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Friday, 9 December 2011
Wednesday, 7 December 2011
Views of 'New Town' on the A96 as seen from a viewpoint at Brackley
The 'New Town' on the A96 from a viewpoint on the A96 near Kerrowaird
A96 New Town - from a Minor Road above Fortrose
Several very interesting pictures in short report submitted as part of the latest consultation for the Highlands' 'New Town' on the A96 - views of the 'New Town' as it spreads it seems.
Click here to access report on Highland Council e planning pages
Council welcomes Scottish Government’s infrastructure plans
Extract from here
The Highland Council has welcomed the Scottish Government’s plans for substantial investment in Scotland's rail network; the dualling of road network between all of Scotland's cities, including the A 9 Perth – Inverness and the A96 Inverness – Aberdeen road; and the upgrading of the A 82 between Fort William and Crianlarich.
The Cabinet Secretary for Infrastructure and Capital Investment, Alex Neil, made the pledge as he published the Scottish Government's Infrastructure and Investment Plan, which details plans for up to £60 billion of spending right up until 2030.
Key points include:
- Transport - the Scottish Government will dual the A9 between Perth and Inverness by 2025, with a view to completing dualling of the A96 and the dualled road network between all our cities by 2030; complete construction of replacement crossing over the Firth of Forth by 2016, and invest in substantial rail improvements, reducing journey times between Edinburgh and Glasgow, from Aberdeen to the central belt, Aberdeen to Inverness and on the Highland Main line
- The plan includes high speed rail, and estimates a cost of £15 billion for completion of the route, from North West England to Scotland, with a Scottish contribution of £8 - 9 billion. Minister's will continue to press for this to come to Scotland at the earliest opportunity, although final decisions on timing and route rest with the Westminster Government
Monday, 5 December 2011
Reneging on affordable housing committments
'Planning' reports:
Leeds councillors have accused developers of using an interim housing policy the city council agreed earlier this year to renege on affordable housing commitments.
Leeds City Council's interim affordable housing policy, agreed in February, included a provision to reduce the percentage of affordable homes that developers must include in their schemes in an attempt to stimulate the local housing market.
But councillors say that six or seven developers, who before the policy was introduced used appeals to overturn refusals of their applications to build on greenfield sites, have since used the interim guidance to resubmit applications that include fewer affordable homes.
Phil Crabtree, the council's chief planning officer, said: "Councillors have become aware that some developers who have benefited from recent appeal decisions for developments with higher levels of affordable housing are now resubmitting applications with the lower targets agreed in February."
A report by the council's regeneration scrutiny board, discussed last week, said the new policy "has resulted in the majority of developers reneging on previous undertakings and providing reduced numbers of affordable homes".
The board recommended that the council's executive board should debate whether or not to reinstate the 2008 housing targets that were in place before the interim policy was adopted. A spokesman for the council said it was likely that this would be discussed early next year.
Mark Lane, a partner in the Leeds office of planning consultancy DPP, warned that the council could "stifle development" if affordable housing requirements were increased.
He said: "It's not developers being greedy. The council's own studies found that housebuilding is not viable in certain areas in the city with certain rates of affordable housing."
More here
Handover of Council houses in Nairn
The first new council houses to be built in Nairn for 16 years will soon be allocated to tenants.
8 2-bed bungalows for older people at Corsee, Nairn, have been completed and have been handed over to the Council by contractor UBC Group Ltd.
Tenants have been identified for the properties and hopefully will move in before Christmas.
The cost of the project is £770,000.
Councillor Margaret Davidson, Chairman of the Council's Housing and Social Work Committee, said: "After an absence of 16 years, it is great to back providing council houses in Nairn. The new homes at Corsee will provide eagerly-awaited accommodation for older people.
"The Nairn homes are part of a wider Council house building programme, currently featuring 202 houses throughout the Highlands. Our longer term target is to build 750 council houses by 2015."
THC web site here
Sunday, 4 December 2011
First in series of Community Engagement events
From Scottish Government web page here
29/11/2011
Planning Minister Aileen Campbell will today meet with community and other groups to discuss how to ensure communities are properly engaged in the planning process.
The meeting will focus on how involving local people in planning, especially when a project is controversial, can lead to better decisions and a more efficient planning system.
Ms Campbell will ask people with practical experience of community engagement to talk about which techniques for engaging people have worked in practice, and ways to make sure the system works better.
The meeting, in Edinburgh, will be the first of a series of community engagement events. Ms Campbell will lead similar meetings around the country in the next few months.
Following the meeting, Ms Campbell will meet chief executives of agencies including SEPA, Historic Scotland, Transport Scotland, Scottish Natural Heritage, Architecture and Design Scotland and Scottish Water to feed back the points raised with her at the engagement event, before sharing some of her findings with MSPs at the Cross Party Group on Architecture and the Built Environment.
Planning Minister Aileen Campbell said:
"Planning is at the heart of delivering the Scottish Government's goal of sustainable economic growth.
"But if we want to have an effective planning system, we must also have effective community engagement. Good community engagement can lead to better plans, better decisions and a more efficient planning system.
"I'm delighted to be hosting this meeting, the first of a series, to hear the experiences communities have had of the planning process and to find out what community engagement techniques work in real life.
"I know from experience that not every planning discussion is clear cut. But I want to ensure there is proper dialogue, so that all voices and interests can be part of the debate."
Invitees to the meeting include representatives from Planning Aid for Scotland, Heads of Planning Scotland, the Royal Town Planning Institute and representatives of community groups from across Scotland.
APTSec recently sent the following email to Ms Campbell;
Dear Minister
We have been totally overwhelmed by our experiences of planning over the last few years. One of our members was in touch with PAS recently and Mr David Wood at PAS mentioned that you were keen to find out how the new planning act was performing. For some time now we have felt that our input into the planning system is not meaningful and carries little weight. The new planning reforms have not improved matters and in fact in our particular circumstances have made things worse.
We desperately want to take a constructive part in the development of our community but feel marginalised and it is becoming increasingly difficult to find the motivation to continue. Please could you help us to find a way to restore our faith in the system and please could we send you a note of our experiences to date for your serious consideration.
Sincerely
A Ministerial visit to the Highlands to meet with the community would be most welcome.
Friday, 2 December 2011
HwLDP not quite ready says Reporters' Monthly Update
Highland-wide Local Development Plan
Reporters' Monthly Progress Update for November 2011
"Work has continued finalising the report and many of the Schedule 4 forms
have been proof read and cleared for final inclusion in the report as a whole.
Unfortunately, it has not been possible to meet the hoped for target of the end
of November for delivery to the council. Some of the issues turned out to be
more complex than anticipated in terms of the background reading needed and
the evidence before them.
The reporters are now working on the final sections of the report and are
optimistic of delivery to the council before Christmas."
THC web page here
West Midlands, 'Sex on a Stick' for Development Sites; good grief
Claims that the West Midlands is 'sex on a stick' for potential sites for a series of 'villages of the future' feature in today's newspaper round-up.
'Regeneration and Renewal'; more here
Pension funds could pay for Large Scale Schemes
The expert who advised the Labour government on its eco-towns policy has called for a new town development delivery vehicle which would use pension fund cash to buy land for proposed new large-scale developments.
so says headline in 'Planning'; more here
Thursday, 1 December 2011
Public Say on Nairn Sandown
Public to have their say on future development of Sandown, Nairn (01/12/11)
Members of the public are to have their say on a masterplan for the future development of land at Sandown to the west of Nairn.
The Highland Council has agreed that an architect-led charrette (workshop) will take place early in the New Year to allow the local community and other interests a detailed say in the design and detailed lay out of this area of Nairn, which is owned by the Nairn Common Good Fund.
A charrette is an interactive design workshop, held over a number of days, that allows the community, local authorities and a wide range of stakeholders to come together to design and develop a community masterplan.
It is a dynamic process that typically involves public launch and conclusion meetings with topic-based design workshops in between.
The design process is iterative with discussion translated into emerging designs which are presented for further debate and discussion. These principles will be applied to Sandown.
Council Convener Sandy Park said: “The result we are looking for is a masterplan informed by a wide range of views where everyone has had a chance to shape proposals. The Scottish Government is very supportive of this charrette-style working and believes it should form a central role in the design of new and regenerated places and neighbourhoods.
“The aim is collaborative working, combining technical, professional and community knowledge to create positive places. We hope the local community and other interests will participate enthusiastically and we will publish further details soon.”
-ends-
From THC web page here
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