As you may already know I have just started in my new role of coordinating the Community Peer Support Network and I’m now getting to know more of the activists and supporters out there. It has been a bit of a ‘in at a deep end’ for me and busy time for all with the freshly published Scottish Government Planning Review report dismissing the Equal Rights of Appeal (http://www.gov.scot/Topics/Built-Environment/planning/Review-of-Planning) and the consequent actions and reactions. (PD analysis of the recommendations here: http://www.planningdemocracy.org.uk/2016/good-bad-ugly-planning-review/).
Unsurprisingly the media coverage was not great with mostly the developers and housebuilders being supportive of the recommendations and the BBC quickly moving on with other stories and EU referendum. Apart from couple of our members writing to the press and their MSPs it has been pretty quiet out there, not much anger from the community groups hitting the headlines.
It is now up to us to generate some more publicity and build the groundswell of community support to pressure the ministers making the final decisions, especially on the Equal Rights of Appeal. While we agree that ERA is not the only thing that will improve the planning system it is our main campaign just now because of all the momentum it has had with the review and the parliamentary petition (http://www.parliament.scot/GettingInvolved/Petitions/PE01534); it is also a good mechanism to point out the inequalities of planning.
Over the next couple of months, we will be working with MSPs, local authorities and community councils and really need the backing from people to help us get the messages across. So if you haven’t taken any action yet I would like to ask you to please consider writing to your MSP and/or your local press. If you are busy you can use our templates below (and add some of your own thoughts or local examples if you like).
We are organising a parliamentary ‘Planning’ event on 29th September and would like to meet with as many of you as possible before (July/Aug) to discuss the strategy and tactical lobbying of MSPs. Please get in touch if you would be interested in attending!
We are also looking for people to join us as ERA champions (details and an inspirational example from Aberdeen here: http://www.planningdemocracy.org.uk/2016/champions-of-scotland/). You don’t have to be a super hero, anything you can do in your community to help us highlight the inequalities of the current system and support our campaign is welcome!!
There are also Planning Democracy fb page and Twitter account, feel free to comment and share. We are not many but hopefully we can be super organised and make enough noise to keep the planning issues in the spotlight over the following months.
We would really appreciate if you could let us know whether you took any actions, which papers and MSPs you contacted and send us any responses you may have received.
Please keep in touch and kind regards,
Daya Feldwick
Community Peer Support Network Coordinator
Planning Democracy
Campaigning for a fair and inclusive planning system in Scotland
www.planningdemocracy.org.uk
Charity no. SC041051
Media template (new shorter version)
The Scottish Government Planning Review Panel has published its findings. While there are a number of welcome recommendations, the report does absolutely nothing to redress the power imbalance experienced by communities. A developer who is refused planning permission can appeal that decision. However, if permission is granted – however shaky the grounds – the affected community cannot appeal the decision. The panel heard many persuasive submissions from community respondents asking for a limited Equal Right of Appeal (ERA) for communities.
Sadly, the Panel still refers to ERA as ‘third party right of appeal’ (TPRA) – now an outdated term which has the effect of reducing local people to third class citizens with no voice. Communities should be recognised to be, at least, an equal party when their well-being is threatened by inappropriate development (which is often driven by the profit motive).
As an active citizen who spends much time participating in the planning process I feel deeply disappointed with this outcome and would appeal to the Scottish Government to carefully consider the panel’s assertion that they found no evidence of the value of an Equal Right of Appeal.
Letter to MSP template:
Find your MSP by postcode via this link: http://www.parliament.scot/help/32438.aspx
Dear …
After reading the recommendations from the ‘independent’ panel on the Scottish Government Planning Review report http://www.gov.scot/Topics/Built-Environment/planning/Review-of-Planning I am extremely concerned that the Panel were not persuaded that the Equal Rights of Appeal should be introduced. Despite some welcomed recommendations about strengthening and improving development plans and more effectively joining up with the land reform, community planning and community empowerment agendas, the report does not go far enough to redress the current power imbalance for the communities without giving them equal rights of appeal.
Sadly, the Panel still refers to the ‘third party rights of appeal’ which is now an outdated term reducing local people affected by developments to third class citizens with no voice. Communities should really be the first party or at least an equal party when their homes and livelihoods are threatened by outside developers, and to have no say in the matter is absolutely scandalous.
More worryingly, the example from Ireland (where a developing form of Equal Rights of Appeal has been in use for the past 15 years) was miss-represented as evidence wrongly stating it will waste more time when in fact it proves exactly the opposite. The system is working well causing no extra delays; ERA was only used in a small number of cases where it was proven to be completely justified.
Without this inclusion the review seems flawed and still in favour of the builders and developers. As an active citizen spending much time participating in the planning process I feel deeply disappointed with this outcome and would like to appeal to the Scottish Government to carefully consider this recommendations, especially the lack of evidence used to advise against Equal Rights of Appeal.
As my elected representative to the Parliament I would like to ask for your help in bringing this matter to attention of the planning minister Kevin Stewart to ensure any reforms of the planning system recognise the communities as equal partners in the process.
Yours sincerely…
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