Planning Circular 1/2013: strategic development plan areas

Introduction

1. Development plans guide the future use of land and the appearance of our cities, towns and rural areas. They should indicate where development, including regeneration, should happen and where it should not.

2. The Planning etc. (Scotland) Act 2006 (the 2006 Act) modernised the Scottish Planning system. One important strand of this was to replace structure plans with strategic development plans ( SDPs).

3. In the four largest city regions, the development plan comprises

• a strategic development plan which addresses important land use issues that cross local authority boundaries or involve strategic infrastructure;
• local development plans; and
• supplementary guidance.

4. This Circular constitutes Scottish Ministers' determination of the boundaries of the four strategic development plan ( SDP) areas:

• Glasgow and the Clyde Valley;
• Aberdeen City and Shire;
• Dundee, Perth, Angus and North Fife; (TAYplan) and
• Edinburgh and South East Scotland ( SESplan).

It represents a change to the previous TAYplan boundary, and replaces Circular 3/2008, which is hereby revoked.

Strategic Development Planning Authorities

5. Section 2 of the 2006 Act introduced a new section 4(1) into the Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act 1997 (the 1997 Act) which allowed Ministers to designate groups of planning authorities as strategic development planning authorities ( SDPAs), tasked with preparing and reviewing SDPs. Scottish Ministers designated the following four such groupings in the SDPA Designation Orders 2008 which came into force on 25 June 2008:

1. East Dunbartonshire, East Renfrewshire, Glasgow City, Inverclyde, North Lanarkshire, Renfrewshire, South Lanarkshire and West Dunbartonshire Councils ¹ ;

2. Aberdeen City and Aberdeenshire Councils ² ;

3. Angus, Dundee City, Fife and Perth & Kinross Councils ³ ;

4. City of Edinburgh, East Lothian, Fife, Midlothian, Scottish Borders and West Lothian Councils ⁴ .

Strategic Development Plan areas: index map

Legend

Map 1. Glasgow and the Clyde Valley Strategic Development Plan area
Map 2. Aberdeen City and Shire Strategic Development Plan area
Map 3. Dundee, Perth, Angus and North Fife Strategic Development Plan area
Map 4. Edinburgh and South East Scotland Strategic Development Plan area

Strategic Development Plan Boundaries

6. Section 5(1) of the 1997 Act, (as introduced by section 2 of the 2006 Act) required the SDPAs to submit proposed SDP area boundaries to Scottish Ministers within 3 months of designation. Scottish Ministers issued guidance on appropriate plan boundaries in Planning Circular 2/2008, which indicated that widely drawn boundaries that matched local authority boundaries were likely to be the simplest solution, with the exception of national park areas which were expected to be excluded. All the SDPAs carried out some form of consultation on their proposals and the outcome of these consultations was included in their submissions, which were all duly received by Scottish Ministers.

7. Section 5(3) of the 1997 Act, (as introduced by section 2 of the 2006 Act) allows Scottish Ministers to make a determination as to the boundaries of strategic development plan ( SDP) areas.

8. In 2008, Ministers were content that the boundaries submitted by the SDPAs provided an appropriate basis for strategic planning in these city-regions at the time. They noted that the proposed boundaries were subject to consultation and reflected the guidance set out in Circular 2/2008. They therefore issued Circular 3/2008, constituting their determination of the SDP areas.

9. Scottish Ministers had previously asked Scottish Natural Heritage to report on the proposal to extend the Cairngorms National Park into parts of eastern and highland areas of Perth and Kinross Council. This proposal has now been implemented ⁵ , and TAYPlan submitted a proposed boundary change for the Dundee, Perth, Angus and North Fife SDP area to Scottish Ministers in December 2012 seeking to exclude part of highland Perthshire, which will now be covered by the Cairngorms National Park Local Development Plan.

10. Scottish Ministers are satisfied that this proposed boundary change is appropriate and reflects their earlier guidance in Circular 2/2008. This determination therefore continues the boundaries for the Glasgow and the Clyde Valley, Aberdeen City and Shire and Edinburgh and South East Scotland SDP areas and provides a revised determination for the TAYplan area. The four SDP areas therefore continue to match the boundaries proposed by the SDPAs themselves.

Glasgow and the Clyde Valley Strategic Development Plan Area

9. The Glasgow and the Clyde Valley Strategic Development Plan Area constitutes the administrative areas of East Dunbartonshire, East Renfrewshire, Glasgow City, Inverclyde, North Lanarkshire, Renfrewshire, South Lanarkshire and West Dunbartonshire Councils, excepting the part of West Dunbartonshire Council that formed part of the Loch Lomond & the Trossachs National Park on 11 November 2008. The area is illustrated on Map 1.

Aberdeen City and Shire Strategic Development Plan Area

10. The Aberdeen City and Shire Strategic Development Plan Area, constitutes the administrative areas of Aberdeen City and Aberdeenshire Councils excepting the part of Aberdeenshire Council that formed part of the Cairngorms National Park on 11 November 2008. The area is illustrated on Map 2.

Dundee, Perth, Angus and North Fife Strategic Development Plan Area

11. The Dundee, Angus, Perth, and North Fife Strategic Development Plan Area and constitutes the administrative areas of Dundee City, Angus and Perth & Kinross Councils and that part of Fife Council illustrated on Map 3, excepting the part of Angus Council that formed part of the Cairngorms National Park on 11 November 2008, and the part of Perth & Kinross Council that formed part of the Loch Lomond & the Trossachs National Park on 11 November 2008, and the part of Perth & Kinross Council that formed part of the Cairngorms National Park on 2 October 2010 ⁶ . The area is illustrated on Map 3.

Edinburgh and South East Scotland Strategic Development Plan Area

12. The Edinburgh and South East Scotland Strategic Development Plan Area constitutes the administrative areas of City of Edinburgh, East Lothian, Midlothian, Scottish Borders and West Lothian Councils and that part of Fife shown on Map 4.