The Planning (Scotland) Act made significant changes to the development planning system in Scotland, including:
- The National Planning Framework to incorporate Scottish Planning Policy and form part of the development plan.
- Removing the requirement to prepare Strategic Development Plan’s with the introduction of Regional Spatial Strategies.
- Introducing a longer 10-year review cycle for development plans, rather than 5 years.
- Requirement to prepare an Evidence Report at the outset of plan preparation which would be subject to a ‘Gatecheck’.
- Removal of the Main Issues Report stage.
- Removal of supplementary guidance (from April 2025).
- Shorter plan preparation phase (around 3-4 years).
- Potential for local communities to prepare new Local Place Plans.
National Planning Framework 4 (NPF4) was approved by the Scottish Parliament and published in February 2023. This national spatial strategy for Scotland now supersedes the previous National Planning Framework 3 and Scottish Planning Policy (2014). It now forms part of the Development Plan in Angus.
Secondary legislation setting out the new local development planning regulations came into force in May 2023 and the accompanying guidance provides further detail on development planning in Scotland.
There are also legislative changes to the DPS and PS which requires a different type of DPS and PS to be prepared - requiring greater detail on what is involved at each stage of the plan preparation within an accurate timetable. The PS is required to take account of the views of the public as to when engagement and consultation will take place, with whom and detailing the methods of engagement and consultation that could be used. Therefore, the DPS and PS are required to be informed by engagement and consultation with people and organisations before being adopted by the Council.
The DPS and PS also sets out the programme for work on Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) and other appraisals/assessments, including Habitats Regulations Assessment (HRA) and the Public Sector Equality Duty Assessment associated with the LDP. Additionally, there are requirements within the legislation to identify and justify any changes to timetabling from the previous DPS.