Chief planner letter January - 2023
Please click on the link below to view a letter from the Minister for Public Finance, Planning and Community Wealth, and the Chief Planner:
Letter from the Chief Planner - PDF
Adoption of NPF4 is scheduled for 13th February, after many years of consultation and engagement. From now on, all development proposals must comply with this set of policies, which can be found at: https://www.transformingplanning.scot/national-planning-framework/
Chief Planner Letter Transitional Arrangements for National Planning Framework 4 - February 2023
This Framework, which is a statutory planning policy document, has six overarching spatial principles:
Spatial principles
We will plan our future places in line with six overarching spatial principles:
- Just transition. We will empower people to shape their places and ensure the transition to net zero is fair and inclusive.
- Conserving and recycling assets. We will make productive use of existing buildings, places, infrastructure and services, locking in carbon, minimising waste, and building a circular economy.
- Local living. We will support local liveability and improve community health and wellbeing by ensuring people can easily access services, greenspace, learning, work and leisure locally.
- Compact urban growth. We will limit urban expansion so we can optimise the use of land to provide services and resources, including carbon storage, flood risk management, blue and green infrastructure and biodiversity.
- Rebalanced development. We will target development to create opportunities for communities and investment in areas of past decline, and manage development sustainably in areas of high demand.
- Rural revitalisation. We will encourage sustainable development in rural areas, recognising the need to grow and support urban and rural communities together.
These principles will play a key role in delivering on the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and our national outcomes.
We are expecting further guidance and correspondence which will help with the implementation stages of this new national development plan.
There will also be guidance on the transitional arrangements for local development plans.
We will update you as and when more information arrives.