertainties, it is also important to the overall development strategy. The HSP recognises that significant land releases at Inverness, a significant proportion of which are allocated in the current adopted plan, depend on a new river and canal crossing. Identifying and safeguarding a preferred route for the road in the plan would allow progress to be made in all these respects. The structure plan does not encourage longer-term expansion to the south-west along the A82, but refers to the A96 corridor as providing an opportunity of linking new housing to business opportunities associated with the airport and rail link to Inverness and Nairn.

6.59 The consultation exercise at the time of the CDLP resulted in a preference for Route B, by a significant margin. As the consultation documentation issued by the Council described Phase V as “a by-pass for Inverness”, it would not be surprising if respondents had understood this would be the road’s primary purpose. Paragraph 2.5 of the local plan contains a similar reference. However, while the completed road would carry some through traffic, as its name suggests, it would serve primarily as a distributor road, and extend through the built-up area on the periphery of the city.

And the Strategic Transport Projects Review made the following comments;

E6 Title of Intervention

Inverness Southern Bypass from the A9 to A82

Description of Intervention

This intervention supports the objective to reduce the conflict between longer distance and local traffic in Inverness, by allowing long distance traffic to bypass the city. It consists of an Inverness bypass from the A9 to the A82, building on the suggested link road from the A96 at Smithton to the A9 at Inshes proposed as part of the upgrade of the A96 between Inverness and Nairn (Intervention D16). The extension to the A96-A9 link road would comprise:

Upgrade to dual carriageway of the existing B8082 between Inshes and Dores Roundabout; and

New crossing of the Caledonian Canal and the River Ness (by bridge over the River Ness and either a high level opening bridge over the canal or a tunnel / aqueduct crossing of the Caledonian Canal) between Dores Roundabout and the A82 at Torvean.

Approximate Cost of Intervention £100m to £250m

Rationale for not recommending

This intervention generally performs well against the set of defined objectives but is a high cost, road based intervention which largely provides local benefits for local traffic.

The environmental impacts this intervention has on designated sites, valued habitats, protected species and water quality have been identified at the strategic level as part of the Strategic Environmental Assessment and Appropriate Assessment.

The bypass would affect the landscape of the urban fringe of Inverness and may intersect with the Torvean landform which is noted for its landscape value. There are also potential adverse effects on noise and biodiversity.

The most technically challenging aspect of this proposal is the crossing of the River Ness and Caledonian Canal which is likely to have a potential major adverse impact on cultural heritage, soils and geology. High capital costs and relatively low benefits represent poor value for money.

Highland Council has lobbied for the road as part of its representations to the National Planning Framework and a report was presented to committee on 19 March 2008 which noted:

This report provides Committee with a recommended response to the Scottish Government’s National Planning Framework for Scotland 2 – Discussion Draft (NPF2). Any comments from the Council need to be submitted by 15th April 2008. Many aspects of the Framework may be welcomed, although there are some aspects that require clarification or amendment or which would benefit from further discussion. In particular NPF2 should do more to action identified development projects in the Highlands that are fundamental to achieving its strategy. It is therefore recommended that the Council respond to the consultation as specified in this report.

And stated:

We will work with the Scottish Government and HITRANS to secure funding for the Inverness Trunk Link Road, crossing the River Ness and Caledonian Canal with a target for completion of the whole project by 2015 and the rail network to and within the Highlands.

The Committee approved the content of this report (including appendices 2 and 3) and agreed that it be forwarded to the Scottish Government (along with any other points raised at Committee) as the response of the Council to the Discussion Draft of the National Planning Framework. Reference to the 'Trunk Link Road' was included as part of the submission to include the A96 Corridor as a Candidate National Development at this time.

It would be useful to have to hand the most up to date figures for traffic flows since those available to the Reporter were stated by her to have "...assumed modest economic / population growth and that Phase V is completed during the period 2006-11"

It must surely be important to state clearly how this road is to be regarded and where the evidence is to support the classification.

[Apologies for the variation in type which I think is due to the amount of 'cutting and pasting']

**TOWN AND COUNTRY PLANNING (SCOTLAND) ACT 1997

REPORT OF PUBLIC LOCAL INQUIRY INTO OBJECTIONS TO THE INVERNESS LOCAL PLAN

VOLUME 2 CITY OF INVERNESS

http://www.highland.gov.uk/NR/rdonlyres/CDD77B9D-5B72-4A0D-A1F6-63A87DC0D637/0/vol2.pdf

NICE Work - Locals get involved in Nairn

"Following Highland Council’s publication of a draft Development Brief for that part of the town centre site for which the Council is responsible adjacent to the properties now owned by the Co-op, local Nairn residents have formed a group to look at options for the redevelopment of this King Street town centre site (more on NICE web site here).

APTSec was keen to find out how any plans that may be produced through this this new local initiative would sit within the Proposed Highland-wide Local Development Plan so I fired off a quick mail to the Development Plans Team on 21 December:

I recently forwarded my responses to the Highland-wide Local Development Proposed Plan but, even with a consultation period of 10 weeks available, found it extremely difficult to prepare a response for all the sections upon which I would like to have commented.

I note that page 156 of this Proposed Plan is a list of ‘Future Development Briefs’ and the list includes:

Nairn Town Centre - 2010/2011 - Provides an overall framework for the development of the town centre and sets out guidelines on design and other standards expected by the Planning Authority

Section 26, Page 47, Appendix 6.3 of the Proposed Plan refers to ‘Supplementary Guidance’ but I am finding it difficult to understand the statements made in this section and how they would specifically relate to the development briefs listed.

I would like to ask:

1 Given that the section 26 (noted above) states:

However, where guidance is intended to be statutory i.e. part of the Plan and used to assist decision making on planning applications, the main principles or context for the guidance must be established within the Plan itself.

Further work will be undertaken on whether the guidance will be statutory or non-statutory going forward and all statutory guidance will be presented for consultation at the Proposed Plan stage. Comments are invited on the suggested proposals for supplementary guidance.

Is it, for example, the intention of the council to establish one of the development briefs that the council has presented for consultation in Nairn as statutory guidance?

If one of these development briefs is to be established as statutory guidance did the consultation period on the brief run concurrently with that of the consultation on the HwLDP itself?

Would the statements made in Section 26 militate against any alternative development brief being prepared and presented and incorporated into the HwLDP?

Thank you for your assistance

More questions than answers?

APTSec has been having more than a little difficulty accessing the information that I feel is necessary for me to put together a response to the latest consultation on the Inverness City West Link and I seem to be finding more questions than answers so I've sent a request to the council:

Would it be possible for you to update the web site as soon as it practically possible - but certainly in time to help respondents formulate their consultation response - with some additional information to further inform the consultation process

1 Could you please state what type of road needs to be constructed e.g. a Bypass, a distributor road.

2 How wide this road need to be and what additional features may need to be provided e. g. pavements, traffic calming methods, crossing points

3 Would it be possible to show access points for walkers to existing features such as the canal or the Bught park?

4 Could you make available the minutes of the meetings that have taken place where the 90 odd options had been whittled down to five

5 Could you provide a list of the options that have been discounted with brief reasons why.

6 Is it possible at this stage to inform the public via this web site as to the likely impact on the sports centre stadium , rugby pitches, canal, Bught park, Ness Islands, Floral Hall etc of each of the options?

7 Could you publish minutes of the meetings that have been held with the public including questions that have been raised and the answers that have been provided for them

8 Give an idea as to what the criteria are that the new 5 options will be judged against.

9 Provide some historical reference regarding the emergence of the requirement for a road at this location.

10 Provide some detail as to the development plan support for the road network in this area

11 Indicate whether the various reports presented in relation to this road as part of the Strategic Transport Projects Review have been or will be taken into consideration

I make these suggestions since I believe that by providing this information the local authority will enhance the consultation process and make it more satisfying for participants.

Could the information also be made available at service points?

Just off to check the Highland Council web site

New Year; same old issues

Happy New Year to you all.


Do not worry the blog may have been silent but work has been continuing on planning issues.

Planned posts for the next couple of weeks include:


The 'Inverness City West Link'

Where next for Whiteness?

East Inverness; a statement soon from ASDA? (Grounds for Concern)

NICE work

Incinerator Plans

Where does APT go from here?

Sandown Lands Nairn

"The Highland Council has agreed to rescind, without penalty, the missives it signed with Deveron Homes Ltd over the development of the Sandown Lands, Nairn.

Deveron Homes, who entered into an agreement with the Council in August 2007, asked to be freed from the agreement after failing to receive planning permission for a major housing development on the western outskirts of the town due to the proposed density of the homes being too high.

The development potential of the Sandown site, owned by Nairn Common Good Fund, is now to be reassessed with a preparation of a Development Brief, which will take into account a public local inquiry and consultation with the local community.

A report will be presented to the Council’s Planning, Environment and Development Committee in March 2011, setting out the timescales for the preparation of a Development Brief for the Sandown Lands and the form of community engagement to be used in the process."

Extract from THC News Release web page published 17/12/10

Asda has gone to the Court of Session to challenge Highland Council’s decision...

From the Press and Journal today (thanks to APT contact for info)

Extract

Retail giant Asda has gone to the Court of Session to challenge Highland Council’s decision to grant planning permission for a £500million new town on the outskirts of Inverness, it was revealed yesterday.

Applicants Inverness Estates, a consortium of developers, plan to build 2,500 new homes, a primary school, shops, a community building including a library, a restaurant and cafe, hotel, health centre and church at the site at Stratton Farm, east of Inverness. The development would be in four phases over the next 20 years.

An Asda spokeswoman said a statement would be issued later.

Read more: http://www.pressandjournal.co.uk/Article.aspx/2057688#ixzz18OQiKWZT

Read more: http://www.pressandjournal.co.uk/Article.aspx/2057688#ixzz18O3cF3ka

The planning application for 'Stratton Farm New Town' was put in front of the full council on 15 September 2010 prior to the start of the consultation on the Proposed Highland-wide Local Development Plan.

The Policy Assessment in the committee report for the 15 September noted:

Although there is a measure of support in the Structure Plan Spatial Strategy (paragraph 1.6 of Structure Plan) the application proposals do not fully comply with the planning guidance as set out through the Specific Land Use Policies and Proposals in the Inverness Local Plan, therefore, the application is overall judged as significantly contrary to the approved Development Plan.

However, the most up to date local land use planning framework against which to assess the application proposal is set out through the Highland wide Local Development (HwLDP) rather than the Local Plan (on the basis that the Local Plan does not cover the first years of occupation of the proposed development). The HwLDP has now gone through a process of statutory consultation and is informed by community engagement and the best available information and predictive modelling. This application is therefore being brought forward and is capable of being in in general conformity with the HwLDP Proposed Plan with regard to uses, 17 levels of development and phasing once a Section 75 legal agreement has been put in place.

The extract from the 'Policy Assessment' above mentions that the HwLDP had gone through 'a process of statutory consultation', this was the Main Issues Report for the HwLDP; however as you will have noted from the previous blog post, there was still a long way to go in the statutory Highland-wide Local Development Plan process as a whole in terms of finalising the Proposed Plan - a Plan with which the application '...is capable of being in in general conformity with...'

In order to facilitate this early consideration of the planning application you may recall that councillors of the Planning, Environment and Development Committee, agenda item 9, agreed (amongst other things) on the 11th August 2010 that:

Current major development schemes at Tornagrain, Cawdor and South Nairn (and any which were subsequently submitted) which did not have adopted Local Plan support in full or in part, and which were identified in the Highland-wide Local Development Plan, be taken forward in the context of the ongoing Local Development Plan work and no decisions taken on these schemes until the results of the examination of the Plan were known; and

All proposals in the A96 corridor which had a measure of adopted Local Plan support (in full or in part) could be determined in advance of the Local Development Plan Examination in line with updated guidance in the Proposed Plan;

The proposals for the Stratton Development fell under the latter point in that they were judged to have "...a measure of adopted plan support...".

It will be very interesting to read the promised statement made on behalf of ASDA, although at the determination of the planning application on the 15 Sept the council's solicitor had stated in response to what the P and J describe as ASDA's '11th hour objection':

"Those of you Members that are on the PED committee will be aware that on the 11^th August it was agreed that the East Inverness application could be determined ahead of the Highland wide development plan examination – that’s the part of the process where objections to the plan are examined by a Scottish Government reporter. Therefore there’s already democratic governance of this particular matter. Given the decision by PED my advice to the Council is that this application can be determined today. If you decide to determine the application following the hearing that’s going to take place, this is a procedural decision and it may be challenged by any third party; but it is up to that third party to take that decision. Obviously it is for them to decide. However, I’m satisfied that the Council has grounds to defend the decision to proceed to determine the application today. Thank you, Chair"





[The Stratton proposals themselves had emerged from the A96 masterplanning exercises for East Inverness (which formed the basis of the concise strategy document the 'A96 Growth Corridor Development Framework')

Details of the emergence of the Stratton proposals can be found in the 'Update Newsletters' (see immediately below) and other information (also listed below) from the Council web site's A96 Corridor Masterplan page

Update Newsletters

• Newsletter 7 - August 2008 (1619kb)
• Newsletter 6 - February 2007 (1440kb)
• Newsletter 5 - November 2006 (1625kb)
• Newsletter 4 - August 2006 (2952kb)
• Newsletter 3 - July 2006 (242kb)
• Newsletter 2 - June 2006 (398kb)
• Newsletter 1 - May 2006 (378kb)

• Collaboration for Success Component One Invitees and Attendees
  • Attendees
  • Invitees - East Inverness
  • Invitees - Nairn South
• Options’ Output Assumptions
  • Inverness East Outputs
  • Nairn South Outputs

Inverness

• Inverness East CfS2 Assessment
• Consultants' Assessment
  • Halcrow - Technical Options Appraisal - East Inverness
  • Halcrow - Traffic Option Note
  • Halcrow - Planning Assessment
  • F.G. Burnett - Review of Options - Inverness
  • Turner & Townsend - A96 Options Report
  • Whatmore - Appraisal
• Submission Assessment - East Inverness

Questions and Answers: Part 2

Question:

If an LDP has 'emerged' as far as publication of the PP - but this PP still awaits consultation and examination - can the thought be entertained that once the PP is published then that is it and the rest of the development plan process is just a 'formality' with the likelihood of any significant alteration being made to the PP as a result of a representation being a remote possibility?

Answer:

"...there is still a long way to go in terms of finalising the Proposed Plan once it is published for consultation, particularly if representations and objections to the Proposed Plan can't be resolved. Generally, the Reporters recommendations are binding, so they will have to be incorporated into the plan. During this consultation and examination stage, it is therefore still possible for stakeholders to get objectionable policies (open space designated for housing, proposed route of a new road etc) removed from the Proposed Plan if the Reporter feels that they are not appropriate."

Important questions and even more important answers: Part 1

Isn't it amazing that after at least 5 years of being involved in local land use planning issues, carefully studying planning matters and seeking advice from many sources, the 'basics' of the planning system still seem to elude me.

Recent events have made me question the whole reason for the existence of planning as a discipline and I sought advice from a Planning Aid Scotland volunteer. I asked 2 basic questions, the first of which was:

Why is it specified that there should be a consultation on and an examination of a Proposed Plan? (What purpose do these exercises fulfill in terms of the planning process?)

The answer given was:

"...consultation on an emerging, or the proposed plan, allows for key stakeholders (members of the public, neighbouring councils, businesses (e.g. house builders), and statutory bodies (e.g. Scottish Natural Heritage and the Scottish Environment Protection Agency)) to comment on the policies contained within the proposed plan. Different stakeholders will each have different views as to how land use policy should be proposed within this plan. The comments received as a result of this consultation exercise will then be taken into account to finalise the proposed plan, which is then submitted to the Scottish Ministers. If there are still representations from stakeholders that have not been resolved, the proposed plan is then subject to examination (for all intents and purposes this is a planning inquiry). The examination will be undertaken by a Reporter, appointed by the Scottish Ministers, and the local authority have no role in determining who this Reporter will be. It is then the Reporter's responsibility to assess the outstanding representations on the Proposed Plan and ultimately report on how the representations should be taken into account (if appropriate), such as re-designating sites, policy areas etc."

The next question was:

If an LDP has 'emerged' as far as publication of the PP - but this PP still awaits consultation and examination - can the thought be entertained that once the PP is published then that is it and the rest of the development plan process is just a 'formality' with the likelihood of any significant alteration being made to the PP as a result of a representation being a remote possibility?

The answer will follow in PART 2

No more funding for Planning Aid England

Extract from Planning Daily:

The RTPI has confirmed that the government will not renew funding for Planning Aid after 31st March 2011.

In a statement the RTPI said it had held discussions with DCLG and during the meeting "officials said the government would be making available money for ‘neighbourhood planning’ for parties to bid for and that it was hoped that Planning Aid England would want to be part of this new approach."

Scotland and Wales have their own Planning Aid organisations and as far as I am aware it is business as usual with them. PA Scotland and PA Wales receive assistance from their respective Governments.

Given what APTSec perceives to be the close ties between the Scottish Government's commitment to public involvement in the new planning system and Planning Aid Scotland's role in upskilling the public to facilitate that involvement I cannot envisage PAS not continuing to receive support.

More here

Proposals for Tornagrain and Whiteness fade as Village plans gain momentum?

APTSec has been pouring over a plethora of documents as we approach the deadline - before 5pm on Friday 03 December ( Click here ) - for submissions to the Highland-wide Local Development Proposed Plan.

The more I read, the more I get the impression that there could well be a covert change of emphasis in terms of development in the A96 Corridor with a great deal more development being planned in smaller settlements.

The interesting thing is, what happens if - with lack of schools capacity and roads infrastructure restricting development at East Inverness and possible questions marks over Tornagrain and Whiteness - the key villages (and possibly other settlements) in the Inverness Housing Market Area cannot expand enough to satisfy the council's calculations in their Housing needs assessment? Will major developments in another Housing Market area, say the Nairn HMA, have to be accelerated through the forthcoming area plans?

Notes:

From HwLDP

The Council will support the development at Whiteness as part of the strategy to
provide a long term housing land supply in the area. Detailed masterplans will
accompany each phase of development in line with the current planning
permission, including provision in line with the already agreed upgrades to the
A96. The Council will also support the reuse of the site for renewables related
development, should the housing element not come forward.

Inverness, Nairn and A96 Corridor Transport Study

From 2011 to 2016, the early phases of the sites identified in the A96 Corridor
Framework were fed into the model. As set out in the Council’s Main Issues report
for the Highland wide Local Development Plan, the preferred strategy is to enable
the early phases of these developments based on adequate mitigation being
identified and provided, whether directly be developers themselves or in
partnership with the Council and Transport Scotland. The key developments
envisaged during this period include the Inverness Campus site at Beechwood, the
development of East Inverness at Stratton, small scale developments at Croy and
Cawdor, the early stages of Whiteness (where 50% of the housing is assumed to
be traditional “effective” housing and the remainder timeshare etc), and the
continued development of adopted Local Plan sites in Nairn (Lochloy and
Sandown/Delnies). The first phase of Tornagrain is assumed to start in 2016

Should councils be allowed to set application fees?

Interesting comments on this on the Planning blog today click here

What do you think?

Green Alternatives to Incineration

A little something for the public petitions committee

Calling on the Scottish Parliament to urge the Scottish Government to (a) immediately ban the construction of new waste incinerators and large biomass burners, and shut all existing plants within 5 years; (b) improve the monitoring of emissions from existing waste incinerators; and (c) accelerate Scotlands drive to reduce, reuse and recycle waste.

The content of the petition provides information on the potentially detrimental impact on pollution, climate change, public finance and non-renewable resources that burning of waste is likely to contribute to.

Petition here and background here

I have also received some interesting information on autoclaving of waste from Icare which will form the subject of a post HwLDP consultation period blog post

Icare here