WOBO appreciates the links provided by the Scottish Government.
Realising Scotland’s hydrogen potential – Nov 29, 2024 12:01 am – Plan for exports published.
Scotland’s Rural Economy – Nov 28, 2024 04:39 pm – Ministers call for increased agriculture and marine funding.
Tackling the nature emergency – Nov 27, 2024 10:04 am – Ambition to halt nature loss by 2030.
Planning, Architecture and Regeneration News
Masterplan Consent Areas – Legislation covering the process for making Masterplan Consent Area (MCA) schemes came into force Thursday 5 December 2024.
The Regulations allow planning authorities to take a place leadership role, by proactively consenting the type and quality of development they wish to see in their areas by preparing an MCA ‘Scheme’. MCAs will offer a coordinated approach to consenting, being able grant planning permission, plus roads construction, listed building and conservation area consent – where provided for in the particular MCA scheme. Guidance on the use of MCAs will be published shortly. – Our Linkedin post on MCAs provides further detail.
Development Plan Amendment Regulations
Regulations that allow greater flexibility to LDPs came into force today. The Town and Country Planning (Amendment of Local Development Plan) (Scotland) Regulations 2024 creates provisions that allow for Local Development Plans to be amended between the full review cycle of 10 years, allowing the planning system to respond flexibly and confidently to new emerging matters. – Our Linkedin post provides further detail.
Scottish Vacant and Derelict Land: Information Hub
The Scottish Government has collected and published Scottish vacant and derelict land (SVDL) data for many years. An SVDLS map was published earlier in the summer showing sites in Scotland. This has now been updated with the latest 2023 data.
An SVDLS Information Hub has also been created on the Our Place website and contains not only the map but policy on vacant and derelict land, case studies on how it has been brought back into use and the statistics behind the map.
Planning Fees
Today the Town and Country Planning (Fees for Applications) Amendment Regulations 2024 come into effect which will see planning fees increase in line with inflation for 2022 and 2023, extend discretionary charging to cover Processing Agreements and Masterplan Consent Areas and adjust the fee for shellfish farming. These fees will provide urgent additional financial resources to planning authorities. We have published Planning Circular 3/2024 The Town and Country Planning (Fees for Applications) (Scotland) Amendment Regulations 2024 as amended to accompany the regulations. A new improved Planning Fee Calculator has also been released this morning and reflects the new planning fees.
Infrastructure Levy Discussion Paper
Also published today was the overview of responses to the Infrastructure Levy Discussion Paper. The report summarises common themes from the general comments made in written responses. The Minister for Public Finance, Ivan McKee, announced on 12 November that the Scottish Government would stop work on introducing the Infrastructure Levy, as part of the planning and housing emergency delivery plan.
Restoring Scotland’s rainforests – Dec 13, 2024 12:01 am – £5 million for precious habitat.
Average year for overall cereal harvest despite challenging wet conditions – Dec 12, 2024 09:30 am – An Accredited Official Statistics Publication for Scotland.
£150 million for offshore wind – Dec 12, 2024 12:01 am – Capital investment almost trebled to unlock private sector growth.