Sunday, 7 August 2011

Flood – TECS to Consider Highland Council’s response to SEPA Flooding Consultation;

Transport, Environmental and Community Services Committee 11 August 2011

REPORT TO COMMITTEE

Flood Risk Management (Scotland) Act 2009

Flooding in Scotland:

A Consultation on Potentially Vulnerable Areas and Local Plan Districts

This report invites Members to approve the Council’s response to SEPA’s consultation on Flooding in Scotland: A Consultation on Potentially Vulnerable Areas and Local Plan Districts, which contains additional proposed regulations under the new Flood Act.

http://www.highland.gov.uk/NR/rdonlyres/ACB43BA3-DC0E-4FC1-99A6-EE1D1B878554/0/Item16TEC5611.pdf

EXTRACT from Report

“3. Are there areas NOT identified as Potentially Vulnerable Areas following this assessment that you believe should be designated as at significant risk of flooding

Yes.

There are a number of areas in Highland that are subject to flooding on a fairly regular basis and it is considered that they should be included as PVAs with high risk status. These are:

Dingwall and Conon

Smithton, Culloden and Balloch, significant dormitory suburbs to the east of Inverness

Kingussie which included the Secondary School

Thurso…”

Friday, 5 August 2011

Issue 18 Nairn South; subject of Latest Reporter's Info Request



Extract:

The reporters have identified that further information, as listed below, should be provided by the Highland Council. It would be helpful if you could send this information to me, to pass on to the reporter, by 19 August 2011.

Issue 18 Nairn South

On page 11 of the schedule 4 form in bullet point 4 the council refers to pre-application advice pack 10/04966/PREAPP. In the second part, section 13 is headed “Comments from outside agencies” in which there is a subsection headed “HITRANS”. Under the HITRANS heading the council says:

“In responding to The Highland-wide Local Development Plan, HITRANS made specific mention of concerns regarding the impact further housing developments in the South Nairn Area would have on Nairn Town Centre and the surrounding streets if these proceeded prior to the provision of an A96 bypass of the town.”

The list of representations on the schedule 4 does not include HITRANS. The full list of representation supplied on disc does not appear to include a representation from HITRANS.
Please provide a copy of the HITRANS response to the Highland-wide Local Development Plan.
Please acknowledge receipt of this letter and confirm that it and, in due course, the council’s responses, have been posted on the council’s website. Please do not hesitate to contact me if there is anything you would like to clarify.

Full Item here




P and J Reports Trump Group to Fight Windfarm plans

Well, this should be interesting;

Plans have been tabled for a £200million windfarm off the coast of Aberdeen which could help turn the north-east into a global leader in the renewable energy industry.

And,

George Sorial, managing director at the Trump Organisation, vowed last night to object to the application and fight it “using any available legal means in any jurisdiction”.

A must follow for all those interested in the complex debate around the use of windfarms.

Item here

Thursday, 4 August 2011

Latest Request from Reporters




Letter to Principal Planner at Dev Plans Team 04/08/11

The reporters request the following.

1. Submission of the Habitats Regulations Appraisal Record in
respect of the proposed Highland-wide Local development Plan.

2. If the Appraisal Record is not yet ready for submission, the date
by which it will be submitted.

3. Regarding tables 1 and 2 in the item on disk 2 mentioned above:

(a) particulars of any consultation with persons and bodies
(other than Scottish Natural Heritage) carried out as part of
preparing tables 1 and 2; and

(b) confirmation that the Council wishes the proposed plan to
be modified in accordance with tables 1 and 2.

However this sentence in the letter concerns me and I will Clarify this with the Reporter's Unit:

The reporters note the reference to supplementary guidance in the above extract from the explanatory note. They would observe that their examination of the proposed Highland-wide Local Development Plan does not extend to consideration of the actual content of supplementary guidance. Thus, for the purposes of the examination, it appears to them that they do not need to see this guidance.





Have you been contacted yet? Reporter's July Update



The latest on the HwLDP examination web page here


I note below the reporters' monthly progress update for the month of July and shall be obliged if this could be added to the council's website:

"The reporters' work during July has concentrated on the continuing examination of the representations and council responses to decide whether they have sufficient information to conduct the examination. A number of cases have already arisen where the council has been asked for further information in writing, and some answers have already been received. The reporters are also considering whether any oral sessions will be necessary. Initial assessments suggest only two or three issues may require such sessions. If so, potential participants will be informed in early August."

Regards etc

Mm...

...Initial assessments suggest that only two or three issues may require such sessions...

APTSec has received no letter from the DPEA requesting further info so far; I wonder how many other people have?

Wednesday, 3 August 2011

Housing Slump says P and J

From P and J

The residential property market in the Highlands and Moray suffered the sharpest decline inScotland during the second quarter of this year, a study has revealed. (Bit more here)

With so many homes still needed just how are we going to create the housing - to provide people with basic shelter and security - with the financial uncertainty predicted to continue?

Oh, and did anyone see, "The Secret Life Of Buildings" on Channel 4 on Monday at 8pm? More here


Tuesday, 2 August 2011

Farm? Allotment? Kitchen Garden? Smallholding?


A new book authored by Miami based architect Andres Duany championing the production of food in cities has been launched by the Prince’s Foundation. ('Urban Realm' here)

Prince's Foundation, Senior Fellow Andres Duany is quoted as saying:

"We will lose the campaign against climate change unless reform is conceived in a very large scale. This includes agriculture, which cannot remain the initiative of only those well-intentioned groups promoting urban gardens. Developers, those who build the human habitat, must get involved in all aspects. This book is designed to bridge modern development practice and agriculture."

More details of the Book on Amazon here

Some background here


£20 Billion Bill for Redundancy Payments?


Some 20,000 civil servants have lost their jobs in the austerity drive, but the Office for Budget Responsibility is predicting more than 600,000 could ultimately go, landing the taxpayer with a £20 billion bill.

These words form part of an article which gives details of the recent redundancy payouts made to 76 staff, reportedly some 2.7 million, after the closure of the 'Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment' - web details now archived.

A rough estimate indicates that that is less than 40K per person but BDonline gives details of senior staff receiving 6 fig payouts.

Planning also covered this.

Details seem to come originally from the Daily Telegraph with 139 comments posted

Monday, 1 August 2011

Getting Older; Where Would You Choose to Live?


Draft National Strategy For Housing For Older People: Consultation

Some interesting facts in this piece for those wondering what the future may hold. Details here

Friday, 29 July 2011

Another request letter from HwLDP Reporters appears on Examination Page

Extract from request letter (total 7 pages) dated 29 July 2011:

The Scottish Government representation (reference 324) in relation to Policy 2 of the proposed Highland-wide Local Development Plan invites the reporters to examine whether, for each instance where the plan states that supplementary guidance is to be prepared, there is a sufficiently full and clear policy objective on which the guidance is to be based. In response to that invitation, Mr Maslin has made a preliminary examination of a number of the instances in question and requests further information.

More here

Thursday, 28 July 2011

Further Info Request from Reporters


Extract from letter dated 27 07 2011

The reporters have identified that further information, as listed below, should be
provided by the Highland Council

For each issue, the parties who made representations on that issue will be invited to
comment on your (THC's)response.

And we are supposed to keep up with this how?


You will have noticed that today has been a busy day in terms of posting; that is because I have recently received a few E newsletters and bulletins full of info.

There is an awful lot to digest and I suspect it might take all of us a while to do so.

Letter to Heads of Planning setting out SG position on applications to modify or discharge Section 75 planning agreements

Letter to Heads of Planning setting out SG position on applications to modify or discharge Section 75 planning agreements

Letter here

The Potential of Development Charges in The Scottish Planning System

The Potential of Development Charges in The Scottish Planning System

The financing of infrastructure is currently a key constraint to development and the report explores the potential of development charges to assist this situation.

Extracts:

This report provides the findings of a five month research study from Autumn 2010 to Spring 2011 on the potential of development charges in the Scottish Planning System;

The Communities Analytical Services team in Scottish Government commissioned the Study on behalf of the Directorate for the Built Environment;

The Study Brief sought a review of existing reporting and practice on other development charge models within and outwith Scotland. It then required a more focused look at various models for infrastructure funding which could be applicable in Scotland, with a request for the research team to try and focus in on preferred development charges models which are more likely to function well in Scotland.

The Report comes up with 10 recommendations

More here