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

STRATEGIC DEVELOPMENT PLANS

6. Strategic development plans will be prepared by SDPAs and approved by Scottish Ministers. They will set out a clear vision and spatial strategy for their area. Critically they will focus on the key land use and development matters that cross planning authority boundaries and as a result we expect them to be shorter, more strategic and easier to use than structure plans. While they will continue to form part of the statutory development plan, they will not need to contain a long list of policies or seek to form a detailed handbook for development management. Local development plans sitting below will provide further detail on the issues specific to the local authority area, in line with the overall strategy in the SDP.

7. Further discussion on the form and content of SDPs will be contained in the relevant secondary legislation and advice.