Following the Scottish Government response to the Planning Review panel’s recommendations – please find the latest PD press release below.
Feel free to send to your local paper, please adapt for your area, with your contact details and a local example (underlined below) if you have one or just delete Overburn. Contact us if any questions. and please let us know if it gets published (share the link on our fb page if you can).
And as always, keep us posted of any planning campaigns and community action in your area.
Best wishes,
Daya
Daya Feldwick
Community Network Coordinator
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Press release: For immediate release
A new report, by an independent panel set up by the Scottish Government to deliver a ‘game-changing’ review of the land-use planning system in Scotland could give communities a bigger say in planning decisions which effect them.
The report contains 48 wide-ranging recommendations that could lead to a substantial reorientation of the system. The Government announced its intention (1) to move swiftly and bring about reforms fast.
Planning Democracy a Clydesdale based national group campaigning for a fairer and more inclusive planning system have been arguing for some time that the planning is incredibly unequal and communities have an unfair disadvantage when it comes to shaping their own places. Although the review contains some helpful recommendations much of it tends to gloss over the challenges of balancing fundamentally competing interests in the use and development of land by promising something for everyone.
Clare Symonds convenor of the group says “Too often, however, we hear stories about communities being let down or feeling bullied by developers who aggressively pursue speculative development even where it is clearly opposed to democratically agreed plans and policies. To really transform the planning system it is also crucial we deal with the issues that allow this kind of behaviour, such as repeat planning applications and poor enforcement of conditions that are placed on applications”
The review has accepted that some issues such as repeat planning applications are a problem(as seen in Lamington with the Overburns quarry application being submitted several times, despite having been rejected by local authority and at appeal). However, Planning Democracy believes there has been too little focus on the development industry and on the need to challenge and change its practices.
“If we are to create better places Scotland needs a debate about the social responsibilities of the development industry, unless this is addressed we are unlikely to get the better community engagement in planning that the review is discussing”.
Planning Democracy are pleased to see that there is to be a working group established to identify barriers to greater involvement in planning, but they say it is crucial that the membership of such a group includes the voices of communities and really seeks to understand the current inequalities within planning.
Without this situation’s such as the one at Overburn’s will continue and the planning system will continue to be biased against communities and offer no real incentive for people to get positively engaged in what should be a fair and democratic system.
1) The Government responded to the planning review with their planned programme of action on the 11th July. It listed 10 key actions to be taken forward as priority and said they will be consulting on a White Paper in the Autumn with a view to new legislation in 2017.
Contact: Clare Symonds Planning Democracy www.planningdemocracy.org.uk info@planningdemocracy.org.uk 01899 850215 / 0781 387 4805
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