Image source, bbc

Ian Cooke from the Development Trusts Association Scotland says local place plans are very much part of community empowerment.

Mr Cooke says place plans that meet the criteria must be listened to and taken account of.

He says there needs to be a stronger lever than there is in the draft bill.

Douglas Fraser
Scotland business & economy editor

Image source, Thinkstock

How much do you know or care about your local planning office? If you're like me, you'll get an occasional note that a neighbour wishes to alter an extension, and they're consulting under the terms of the appropriate Act, section this and sub-section that.

And as I'm not a property developer, that's about it. Yet the influence of the planners can be seen all around us.

Planners are the people who choose the routes of controversial roads, such as the Aberdeen and Inverness ring roads. They say what can and cannot go in sensitive World Heritage Sites in central Edinburgh. They deal with the pressure from developers such as Donald Trump, to drive a golf course across sand dunes on the Aberdeenshire coast.

Bureaucracy does not seem to be a by-product of the planning process: to this untrained eye, generating paperwork is actually the point of it.

Read more here.

Tory MSP Graham Simpson wonders if councils should be required to engage with local communities and demonstrate they have done this in an evidence report.

Dr Andy Inch expresses concern that there are no guarantees for communities that their ideas will be taken forward even if included in local place plans.

He suggests there should be a right of appeal if decisions are made that do not align with the plans.

Petra Biberbach says communities should be involved meaningfully at the earliest opportunity.

Petra Biberbach of PAS says there are different communities out there and if the planning legislation is too restrictive there may be issues.

Image source, Thinkstock

An independent review urged a "fundamental rethink" of the planning system in Scotland in July 2016.

The review panel set out 48 recommendations which it said would strengthen the planning system to "enable sustainable development".

Its report, external said planners and councils in particular need to be "bolder" in tackling future challenges.

Planning Minister Kevin Stewart said the review would inform a "new, focused and revitalised planning system".

The report said a "fundamental rethink of the system as a whole is needed to ensure the planning system is much better equipped to deal with future challenges and opportunities".

The panel also noted a need for a "culture change" to move planning away from "micro-management of the built environment" to "focus instead on delivering great places now, and for future generations".

Read more here.

Labour MSP Monica Lennon highlights gaps in community council coverage and asks if there may be better bodies to drive local place plans.

Petra Biberbach accepts the point but says community councils are the only democratically elected body at local level.

She argues it should not be exclusive to community councils though, suggesting there should be a duty to include everyone in a community.

"The local place plan is a key driver," says Petra Biberbach from PAS.

However, she argues they must be given proper status so they do not become tokenistic.

Regular consultation with local communities is very important, Ms Biberbach adds.

SNP MSP Jenny Gilruth wonders whether asking councils to have regard for local place plans will be robust enough.

Dr Andy Inch from Planning Democracy suggests it is a weak mechanism.

Using the system in England as an example, he says local place plans make it difficult to put a plan-led system in place because of other factors being taken into account.

Ian Cooke of Development Trusts Association Scotland is supportive of local place plans but expresses concerns they will "achieve very little" without clear guidance on how they should be utilised.

Community Land Scotland's Dr Calum MacLeod concurs with this view. There must be a clear connection between the plans and the wider framework, he says.

Image source, bbc

Petra Biberbach of PAS says 20% of planners volunteer for her organisation.

Ms Biberbach says PAS is celebrating its 25th anniversary and it has three services:

• an advice service
• help community organisations
• help less heard groups like Gypsy/Travellers

Ms Biberbach says too few people know the planning system exists.

Ian Cooke from Development Trusts Association Scotland says the bill must assist communities to create places people want to live in.

Views of communities do not get taken into account sufficiently, he argues, and he hopes the bill will address this.

Mr Cooke also suggests this bill must link to the forthcoming local democracy bill.

Image source, bbc

Dr Calum MacLeod of Community Land Scotland says this is a very important piece of legislation in terms of taking forward the planning network.

Dr MacLeod welcomes a more progressive approach to the planning system.

Clare Symonds of Planning Democracy says her organisation would like to see a fairer plan-led system in place.

She says the Planning Bill suggests planning is a negative thing when her organisation would argue the opposite.

Planning can be used to positively shape communities, Ms Symonds argues.

The Planning (Scotland) Bill , externalis seeking to update the town planning system by amending legislation from the Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act 1997.

It is quite an extensive piece of legislation covering an array of areas and has therefore garnered considering interest.

Image source, SPICe

Primarily, the Bill will:

• change the definition of the National Planning Framework to included the Scottish Planning Policy, external
• allow local development plans to be amended between reviews and replace action programmes with delivery programmes
• introduce a requirement to produce an "evidence report" setting out the evidence to be used in drafting the local development plan
• remove the requirement to produce strategic development plans for Scotland's four main city regions
• introducing local place plans
• replace simplified planning zones with simplified development zones to include consent around road construction, listed buildings and conservation areas
• improving the development management process and performance of planning authorities

Read the SPICe briefing for more information., external

Image source, bbc

The first panel giving evidence on the Planning (Scotland) Bill includes:

• Clare Symonds from Planning Democracy, external
• Dr Andy Inch, also from Planning Democracy
• Dr Calum MacLeod of Community Land Scotland, external
• Ian Cooke from the Development Trusts Association Scotland, external
• Petra Biberbach of PAS, external

Committtee convener Bob Doris says despite the weather we have a full house for the first panel.

The Local government and Communities Committee will shortly take its first evidence on the Planning (Scotland) Bill this morning, with a further three session scheduled for March.

See the committee papers, external or the extensive number of submissions, external received by the committee.

First up is a panel representing the interests of community groups, including:

• Clare Symonds from Planning Democracy, external
• Dr Andy Inch, also from Planning Democracy
• Dr Calum MacLeod of Community Land Scotland, external
• Ian Cooke from the Development Trusts Association Scotland, external
• Petra Biberbach of PAS, external

The second panel involves representatives of music venues:

• Beverley Whitrick of the Music Venue Trust, external
• Tom Kiehl from UK Music, external
• Fiona Ellis of DF Concerts and Events, external
• Mike Grieve from the Night Time Industries Association, external
• Mick Cooke, external, composer and former member for Belle and Sebastian

The committee ends with consideration of sub leg on local authority funding and council tax.