Publication - FOI/EIR release

Documents relating to 'modernisation' of Scottish land use planning: EIR release

Published: 12 December 2023
Directorate: Local Government and Housing Directorate
Topic: Public sector
FOI reference: 202300364501
Date received: 3 July 2023
Date responded: 28 July 2023

Information request and response under the Environmental Information (Scotland) Regulations 2004.

Information requested

Copies of documents relating to the Modernising Planning programme.

As the information you have requested is ‘environmental information’ for the purposes of the Environmental Information (Scotland) Regulations 2004 (EIRs), we are required to deal with your request under those Regulations. We are applying the exemption at section 39(2) of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (FOISA), so that we do not also have to deal with your request under FOISA.

This exemption is subject to the ‘public interest test’. Therefore, taking account of all the circumstances of this case, we have considered if the public interest in disclosing the information outweighs the public interest in applying the exemption. We have found that, on balance, the public interest lies in favour of upholding the exemption, because there is no public interest in dealing with the same request under two different regimes. This is essentially a technical point and has no material effect on the outcome of your request.

Response

I enclose a copy of the following documents in PDF format:

Land Use Planning Under a Scottish Parliament: Consultation Paper;
Your Place, Your Plan: A White Paper on Public Involvement in Planning, and;
Modernising the Planning System: Consultation on Draft Regulations on Development Planning.

Due to the file size, I will send you the Modernising Public Local Inquiries: Analysis of Consultation Responses document in a separate email.

The “Modernising the Planning System” white paper and “Modernising Planning Appeals: Consultation Paper” document are available on the National Records of Scotland web archive at the below links:

Modernising the Planning System - https://webarchive.nrscotland.gov.uk/3000/https:/www.gov.scot/Publications/2005/06/27113519/35231
Modernising Planning Appeals: Consultation Paper - https://webarchive.nrscotland.gov.uk/3000/https:/www.gov.scot/Publications/2008/02/13104117/0

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