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)

Where will it end?

From Chris Brown's blog:

"The strange war between Vince Cable and Eric Pickles is currently being waged on various battlefields. The proposal, currently out for consultation, to amend the Use Classes Order to allow offices, factories and warehouses to be turned into housing is one of these battles."

The post continues;

"Savills recently reported that residential land was the most viable land use..."

"Behind these proposals we can see..."

"We do seem to have passed well beyond the era of evidence based policy making ..."

Read item in full here

New Look Scottish Government Web site

Scottish Government



See also Scottish Parliament web site here

Road consultations

Three further options to be analysed for Inverness City West Link



Plus announcement of consultation:

Dingwall Kinnairdie Link Road project consultation

Urgent review of fire prevention building standards called for

The Chairman of The Highland Council’s Planning, Environment and Development Committee is calling for the Scottish Government to urgently review the recent changes to building legislation regarding water supply for fire fighting which are having a serious detrimental effect on housing development in the Highlands.

A new mandatory building standard requires every new house to have a water supply for fire fighting and this will add to the construction costs. Previously domestic buildings were exempt from complying with this standard.

Councillor Ian Ross said: “There has been no consultation with local authorities over this change and while no one wants to be complacent about the risk of fire, we also need to ensure that people looking to build their homes in rural locations are not burdened with onerous costs. Due to the geography of our area this issue is important as it impacts on so many people at a time when we are actively promoting development in the countryside through our Development Plan.

Text from HC press release here

What will the Reporter say!

Planning authorities are required 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.

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 appointed to support the delivery of the report.

The Government Notice of the Appointment of the Reporters states that:

"...in order to comply with Section 19(7) of the Act, the examination will not commence until four weeks from the date of the appointment which is the 18 May 2011."

It seems that details of the progress of this Examination will only be available through the local authority web pages.

Who's Who in Government Planning

Just click here and here

GROS and National Archives of Scotland merge

From 1 April 2011, the General Register Office for Scotland merged with the National Archives of Scotland to become the National Records of Scotland (NRS).

The GROS website will remain active until it is replaced in due course by a new website for NRS

Could something similar happen in Scotland?

There is growing criticism of what is being regarded as the British Government's 'cash for permissions' measure.

RTPI president Richard Summers is quoted in an item from the latest 'Planning' daily e newsletter as saying:

"Ministers said very clearly barely twelve weeks ago that the New Homes Bonus would not be used to influence the granting of planning permission for development that would not normally be accepted.

"We are appalled to find now that the Government is trying to introduce such a fundamental and potentially damaging change to the planning system without any consultation at such a late stage in the passage of the Localism Bill.

Planning explains that these comments were in response to an amendment :

unveiled yesterday, which would change Section 70 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 (determination of applications for planning permission: general considerations). Section 70 details the grounds on which a planning application should be considered by local planning authorities, and the amendment adds a new consideration to make "any local finance considerations" material to an application.

The amendment was introduced following concern that the Government’s flagship New Homes Bonus policy, which aims to incentivise the building of new houses for local authorities, would be open to legal challenges if town halls made planning decisions based on financial incentives.

Could something similar happen in Scotland, with local authorities being asked to make development viability a material consideration? Could cash incentives be offered to Local Authorities?

For more information on Scottish Policy see here and here

How are MSPs elected and what do they do?

If you've ever wondered

How are MSPs elected and what do they do?

Then follow the link here

There is an interesting section on:

How do MSPs deal with issues raised by members of the public?

A constituent has the right to expect one of their MSPs to take on a case or query. However, it is up to the MSP to decide how best to deal with it.

MSPs may choose to deal with an issue in a number of ways, including:

(click on link above to read further)

Cash for Sprawl; undermining the role of planning?

Concerns are being expressed via various on line sources (I first came across this via my daily RTPI Planning newsletter) re Eric Pickles latest moves regarding the localism bill south of the border:

From the 24dash.com* web pages

A fundamental principle of the planning system will be undermined with long term and hugely damaging consequences for local communities and the environment, the Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) has claimed.

Prompted by legal concerns first highlighted by CPRE, Communities Sectary Eric Pickles has taken the 'shocking and controversial step' of tabling an amendment to the Localism Bill that would allow councils to accept government money for saying ‘yes’ to development.

Legal advice obtained by CPRE last year suggested that by linking the outcome of planning decisions to un-ring fenced financial rewards, as outlined in the Government’s flagship housing scheme the ‘New Homes Bonus’ (NHB), any decision taken would be legally ‘tainted’ and open to question.

According to the campaign group, Pickles’ amendment, to be debated in the House of Commons next week, aims to skirt this legal constraint and reward local councils for making pro-growth decisions – regardless of whether development is in line with the local plan or environmentally sustainable.

Neil Sinden, Director of Policy for CPRE, says: “This amendment is a brazen attempt to legalise cash for sprawl. Many may have criticised the UK planning system in the past, but at least decisions were, on the whole, made on merit and not money.

“Councils are currently facing hard financial choices. In these circumstances it is very tempting to seek to fill shrinking coffers by permitting any development, regardless of its environmental impact or the views of local communities.

"But decisions based on financial benefit, rather than on whether proposed development is appropriate, could be hugely damaging to the environment and public confidence in planning.

"It also undermines the fundamental principle that planning decisions should be in the long term public interest, taking account of land use consequences.”

The Town and Country Planning Association (TCPA) said the move was a 'major change' to the way local councils make planning decisions.

It said the last minute amendment to the Bill, which was not subject to any consultation, makes direct payments by Government a key consideration in deciding on planning applications.

Dr Hugh Ellis, TCPA Chief Planner said: “While the Government claims this is a minor change to reinforce the New Homes Bonus, in fact it means direct cash payments will become the first amongst equals of considerations for new development.

"This, along with other measures announced in the Budget, risks further undermining the role of planning which is to deliver sustainable development in the wider public interest.”

24dash.com* web site states:

24dash.com is the UK's most up-to-date Social Housing and Public Sector news website, combining national coverage from the Press Association and our team of professional journalists with press releases loaded direct by housing associations, local authorities, charities and other relevant organisations.

Urgent call to prevent loss of Environmental Legislation

This just arrived via email and it is strong stuff.
(I have been a a regular recipient of the CIWEM e newsletter for some years now.)

CIWEM describes itself as:

Working for the public benefit for a clean, green and sustainable world, CIWEM (The Chartered Institution of Water and Environmental Management) is the only independent, chartered professional body and registered charity with an integrated approach to environmental, social and cultural issues.

"Dear Contacts,

The Coalition Government, under its ‘Red Tape Challenge’ are asking people to tell them what ‘red tape’ is unnecessary and in response the Government will ‘reduce the burden of regulation’.

All our environmental regulation and legislation is individually listed on the red tape challenge website and is open to this process and unless you respond to the call for comments using the link below as a concerned individual, the protection of our environment is seriously under threat.

This email is a call to action for CIWEM members and contacts and we implore you to add your comments.

The Government’s view is ‘regulations and the inspections and bureaucracy that go with them have piled up and up….this has hurt business…’.

The CIWEM view is that we need to be working towards a clean, green and sustainable world and effective, strong environmental legislation is crucial rather than a hindrance to business that needs to be removed. As noted in a recent CIWEM press release, we are utterly opposed to ‘asset stripping the environment’.

Please use the link below and enter your comments in the environment section or under specific parts of the environment section. Please enter your comments as ‘I am commenting on my own behalf’ and CIWEM’s Policy Team will also send responses from CIWEM.

http://www.redtapechallenge.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/environment

It is utterly essential that you respond and pass this email to others you know so they can comment.

Regards,

Justin Taberham
Director of Policy
CIWEM"

A82 Priority Upgrade

From Highland Council Press Release

The upgrade of a 10-mile stretch of the A82 between Tarbert and Inverarnan in Argyll has been identified as the key priority in the campaign to make the trunk link between Inverness and Glasgow safer.

A high level meeting of interested parties this week identified the urgent need to commission a strategic route alignment study at an estimated cost of £200,000.

This upgrade would see the road widened to 6 metres and includes edge strengthening to accommodate heavy goods vehicles/buses.

The meeting at the Bridge of Orchy Hotel on Monday was called and chaired by The Highland Council Leader, Councillor Michael Foxley. Also in attendance were senior representatives of the Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park Authority, Transport Scotland. Argyll & Bute Council and Hitrans .

Councillor Foxley said: “We had a very good meeting indeed and we have agreed a positive way forward to improve one of the most dangerous roads in Scotland.

“We have identified the tortuous stretch of road between Tarbert and Inverarnan as the priority for action by upgrading the existing line.

“I was delighted that the National Park Authority said they intend to withdraw their objection to the proposed improvements at Pulpit Rock if we take on board the environmental sensitivities involved in the design of the upgrade, including lay-bys, cycle tracks and structures. They are very keen to see an indicative line for them to identify very sensitive areas of shoreline or woodlands.

“Each agency has agreed to contribute funding towards the design contract.”

Councilllor Foxley hopes soon to meet the new Transport Minister about this project.

Councillor Brian Murphy, Vice-Chairman of the TEC Services Committee, said: “The meeting was a very positive one, and reaching agreement on the priority for upgrading this road is an important step forward. Hopefully, we will now see early progress in awarding a design contract.”