Evaluation of the Regional Land Use Framework Pilots

SECTION B: Findings

This section comprises an evaluation of the pilots assessed against the key research questions:

Question 1: Was the process for the establishment and management of the pilot regional frameworks effective?

Question 2: To what extent do the regional frameworks meet the requirements set out by the Scottish Government?

Question 3: Do the regional frameworks have the potential to make a positive impact on land use decision-making in the local areas?

Question 4: How are the frameworks perceived by stakeholders and what lessons have been learned?

Question 5: Do the benefits of the regional land use mechanism policy justify the costs and resources required?

Question 6: Is there a role for a regional land use mechanism in guiding land use decisions to meet the outcomes of the Land Use Strategy and if so, what can be learnt about the best geographical scale for such a mechanism?

The evaluation considers both the process followed by the pilots and the principal final outputs (see below). In doing so, it draws on field research undertaken by CAG (and the associated reporting outputs) and a range of materials developed by the pilots themselves.

The final main documentary outputs considered by the evaluation were:

• Land Use Change Issues and Opportunities for Aberdeenshire Report and GIS tool^[4]
• Scottish Borders Pilot Regional Land Use Framework document and GIS tool