Development plan amendment regulations: consultation response summary

Question 14

Question 14A)

To what extent do you agree that, when preparing an amendment, a planning authority must have regard to the information and considerations set out in regulation 9 of the Town and Country Planning (Scotland)(Development Planning) regulations 2023?

There were 45 responses to Question 14A, which have been set out by respondent type in Table 14 below.

Almost all of the respondents (a combined 86.6%) agreed that planning authorities must have regard to the information and considerations set out in regulation 9, including all planning authorities and professional representative bodies. Several responses were neutral and one response strongly disagreed.

Question 14B)

Where applicable, please give reasons for your answer.

32 respondents provided further comment at Question 14B.

Summary /Themes

Almost all of those who responded to Question 14B were supportive of the proposal.

Themes that came through from responses were clarity and resourcing. Many of the responses thought this would be a reasonable and consistent approach. Many responses caveated this with the view that the degree to which the planning authority should have regard to these considerations should be proportionate to the nature of the amendment, so to not overburden the resources of planning authorities.

A professional representative body sector respondent who supported this proposal emphasised that, in order for the LDP amendment process to be successful, planning authorities must have the necessary resources place to undertake this process. They also reflected some uncertainty as to how the amendment process would interact with the process for preparing and registering Local Place Plans.

One potential suggestion was that the amendment process could be used to incorporate a LPP within the LDP to give more confidence to involved communities.

One planning authority raised a question around the national documents noted in Regulation 9, asking that if there is a change to one of the national documents listed in Regulation 9, would this need to be viewed as a potential NPF / LDP amendment.