BEFS has now submitted a response to the Scottish Government’s position paper on the planning review, published in advance of an anticipated Planning Bill this autumn.
BEFS has engaged with the review of the Scottish Planning system since it was launched in September 2015. The Forum has held workshops with Members, established a taskforce drawn from its membership to examine the proposals and recently held an open discussion on the research paper Barriers to Community Engagement in Planning. Working with the planning taskforce BEFS has now submitted a response to the Scottish Government’s position paper on the planning review, published in advance of an anticipated Planning Bill this autumn.
BEFS has expressed disappointment that the scope of the review has shifted from major reform to a series of procedural changes and has flagged up the inherent tension in seeking to balance greater community participation with the planning system while speeding up and simplifying decision-making processes. Strengthening regional agency is seen as desirable and the loss of Strategic Development Plans is of concern and the removal of Supplementary Planning Guidance is not supported as it can at times mitigate the unfortunate absence of local authority expertise. Extending Permitted Development Rights would likely have unintended consequences in the quality of small scale development and extending Simplified Planning Zones to include conservation areas may not be simple at all.
Reviewing BEFS Members submissions there is a shared consensus that the ambition at the outset is absent and that the opportunity for positive change is not being grasped. There is a shared refrain that warns against centralisation of decision making. There is also observation that there is a lack of integration with other policy agendas and as the National Trust for Scotland points out “there are seventeen references to housing in the position statement – but no references to landscape, or biodiversity, or amenity”. Is it a Planning Bill or Housing Bill that is being prepared?
The responses raise questions about capacity and resource to implement the proposals, for example, without additional resource the uptake of Local Place Plans will be iniquitous. Questions are also raised as to the absence of robust rationale being provided for equal rights of appeal not being explored, and criticism lack of detail on many of the proposals is also frequent.
A brief look at other published responses reveals similar concerns. The Scottish Federation of Housing Associations does not think that the proposals will deliver more quality affordable homes, Homes for Scotland says that there is a “distinct overall lack of detail” and Scottish Environment LINK is disappointed to see none of its concerns addressed in the position statement.
At the discussion on Barriers to Community Engagement in Planning there was a shared sense from community representatives and planning practitioners that as long as the success of planning was measured by speed of decision making neither meaningful community participation and quality place making can be achieved. The survey undertaken by the researchers revealed that 92% of community respondents and 59% of professionals agreed with the statement that “planning is not effective at engaging communities”. This is a stark statistic and explains why equal rights of appeal remains a background conversation that is getting ever louder and will no doubt make its presence felt in the passage of the Planning Bill in parliament.
In 2015 Alex Neil MSP, then Social Justice Secretary, wanted the “game changing review” to result in planning playing “a more positive and effective role in creating high quality places for current and future generations”. As it stands, respondents to the Scottish Government’s position statement do not appear to see this being the result.
You can read BEFS response in full, along with those of our Members, here.
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Check out the built environment related events taking place at the Edinburgh International Book Festival in August.
Sat 12 Aug 4:30pm – 5:30pm
When a major city undergoes regeneration, there are always some cons among the obvious pros. In Disappearing Glasgow, artist and photographer Chris Leslie and Professor of Architecture Johnny Rodger present a joint project exploring how Glasgow’s communities were affected by a post-war modernist experiment which destroyed slums in favour of vast tower block estates. The pair discuss why this high-rise revolution was doomed to failure.
Sun 13 Aug 11:00am – 12:00pm
When Voltaire said, ‘We look to Scotland for all our ideas of civilisation’ he was mainly thinking of Edinburgh. It may no longer be the intellectual hub of the western world, but as Sheila Szatkowski shows in Enlightenment Edinburgh, a guide to the 18th century city, it is still recognisably the same place it was in David Hume’s day.
Sun 13 Aug 12:30pm – 1:30pm
An hour of pure Edinburgh indulgence in the form of a personal journey exploring the city. For A Sketchbook of Edinburgh, Iain Fraser and Anne Fraser Sim, owners of the Elephant House café, have commissioned 150 works from four local artists to illustrate their favourite journeys through the city, and they provide an accompanying cultural, historical and architectural commentary.
Sun 13 Aug 7:15pm – 8:15pm
In St Peter’s, Cardross, architectural historian Diane M Watters and Angus Farquhar, Creative Director of the Glasgow-based arts organisation NVA, tell the fascinating story of the short-lived (1966-79) Catholic seminary that has been called both the best and the worst Scottish building of the 20th century. Derelict for years, it will soon be brought into renewed use as a cultural space. Chaired by Susan Mansfield.
Mon 14 Aug 1:30pm – 2:30pm
Our Writing the City events continue with a fascinating conversation between novelist, commentator and psychogeographer Will Self and Richard Sennett, Professor of Sociology at the London School of Economics. Taking inspiration from Italo Calvino’s Invisible Cities, Self and Sennett explore how the writer inhabits a city and how their creativity shapes the buildings around them. Presented in partnership with Theatrum Mundi.
Mon 14 Aug 3:45pm – 4:45pm
Though written in 1933, the Charter of Athens still defines how and why cities are built. The Quito Papers is an ambitious global project, led by Richard Sennett and Saskia Sassen, which is rethinking the vision of how towns and cities are built in the 21st century. Having been to Beijing, London, New York, and Cumbernauld on our ReimagiNation tour, they present their vision to Edinburgh.
Mon 14 Aug 6:00pm – 7:30pm
Scottish theatre maker Ishbel McFarlane’s Plan is an interactive performance involving a game in which you and your fellow ‘jurors’ build your own imaginary New Town. A show about utopias and refugees, Plan offers a thought-provoking spin on how countries are reshaped following conflict, and has formed a central part of the Book Festival’s ReimagiNation tour of Scotland’s New Towns.
Sun 20 Aug 12:30pm – 1:30pm
EDINBURGH’S STORY, SET IN STONE
Alan McKirdy takes the long view in Edinburgh: Landscapes in Stone, going back 350 million years to when its future site was under a very active volcano. John Peacock, by contrast, begins The Story of Edinburgh a mere 10,000 years ago, with the arrival of the first Mesolithic explorers, ending with the battles between conservationists and planners in the present.
Sun 20 Aug 6:45pm – 7:45pm
BUILDINGS THAT SHAPED SCOTLAND
How best to tell the story of Scotland’s history? A good way would be to do what Historic Environment Scotland have done – assemble a bunch of fine authors to write about the 25 buildings that have shaped this country, starting 5,000 years ago at the Knap of Howar on Papa Westray. Join James Crawford, Alexander McCall Smith, Alistair Moffat and James Robertson for a scintillating hour. Chaired by Ruth Wishart.
Mon 21 Aug 3:45pm – 4:45pm
PROS AND CONS OF A CONCRETE WORLD
Depending on your view, our modern cities are either a triumph of design or the result of architectural tyranny. Critic Tom Dyckhoff examines the radical facelifts our urban spaces have been given over the last half century and concludes that certain experiments backfired. Novelist and architecture writer Christopher Beanland explores the brutalist strand of buildings, and wonders why concrete is so controversial. Chaired by Claire Armitstead.
Wed 23 Aug 4:30pm – 5:30pm
70 YEARS OF SCOTLAND’S NEW TOWNS
Seventy years ago the New Towns Act was established, aiming to build new urban spaces with emerging industry, sanitary housing and plenty of green space. Cumbernauld is one such New Town, and for this event author and STV’s People’s Historian Daniel Gray, who played a key role in our ReimagiNation: Cumbernauld Festival in May, talks to some of the original residents about their experiences of living in this ‘utopia’.
Thu 24 Aug 7:30pm – 9:00pm
HOW CAN SCOTLAND BE A BEACON OF CIVIL SOCIETY?
The 18th century philosopher Voltaire is often quoted as saying ‘we look to Scotland for all our ideas of civilisation’. By that, he meant ‘rules of taste in all the arts, from epic poetry to gardening.’ Does Scotland retain that reputation today? How can its citizens live up to the high standards of their Enlightenment forebears? Join three speakers with different perspectives: celebrated folk singer Karine Polwart; Member of the Scottish Youth Parliament, Thomas McEachan; and technology entrepreneur Chris van der Kuyl, whose Dundee-based company led the development of Minecraft.
Sat 26 Aug 12:30pm – 1:30pm
BUILDING THE BRITISH LANDSCAPE
Cartographer, explorer and co-presenter of BBC’s Coast, Nicholas Crane has turned his hand to painting a true picture of how the British landscape came about – from the evolution of modern cities and countrysides beginning 12,000 years ago with melting glaciers and Mesolithic adventurers, to our contemporary dramas of climate change and global economics. Today Crane asks, what comes next?
Mon 28 Aug 3:45pm – 4:45pm
Green Belts serve many purposes but it’s unlikely that many of us could point to exactly where they lie. Bookseller and publisher, John Grindrod, has a personal connection to the issues revolving around these mystery zones. He delves into the creation and development of the Green Belt, uncovering a fascinating and sometimes bamboozling history.
Mon 28 Aug 7:30pm – 9:00pm
HOW CAN WE MAKE GATHERING PLACES FIT FOR THE 21ST CENTURY?
In ancient Greece, an agora was a place for public assembly; the centre for political life and for spiritual and artistic activity. Today, in a digital era when equality and freedom of speech remain fragile, how much do we need public gathering places like the agora? Join the debate with our panel including NVA’s Angus Farquhar, who is creating the New Agora as a key programme at St Peter’s Seminary in Cardross.
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This report identifies projects about or connected to heritage in Scotland that have received funding from the European Union (EU).
A research report has just been published which shows that over 280 projects received a minimum of £36.8m in EU funding in the period from 2007-2016. These figures are likely to be an under-estimate due to the methodology used. Researchers Euclid are confident that the projects are relevant to the broad definition of heritage used.
This report has been produced in tandem with similar reports for Creative Scotland and Museums and Galleries Scotland. Taking into account that some projects appear in two or more reports as they cover a range of cultural areas, the total level of funding for the culture and heritage sector from EU sources is estimated to be over £59m covering around 650 projects funded since 2007.
By way of comparison, Euclid reported earlier this year that in England and Wales, heritage focused or related projects received a minimum of £450m in EU funding in the period from 2007-2016.
The breakdown in EU funding of Scotland’s heritage projects –
£27m from the European Structural & Investment Funds:
- £23.85m from the ERDF (European Regional Development Fund), and activity
- £350,000 from the ESF (European Social Fund)
- £2.78m from the EAFRD (European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development, including LEADER) for rural based projects
£9.8m (using the exchange rate at 1 January 2014 of €0.8298/£1) from Interreg and the trans-national funds (including programmes: Horizon 2020, Interreg, Erasmus+)
Most of the relevant data has been gathered via online databases and for some more extensive databases, the initial filtering was through keyword searches. For these, a number of key words used which were agreed with the commissioning body. For HES, the agreed keywords were: ancient, archaeology/ical, battlefield, castle, conserve/ation, heritage, history/ical, monument, museum, palace, tourism/t. The researcher acknowledges that it is possible that a small number of projects may have been missed as a result of using these particular key words.
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BEFS welcomes new research on financing local infrastructure using land value capture and the potential levels of investment for the Edinburgh City region.
This report prepared by the Centre for Progressive Capitalism for BEFS, following an event looking at cracking the housing nut in Scotland earlier this year, estimates the returns from land value capture for the Edinburgh City Region over a 20-year period. It is especially timely given the Scottish Governments consultation on the future of the Scottish planning system and the challenge of housing across the country today.
The research states that the Scottish Government is right to argue in its planning consultation that actively enabling infrastructure has a critical role to play in supporting housing delivery. However, it suggests that there is a risk that the current proposals of utilising an infrastructure levy ignore both its failure in England and best practice across Europe and Asia in financing infrastructure.
The report suggests that if the Scottish Government is to be successful in actively enabling infrastructure it must start learning from European and Asian countries and implement a land value capture system instead. This would require the Scottish Parliament to amend the Land Compensation Act (Scotland) 1963, permitting public authorities to capture the uplift in land values to finance the infrastructure.
Analysis by the Centre for Progressive Capitalism suggests this would unlock around £8.6bn of additional funds for the Edinburgh City Region alone to finance infrastructure over the next 20 years. Furthermore, these additional funds would have no negative impact on the public finances.
This issue lies at the core of the housing challenge. Scotland needs to invest in infrastructure to open up new areas of land for housing to increase supply. This investment generally needs to be financed by government, but it is expensive. In most other European and Asian countries, the uplift in land values is captured by the local municipality to finance the infrastructure. But things are different in England and Scotland where it is the landowner who benefits instead.
“This begs the question of whether it is right to continue to reward landowners for doing nothing, while foregoing the precious funds the country needs to finance infrastructure to enable families to live somewhere called home”, said Thomas Aubrey, Director of the Centre for Progressive Capitalism.
“These figures can support city region infrastructure planning and provide indicative estimates of the scale of infrastructure that could be financed from land value capture”, said BEFS Director, Euan Leitch.
Based on the findings of the report, Built Environment Forum Scotland and the Centre for Progressive Capitalism recommend the Scottish Government re-examine their proposals for funding infrastructure as part of the review of the Scottish planning system.
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Historic Environment Scotland and Archaeology Scotland announce a call for contributions to Scotland’s Community Heritage Conference 2017.
Now in its sixth year, Scotland’s Community Heritage Conference is a unique annual event within the UK that offers the opportunity for heritage volunteers and professionals to network, share experiences and create future working partnerships.
To celebrate Scotland’s Year of History, Heritage and Archaeology, this year’s conference will be a two-day event, with two key aims:
- To showcase the exemplar work of community-led heritage in Scotland, the UK and beyond – both of individual projects and of wider initiatives
- To learn from community-based best practice outside Scotland
We are keen to hear from you about your involvement with community heritage, and this year are inviting contributions from both community volunteers and professionals. The emphasis, as always, will be on providing a forum for networking and the exchange of news and ideas. To get an idea of previous conferences, why not take a look at some of our previous presentations on YouTube.
For more information, please contact the team at chcscot@gmail.com or submit an abstract by Tuesday 30th May 2017.
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Insightful and colourful presentations from a range of speakers who contributed to BEFS two-day conference in Glasgow.
2017 is the Year of History Heritage and Archaeology, a celebration of what gives Scotland its unique character and draws people to live, work and visit. Caring for these assets is a collaborative effort across the United Kingdom undertaken by a wide range of organisations, from voluntary community groups to large-scale commercial development, public bodies and local and national government.
These are challenging times for public sector budgets and while the Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act creates the potential for transfer of historic assets to communities there remains a need for the commercial sector to invest in historic places. In a changing economic landscape, an era of rapid technological advancement and the need to mitigate the challenges of climate change there is no escape from the historic environment’s need for increased investment.
What are the challenges faced by the investment community in developing historic buildings? How does grant aided investment lever in additional funding and stimulate economic activity? How can local authority and public body asset management make the most of the historic environment? What makes small scale tourist sites financially viable? How are national heritage organisations approaching investment in their portfolios? How can the heritage sector help overcome any barriers?
BEFS two-day conference, organised in collaboration with Heritage Lottery Fund Scotland and the BRICK programme run by The Prince’s Regeneration Trust, explored these questions and how local communities can be at the heart of solutions. To find out more, view the presentations of our wide range of speakers across the two days:
DAY ONE
Commercial Investment in the Historic Environment
- Paul Curran, Scottish Property Federation
- Robert Moore, Trevor Osborne Property Group
- Stuart Heslop, Royal Bank of Scotland
Local Investment
- Sarah Kettles, Conservation Area Regeneration Scheme
- Alan Lodge, Townscape Heritage Initiative
- Robin Webster, Glasgow City Heritage Trust
Keynote
Heritage Asset Management
- Richard Cairns, West Dunbartonshire Council
- Stewart Adams, NHS
- Gary Brown, Brymbo Heritage Group
Keynote
- Ian Marcus, The Prince’s Regeneration Trust
DAY TWO
Heritage Tourism Investment
- Jana Hutt, Knockando Woolmill
- Martin Hulse, Dunston Staiths
- Paul Higson, Portsoy Sail Loft
Keynote
Access to Funding
- Oluwaseun Soyemi, Heritage Enterprise
- Gordon Barr, Architectural Heritage Fund
- Ailsa Raeburn, Scottish Land Fund
Funding the National Collections
- Bryan Dickson, National Trust for Scotland
- David Mitchell, Historic Environment Scotland
Keynote
- Scott McCauley, New Lanark Trust
List of delegates who attended the conference.
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Organised in collaboration with Heritage Lottery Fund Scotland and the BRICK programme run by The Prince’s Regeneration Trust, this conference will take place on 29th-30th March at the Grand Central Hotel, Glasgow.
Date: 29th and 30th March 2017.
Venue: Grand Central Hotel, Glasgow.
Organisers: Built Environment Forum Scotland, Heritage Lottery Fund Scotland and the BRICK programme run by The Prince’s Regeneration Trust.
2017 is the Year of History Heritage and Archaeology, a celebration of what gives Scotland its unique character and draws people to live, work and visit. Caring for these assets is a collaborative effort across the United Kingdom undertaken by a wide range of organisations, from voluntary community groups to large-scale commercial development, public bodies and local and national government.
These are challenging times for public sector budgets and while the Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act creates the potential for transfer of historic assets to communities there remains a need for the commercial sector to invest in historic places. In a changing economic landscape, an era of rapid technological advancement and the need to mitigate the challenges of climate change there is no escape from the historic environment’s need for increased investment.
What are the challenges faced by the investment community in developing historic buildings? How does grant aided investment lever in additional funding and stimulate economic activity? How can local authority and public body asset management make the most of the historic environment? What makes small scale tourist sites financially viable? How are national heritage organisations approaching investment in their portfolios? How can the heritage sector help overcome any barriers?
This two-day conference, organised by Built Environment Forum Scotland, Heritage Lottery Fund Scotland and the BRICK programme run by The Prince’s Regeneration Trust, will explore these questions and how local communities can be at the heart of solutions.
View the full programme here.
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BEFS Annual Lecture this year returned to the topic of how Scotland addresses its housing needs.
We invited Thomas Aubrey, Director of the Centre for Progressive Capitalism, and Alastair Parvin, co-founder of WikiHouse Foundation, to give their perspectives.
The evening was excellently chaired by Pam Ewen, Senior Planning Manager at Fife Council.
Thomas looked at how infrastructure could be funded through land value capture as happens elsewhere, necessitating amendment pf the Land Compensation (Scotland) Act 1961.
https://vimeo.com/203082834
You can read a full report from the Centre for Progressive Capitalism on Bridging the Infrastructure Gap and Thomas has agreed to model what his proposal would mean for the Edinburgh City Region. BEFS will be sharing the report when ready.
Alastair attempted to unpick the Gordian knot of housing issues, focusing on how more homes could be delivered through a number of means, particularly through co-housing and self-build. He also looked at the transformative role technology is having in the fourth industrial revolution, in construction and potentially in planning.
https://vimeo.com/203087287
The Q&A session that followed revealed an audience well versed in land and housing matters.
The following day Alastair and Thomas presented to civil servants from planning, architecture and housing divisions at Victoria Quay and to researchers and MSPs at the Scottish Parliament. BEFS is grateful to Andy Wightman MSP for hosting the latter even and it was encouraging to see cross party interest across the two days from national and local politicians. The audience for the topic was also diverse reflecting interests across heritage, volume housing building, landowners, architecture, planning, and both public and private sectors.
Was the housing nut cracked? Jemmied open, maybe. It needs political leadership to address the underlying land issues to make it affordable for individuals and communities to pursue alternative ways of providing homes in Scotland.
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Historic Environment Scotland (HES) would like to hear your views.
Historic Environment Scotland (HES) has recently published an interim policy on how it will facilitate Asset Transfer under The Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act 2015 and would like to hear your views.
The Community Empowerment Act was created to provide community bodies with legal rights, including extending the right to buy land and buildings, participation in decision-making, and the right to make asset transfer requests to public bodies for land and buildings. HES is included in the Act as a public body with delegated responsibility for properties in care of Scottish Ministers. As the lead public body for the historic environment, they also have an important role in utilising the new legislation to enable communities’ to engage with, celebrate, and protect their historic environment.
As of 23rd January, responsibilities under Part 5 of the Act – regarding Asset Transfer Requests (ATR) – came into force. In support of this, HES have published Interim Policy, Procedure and Guidance as well as their Register of Assets (applicable under the Act) on the Community Empowerment section of the HES Website, which provides further information on their role in relation to community empowerment.
Historic Environment Scotland will be seeking views on the interim policy and guidance over an eight-week long a public consultation, which opens on Monday 30th January.
Further information on how to provide your views will be available on HES’s consultation webpage next week.
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Scottish Ministers have finally published their decision to refuse planning permission to extend mineral extraction into the buffer zone of the New Lanark World Heritage Site. Are the questions raised in July 2015 by BEFS Director, Euan Leitch, answered?
Details of the planning scenario are outlined below in a previous blog but it has taken 18 months for the decision to be issued. Briefly, permission for the the gravel quarry to extend into the buffer zone of the New Lanark World Heritage Site for a period of 8 years followed by restoration was deemed acceptable by South Lanarkshire Council and Historic Scotland (now Historic Environment Scotland) in the face of local and international opposition. The Directorate of Planning and Environmental Appeals also found the planning application to be consistent with national and local planning policies and recommended approval. The Notice of Intention to refuse permission was taken while Alex Neil MSP held the position of Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice, Communities and Pensioners’ Rights, but the deision was published with Angela Constance MSP now taking up that role, albeit with Kevin Stewart MSP leading on planning issues as Minister for Local Government & Housing.
The reason for refusal by Ministers given is:
For clarity, paragraph 235 of Scottish Planning Policy under the heading of Promoting Responsible Extraction of Resources reads:
235. The planning system should:
- recognise the national benefit of indigenous coal, oil and gas production in maintaining a diverse energy mix and improving energy security;
- safeguard workable resources and ensure that an adequate and steady supply is available to meet the needs of the construction, energy and other sectors;
- minimise the impacts of extraction on local communities, the environment and the built and natural heritage; and
- secure the sustainable restoration of sites to beneficial afteruse after working has ceased.
Scottish Ministers therefore found 8 years to be too long a temporary period of adverse disruption to the World Heritage Site’s buffer zone, part of the Falls of Clyde Designed Landscape, that was not outweighed by a slight shortfall in the supply of aggregates. It should also be noted that the western extension of the quarry would not have resulted in a significant increase in employment.
The question previously asked was why the local and national government agencies were at odds with Scottish Ministers in their interpretation of national planning policies? Perhaps they are best left to answer but 8 years of disruption is a long time to a local community and in politics, particularly when there is little wider economic gain.
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Scottish Ministers have published a Notice of Intention for the planning application to extend mineral extraction into the buffer zone of the New Lanark World Heritage Site. BEFS Director, Euan leitch, looks at how the decision was arrived at. First published 6th July 2015
Sand and gravel extraction has been taking place from a site east of New Lanark on the banks of the Clyde since the 1960s and in 2012 CEMEX UK submitted a planning application to extend operations 20 hectares southwards and 22 hectares westwards. The western extension would eat into the Bonnington Estate, part of the Falls of Clyde Designed Landscape, which is the buffer zone for the New Lanark World Heritage Site.
South Lanarkshire Council deemed the proposals compatible with the strategic and local development plan policies and Historic Scotland accepted that while it would have an adverse impact upon an inventory landscape it would not impact upon the outstanding univesal value of the world heritage site. Local people, Save Our Landscapes, the New Lanark Trust, the Garden History Society in Scotland (now Scotland’s Garden and Landscape Heritage) and the UK Committee of the International Council on Monuments and Sites disagreed with these findings and asked Scottish Ministers to call-in the planning application for independant scrutiny. Scottish Ministers agreed to a call-in and two Scottish Government reporters were assigned to the case and a hearing held over 3 days in August 2014.
The reporters submitted their report to Scottish Ministers in February of this year but it has just been made public along with Ministerial direction on June 26th. The report agreed with South Lanarkshire Council and Historic Scotland:
Having regard to the provisions of the development plan, and other statutory duties, the reporters’ conclude that there is a shortfall in the 10 year land bank of minerals in South Lanarkshire, and that the proposed development would:
- contribute to an identified shortfall in the supply of minerals;
- preserve, protect and enhance the character, integrity and quality of the NewLanark World Heritage Site and its setting (and its Outstanding Universal Value);
- protect, preserve and enhance the Falls of Clyde Designed Landscape;
- safeguard listed buildings, their settings, and any features of special interest they possess;
- preserve or enhance the character or appearance of the New Lanark and Falls of Clyde Conservation Area;
- protect scheduled ancient monuments and their settings;
- not adversely affect the overall quality of special landscape areas;
- not harm flora and fauna;
- stimulate the rural economy; and
- provide an acceptable restoration scheme.
Overall, the reporters’ find that the proposed development complies with the provisions of the development plan. They considered all the material and arguments submitted (as outlined in the summaries of case) but find that none lead them to a different recommendation.
The reporters therefore recommended that Scottish Ministers grant planning permsion subject to conditions.
The Notice of Intention finds otherwise. Scottish Ministers agree that the southward extension of the mineral workings would not impact upon the setting of the world heritage site (as did the other objectors) and is in line with planning policies but:
Turning to the western extension, Scottish Ministers note the reporters’ assertion in paragraph 9.38 that even if there was to be an impact on the WHS’s setting that it would be for a temporary period (up to eight years) while operations were carried out in the western extension, during which progressive restoration would be undertaken. Scottish Ministers are, however, of the view that disturbance of at least 8 years before positive restoration in the western extension (largely within the World Heritage Site buffer zone) is unacceptable and is not outweighted by the need for a supply of minerals, which is only marginally short. On that basis, Scottish Ministers consider that development in that part of the scheme should not be approved.
The report has therefore been returned to the Directorate for Planning and Environmental Appeals “so that the reporters can advise them on what conditions or legal agreements would be appropriate in respect of a permission granted on that basis.” The option of only granting the southward extension had been considered by the reporters but they recommended that refusal would be preferable allowing CEMEX UK to apply for that seperately.
The planning application garnered substantial public interest with several thousand objections both online and through a petition, recieving extensive media coverage over the past couple of years. The outcome does raise some interesting questions: if the local authority, the Scotttish Government’s heritage agency (Historic Scotland) and the Scottish Government’s reporters (DPEA) all agreed that the planning application met with Scottish Planning Policy, the Glasgow and Clyde Valley Strategic Development Plan and the South Lanarkshire Local Plan, are the policies flawed? If not, why is their interpretation so at odds with local and international opinion? As the Scottish Government has signed off on the policies in these documents why is their interpretation also at odds with their own agencies?
Or is it just evidence that planning is political?
You can find full details of the appeal here.
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