Planning Circular 2/2008: statutory guidance on strategic development planning authorities

PLANNING SERIES

• Scottish Planning Policies ( SPPs) provide statements of The Scottish Government's policy on nationally important land use and other planning matters, supported where appropriate by a locational framework.
• Circulars, which also provide statements of The Scottish Government's policy, contain guidance on policy implementation through legislative or procedural change.
• Planning Advice Notes ( PANs) provide advice on good practice and other relevant information.

Statements of The Scottish Government's policy contained in SPPs and Circulars are material considerations to be taken into account in development plan preparation and development management.

Existing National Planning Guidelines ( NPPGs) have continued relevance to decision making, until such time as they are replaced by a SPP. The term SPP should be interpreted as including NPPGs.

Statements of The Scottish Government's location-specific planning policy, for example the West Edinburgh Planning Framework, have the same status in decision making as SPPs.

The National Planning Framework sets out the strategy for Scotland's long-term spatial development. It has the same status as SPPs and provides a national context for development plans and planning decisions and the ongoing programme of The Scottish Government, public agencies and local government.

Important Note: In the interests of brevity and conciseness, SPPs do NOT repeat policy across thematic boundaries. Each SPP takes as read the general policy in SPP 1 and highlights the other SPPs where links to other related policy will be found. The whole series of SPPs should be taken as an integral policy suite and read together.