New structure
Development planning is part of the statutory requirements for the plan-led system in Scotland in order to “manage the development and use of land in the long-term public interest”. This process allows for allocation of land for sustainable development which is responsive to the local context and considers a wide range of areas and factors to provide a strategic vision for the future. Therefore, the Council are required to publish a Local Development Plan for Angus to direct and influence future development.
As stated in Section 2, Development Plans now include National Planning Framework 4 (NPF4) prepared by the Scottish Government and each Local Authorities’ Local Development Plan (LDP) as the main statutory planning documents. As a result, planning applications in Angus are being determined against NPF4 and the Angus Local Development Plan (ALDP 2016).
Although the Angus Local Development Plan was adopted in 2016, it was meant to be replaced within 5 years from the date of its adoption. However, the Council decided to prepare their next LDP under the requirements of the new planning system set out in the Planning (Scotland) Act 2019. Significant delays in the new planning system coming forward, alongside the COVID-19 pandemic, greatly impacted the LDP preparation timescales in recent years.
The new planning system requires LDP’s to move to a 10-year lifespan. Therefore, the next Angus LDP will cover a 10-year period from 2029-2039, with an overall vision looking 20 years ahead to 2049. This will allow for more time to focus on delivery and implementation of the plan while establishing longer-term objectives.
Further changes to the planning system have seen the removal of the Tayplan Strategic Development Plan from the Development Plan in Angus. As a result, Tayplan is no longer in existence and has no influence on planning decisions in Angus.
In addition, Tayplan is to be replaced with a Regional Spatial Strategy. Although not published yet, a full Regional Spatial Strategy will be created for the Dundee, Perth and Kinross, and Angus areas to provide strategic planning context across the Tayside region. Although not a statutory requirement, it will be a document which must be considered by the Scottish Government and the Council respectively when amending or preparing the next NPF or LDP. An indicative Regional Spatial Strategy for the Tayside region was submitted to Scottish Government in early 2021, outlining the vision, priorities, and strategic projects/outcomes throughout the region. This indicative Regional Spatial Strategy also informed NPF4. Whilst initial discussions with adjoining Council’s in the Tayside area have taken place, further, more detailed work on preparing the Regional Spatial Strategy is expected to commence once statutory guidance has been published by Scottish Government. The anticipated timescale for publication of this guidance is early 2024.
Local Place Plans (LPPs) are community created plans which will help to provide rich information bases for the Evidence Report and LDP preparation. They are prepared by constituted community bodies to showcase the changes and development they would like to see in the future for their areas. The Council is required to register LPP’s when they are submitted and have been considered to meet the requirements of the LPP legislation. LPPs can only be considered in the LDP process when they have been registered with the Local Authority. Once registered, LPPs must be taken into account during the preparation of the LDP. This will allow communities to become more involved in the planning process and provide opportunities to encourage change in their local area. LPP’s can also, where justified, state that the LDP is required to be replaced by a new LDP.
Implementation and Delivery of Angus Local Development Plan (2016)
As previously noted above, the current LDP for Angus was adopted in 2016 and forms part of the statutory Development Plan alongside NPF4. The ALDP (2016) is still part of the Development Plan for Angus and will still be used in the assessment of planning applications. However, where there are differences/conflicts between the policies in NPF 4 and the ALDP (2016), legislation states that the newer Plan will take priority, which in this case is NPF 4. This will be the case for the next few years until such times that the ALDP (2016) is replaced by the new Local Development Plan for Angus. The weight to be applied to ALDP (2016) policies will be made on a case-by-case basis by the planning officer assessing the planning application.
The most recent Action Programme for ALDP (2016) was approved in November 2022. The Action Programme provides information on the implementation of the Plan and the current delivery of sites allocated within it, which are monitored through annual audits, data analysis, and other surveys.
The next Action Programme update for the 2016 ALDP will be published in December 2024 to provide further progress. However, due to the changes implemented by the new planning system, any current Action Programmes will have to follow transitional arrangements on review, becoming a Delivery Programme instead, and following the new legislative requirements in that regard.
What are we doing now?
The timetable contained within this document outlines how, where and when we are planning to carry out the various stages of preparation and publication for the new LDP. The current workload for the new LDP is focussed on the preparation of the Evidence Report, including the gathering of information and data from key agencies or publicly available sources, which will provide a baseline for moving forward. Within this evidence gathering, key agencies such as Historic Environment Scotland, SEPA, SSEN, and many others have been contacted to provide up-to-date data on the relevant topic area to allow the Council to evaluate and analyse what that means for Angus and what the Proposed Plan requires to look into or address. Each chapter of the Evidence Report will be prepared in line with the requirements of NPF4 and informed by the Scottish Governments Local Development Plan Guidance. These chapters will be reviewed and consulted upon by relevant agencies and stakeholders before publication and examination to ensure the information provided is the best possible standard.
The Council is taking a collaborative approach to data gathering, evaluation, and engagement in the preparation of the Evidence Report and is currently in the data gathering stage, which will provide a baseline for the next LDP to be developed from.
Alongside evidence gathering, our annual monitoring and audit work (such as employment land, housing land, vacant and derelict land, town centre survey, floorspace survey and so on) are underway and are expected to be finalised by the end of 2023 and will be used to inform the Evidence Report. Work on our new Forestry and Woodland Strategy, Open Space Strategy, Play Sufficiency Assessment, and habitat modelling for Nature Networks has commenced and will also help to inform the preparation of the Evidence Report. The Forestry and Woodland Strategy and Play Sufficiency Assessment are statutorily required to be concluded and submitted with the Evidence Report to the Gate check.
Next: Impact assessments