Strategic issues - Scotland

The Scottish Government has published Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) Post-Adoption Statements for both the National Planning Framework 2 (NPF2) and the new Scottish Planning Policy (SPP). The Statement for the NPF2 is more complex than that for the SPP, as the NPF2 includes the high level approval for the 'national developments' under the Planning Act 2006. The environmental report addresses these same technologies in some detail and unsurprisingly identifies both advantages and disadvantages. Under s 23, replacing s 75 and also inserting new ss 75A-C into the Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act 1997 (the 1997 Act), planning obligations may be proposed by the developer, may explicitly include ongoing financial contributions, may come into effect at a future date, and are enforceable where there is a breach. The paper notes that definitions of 'mixed communities' are varied and although the policy focus is on tenure and income, communities can be stratified in other ways.