The public need info too!

Extracts from the 'Improvement Service' web site:

The Improvement Service was set up in 2005 help improve the efficiency, quality and accountability of local public services in Scotland by providing advice, consultancy and programme support to councils and their partners. Our purpose is to help councils and their partners to improve the health, quality of life and opportunities of all people in Scotland through community leadership, strong local governance and the delivery of high quality, efficient local services.

The Planning Development Programme is a government-funded initiative delivered by the Improvement Service that supports training and development for staff and elected members with planning responsibilities in the 34 Scottish planning authorities. The Programme has been running since April 2006 and will continue until March 2011, providing a range of in-house and multi-authority training events and grant support for authorities to help tackle training and development needs.

Spring workshop - Development Viability:

"The workshop is aimed at planners who wish to understand how developers view potential projects and the significance of risk and return in deciding whether to implement or not. It will also assist in understanding how planning gain fits into a developer's way of approaching schemes.

This event will explain how developers decide whether to proceed with schemes including assessing viability, methods of valuing land and variables of cost and value. What does risk mean and how significant is profit level in deciding whether to proceed? What is the impact of planning gain on viability and what other variables affect profitability? There will be a number of exercises based on real life sites and participants will become familiar with undertaking simple residual valuations as used by the development industry."

As mentioned in the previous post; shouldn't the public know more about this?

The 'Cash Cow' is dead

•How do we stimulate Sustainable Economic Growth?
•How do we finance development?
•How do we finance essential infrastructure and community facilities?
•Who is going to procure and deliver essential infrastructure?
•Who is going to procure and deliver community facilities?

These are some questions posed in a presentation by GVA Grimley after they stated that:

"Development historically contributed to the funding of new infrastructure projects, schools, affordable housing and other projects through planning gain.

The buoyant market conditions that allowed these contributions to be made have gone and are unlikely to return.

Weak market conditions coupled with the inability to obtain debt finance will severely curtail the level of new development. This will have a profound effect on the future level of planning gain contributions.

In short, the current system is broken and unless changes are made, many major development schemes within Scotland will not come forward."

(Click here to read more from this presentation which is located on the Scottish Government web site.)

The Scottish Property Federation has stated that (click here):

"A key ingredient to better decision-making in the planning service must be an enhanced understanding of development viability."

It has become extremely clear to APTSec that if the right balance of development is to be successfully delivered then Government, Local and National Politicians, landowners, developers etc need to start genuinely involving the community in the planning process. It is within the highlighted groups that a change of culture needs to occur. It is important t hat the new realities of development viability are clearly understood by the public. Having a 'generous supply of land' available is not going to solve the problem.

[GVA Grimley describe themselves as:

...a leading property consultant providing a comprehensive range of property solutions to UK and international owners, occupiers, investors, lenders and developers

click here for their web site

Development Viability

Whilst the English, Welsh and Scottish planning systems have their differences, this article from the on line planning newsletter makes fascinating reading:

"Development viability has increasingly become a planning issue in recent years. This is in no small measure due to paragraph 29 of PPS3, which urges local authorities to ensure that affordable housing policies do not make development unviable."

"...developer profit is a key consideration. In normal market conditions, this figure settled at around 15 per cent of gross development value (GDV). In the credit crunch, lenders have been more demanding, with developers needing to show profits of between 20 and 25 per cent."

"In practice, greenfield sites will deliver substantially higher uplifts even with very significant levels of affordable housing and other forms of section 106 benefits. But the precise figure at which landowners will choose to release land will be down to the individual."

For full insight I recommend reading the full item which can be found here

There is also a short item from Huw Morris

"With just 1.1 per cent of the country taken up by homes, it is little wonder that land prices have gone through the roof and affordability is a distant memory."

Click here

APT at the Crossroads?

Has APT reached a turning point?

APT has built up a considerable body of work over the last 2 years with a strong core of support, but it has become clear that more effort still needs to be made. The future of APT may lie in further 'establishing' our existence, status and influence. Widening the membership may be key to the Council etc, recognising the weight of public opinion with respect to proposals for Inner Moray Firth (and within that the A96 Corridor). The proposals for the Area encompass so many places.

Like many, many other community groups we are overworked and underpaid' (so what's new?) If we cannot expand, we may not be able to go on. We must achieve more. I fully appreciate that people are actively involved in so many things, but a lot of people taking a little interest would raise the profile of the group and allow the work to continue. If this cannot be achieved then perhaps all the work we have done so far may be consigned to history. We will be holding our AGM in May and this may (no pun intended) be make or break for us.

APTSec would like to thank all our core supporters who responded with their views on the future of APT .

Latest on Development Plans

A 'Report by Director of Planning and Development' - as described below - can be found on THC web pages:

"This report outlines the content of the Development Plan Scheme 2010, including
timescales for production of the Highland wide Local Development Plan and initial
preparatory stages of the Inner Moray Firth Local Development Plan. The report also identifies key issues raised as part of the Main Issues Report consultation on the Highland wide Local Development Plan which took place between August and November 2009.

This report was presented as agenda item 12 at today's
PLANNING, ENVIRONMENT AND DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE meeting. Click here

Page 11 (of 36) covers the inital preparatory stages of the 'Inner Moray Firth Development Plan'.

Radical measures for housing policy?

To read more about "New approaches" to housing supply problems click here

APTSec has not as yet however managed to locate any further info about the Scottish Government consultation document on, 'how to meet the challenges facing housing over the next five years and beyond', which the article says will be published in May.

Visitor views needed

The blog gives APT a presence on the web but is APTSec communicating with enough people via the blog?

How many people should a blog like this be reaching?

I'd be grateful if visitors could give me some idea as to how often they visit and what items they have found most useful and or interesting.

Who lives...?

APTSec has spent a little time visiting our old 'homes' and places of work via 'google maps'. There are some places that you cannot go back to because they no longer exist and old photos have to fill the gap.

Attention, Attention!

Highland Council's planning blog reported on 11 March 2010

"As of today you can now view all responses to the Main Issues Report online by clicking here.

Each response has a cover sheet with a brief summary of the response and gives an idea of the topics covered in the response. These summaries are not intended to be a full summary but pull out some of the key themes emerging from the response."

If the above link fails click here

Several responses deal with requests for land to be considered for allocation in the HwLDP; several responses focus on renewable energy; transport is oft mentioned.

Who will pay for the houses?

So, the Scottish Building Federation* has hit out at news that Highland Council faces a 45% cut in Scottish Government funding for affordable housing for 2011-12. SBF Chief Executive Michael Levack is reported to have described the cuts as “even worse than we had feared” and described them as “another hammer blow” for the Highland construction industry. Mr Levack also commented, “But this is not just disastrous for the building sector. It will do nothing to address a growing crisis in affordable housing provision in some of the most rural and remote parts of Scotland.

How would you solve this problem? How would you ensure a land supply to provide homes for the most vulnerable in our society? How did we get into this situation in the first place?

The Shelter England web pages make some very interesting comments on this issue. It is also worth reading the comment that this item drew.

(*Click here for more details from SBF web pages)

HIE area - top of the planning approval rates ?

The Scottish Government has released the latest statistics on planning performance. Click here

It would seem - from table 13 - that Highland, Orkney, Shetland, Eilean Siar and Argyll and Bute* all have pretty healthy approval stats (Moray trails a little in comparison) as compared with the Scottish average.

It would also appear from looking at the earlier stats tables in the report that Highland receives significant numbers of planning applications. Perhaps it would be interesting to compare areas in terms of applications per head of population?

(*No separate figures given for Argyll and the Islands)

'Planning Permission in Principle' (Sandown 'spin-off')

'Planning Permission in Principle', PPP, is one of the most basic concepts in planning.

The granting or refusing of planning permission is a major part of development management. Since the latest Planning Act ‘planning permission in principle’ has replaced ‘outline planning permission’. This type of application would be used when someone wants to find out whether the principle of development is acceptable before going to the time and expense of preparing detailed plans. PPP is granted subject to conditions that the development in question will not begin until certain matters (e.g. access, design, landscaping etc) have been approved by the Planning Authority or Scottish Ministers.

However, with respect to making this type of application, paragraph 3.7 of Planning Series Circular 4 2009 says:

"It is for the applicant to decide what level of detail they wish to provide. However, it is open to planning authorities to require additional information using regulation 24 (Further Information) where necessary to determine the application. While planning permission in principle is to establish the acceptability of a proposal in principle without having to develop the detailed proposals, applicants should discuss with planning authorities any additional information that is likely to be required. This may relate to matters such as design or access, traffic assessment or the requirements of other legislation, such as the EIA Regulations."


OPSI - Planning etc. (Scotland) Act 2006 (asp 17) here

Planning Aid Scotland leaflet - Development Management here

Inquiry

I gave evidence at an Appeal Inquiry - regarding the proposed developments at Sandown Lands Nairn - last Friday and have to say that it was one of the most difficult and challenging things that I have had to prepare for.

I do not intend to elaborate on this blog as to what I thought of the process or give any views as to how I think and/or hope that my evidence and submissions will be interpreted - it shall be a case of 'wait and see' what the official view of the Reporters will be.

For further insight try the local blogs such as

A Gurn from Nurn (link on this page LHS)

or the press

Nairnshire Telegraph
Inverness Courier
The Press and Journal

Latest on Highland-wide Proposed Plan

With respect to the Highland-wide Local Development Plan, the following was revealed at the Sandown Lands Appeal Inquiry:

• (As previously mentioned on the blog) ...the findings from the Main Issues Report for the HwLDP are due to go before Highland Elected Councillors in March.

• The draft Proposed Plan will be out in May and will be consulted on from June.

• As it will be summer the consultation period will be extended and thereafter the intention is to refer the HwLDP for an examination as soon as possible.

• The best estimate for adoption is late spring next year

One thing that concerns me immensely is the agreement made at the meeting of Highland Council's PED Committee on the 18/11/09 that:

• ...all the current major development schemes in East Inverness, Tornagrain, Delnies and South Nairn (and any which are subsequently submitted) which were identified in the A96 Corridor Framework should be taken forward in the context of the ongoing Local Development Plan work and should not be determined in advance of the preparation of the Proposed Plan;

Does this mean that these major planning could be considered after the publication of the Proposed Plan but before the Proposed Plan itself has been examined?

Click here for PED meeting minutes

Click here for the relevant committee report (agenda item 7)

As always comments and discussion here would be particularly valuable

Appearance at Appeal Inquiry

>

THE INQUIRY in relation to THE APPEAL BY DEVERON HIGHLAND LTD AGAINST REFUSAL BY THE HIGHLAND COUNCIL OF 07-00188-OUTNA - DEVELOPMENT OF 550 HOUSES, BUSINESS PARK-TOURIST FACILITY, COMMUNITY USES, OPEN SPACE-RECREATION, AMENITY TREE PLANTING SANDOWN LANDS, NAIRN

Inquiry start date: 02 March 2010

Well the nerves are beginning to set in as APTSEC makes final preparations to give evidence at the above.

For those who have not seen much of me of late, perhaps a trip to this web page might give a hint as to my absence, with time spent reading what seems like an endless stream of paperwork and then adding to it by sourcing, copying and sending documentation as evidence APTSEC's Precognition . The views of all parties are presented in these web pages - Highland Council, Appellants, Local Community Councils and objectors. The Nairn Residents Concern Group NRCG, presented their 'Statement of Case' at the end of last year, and they have been working tirelessly.

The APTSEC precognition is here

No doubt the local press will keep us up-to-date as details of the Inquiry unfold and each main party states their case.

NRCG drew APTSEC's attention this morning to the following mail from the Reporters - click here