Friday 11 March 2011

Sandown development brief gets a mention in new Development Plan Scheme

Extracts (from the PED Committee Report; full Report can be found here)

The Planning etc (Scotland) Act 2006 introduced a requirement for each planning authority to prepare a Development Plan Scheme, at least annually, to set out their programme for preparing and reviewing their Local Development Plans and what is likely to be involved at each stage. One of the main purposes of doing so is to give certainty to the community and developers when each stage of the development planning process is reached.

4. Sandown Development Brief

4.1 The Sandown site in Nairn remains a very important development opportunity for housing and other mixed uses and has been identified as having this potential for a number of years. At the Highland Council meeting on 16th December 2010 a commitment was made to prepare a new development brief, following the refusal of planning permission, subsequent dismissal of the appeal and resiling of the missives with Deveron Homes.

4.2The updated Local Development Plan context as set out in the Highland wide Local Development Plan – Proposed Plan states that “the Council will support development at Sandown in the short term subject to a suitable developer masterplan which addresses issues including: housing density; phasing, and; an access solution that provides unfettered links to the Delnies development area to the west and shared arrangements wherever possible”.

4.3It is proposed to adopt a proactive approach to community and stakeholder engagement in the preparation of the new development brief. An open workshop will be held in June 2011 to begin the process so that a fresh assessment of the issues and development potential of the site is undertaken. This workshop will investigate the key characteristics of the site, the planning history, the opportunity for the community wetland park and the relationship with the surrounding proposals at Delnies and seek agreement on the fundamental objectives of the design work.

4.4 Work on the development brief will progress over the course of Summer 2011, with regular reports being given to the local members and community groups through the Ward Forum meetings. A draft brief will be prepared for a PED Committee meeting later in the autumn. This will then be followed by further public and stakeholder consultation with adoption of the development brief as Supplementary Guidance taking place before the end of 2011.

4.5 It is intended that the Development Brief will be integrated into the Inner Moray Firth Local Development Plan.

Nairn Town Centre Development Brief on PED Agenda for 16th alongside lots of other items including Highland-wide Development Plan

Link to the full agenda is here with Highland-wide Plan item 7 and new Development Plan Scheme at 16. lots of other things as well including reports on Housing Expo, Fuel Costs...May do later posts on other items.

Item 17

There is circulated Report No. Ped-27-11 dated 3 March 2011 by the Director of Planning and Development detailing the results of the public consultation process on the Council’s Draft Nairn Town Centre Development Brief. Consequent amendments to the Brief are recommended for the Committee’s approval.

The Committee is asked to:

approve the amendments to the Draft Nairn Town Centre Development
Brief as set out in paragraph 3.1 of the report;

approve and re-publish the amended and finalised Brief as non-statutory
supplementary planning guidance and as a material planning consideration
for development management purposes; and

note that the Council’s planning policy for the Brief area and the wider
town centre will be reviewed through the Inner Moray Firth Local
Development Plan process.

The PED Committee Report for the Nairn Brief is here and it notes:

"Most importantly, the recommended changes listed above do not stymie the community’s aspirations for the future."

Do Nairnites feel the report reflects their experience of the consultation period?

Thursday 10 March 2011

Latest on Highland-wide and Local Development Plans

Latest from HWLDP blog

http://hwldp.blogspot.com/

Highland wide Local Development Plan - Update

Following the consultation on the proposed plan the Develop
ment Plans Team have been considering all of the responses to the plan. These are now available to view online by clicking
here.

We have also been working to summarise and group these responses by the issues raised. In doing so we have put them into the Schedule 4 format required by the Scottish Government. They will be made available on the following link very soon:

http://www.highland.gov.uk/yourenvironment/planning/developmentplans/localplans/Representations.htm

The responses to this consultation are being reported to the Planning Environment and Development Committee on 16th March 2011.

Also going to committee on March 16th is our Development Plan Scheme 2011 which sets out the timetable for preparation of the Highland wide Local Development Plan, the Inner Moray Firth Local Development Plan, Supplementary Guidance and it also sets out how you can get involved in the preperation of the work by the Development Plans Team.

The agenda (including important reports on supplementary guidance) for Planning, Environment and Development Committee will be available on the link below from 11am tomorrow:

http://www.highland.gov.uk/yourcouncil/committees/strategiccommittees/planningenvironmentanddevelopmentcommittee/

Don't forget you can watch the Planning, Environment and Development Committee online from 10:30am on Wednesday 16th March, by clicking here.

Wednesday 9 March 2011

Highland wide Local Development Plan - Proposed Plan responses now appearing on-line

From the Highland Council web pages:

The consultation on the Proposed Plan ran from the 24th of September 2010 - 3rd December 2010. The responses to this consultation are being reported to the Planning Environment and Development Committee on 16th March 2011. Over 300 responses were received. These have now been redacted and are available to view
(click here)

The proposed responses have been grouped by issue and
will be available in draft form
click here

Inverness planning and building standards office move Inverness planning and building standards office move

Highland Council press release:

Members of the public are being informed by The Highland Council that the Inverness Planning and Building Standards Office is moving to 2nd Floor, Kintail House, Beechwood Park, Inverness.

The area service will be closed from 9am on Monday 14 March to 5pm on Wednesday 16 March inclusive. It will reopen at 9am on Thursday 17 March 2011. The Council apologises for the inconvenience.

The office at Kintail House provides parking and office accommodation that meets Disability Discrimination Act requirements for staff and customers. The Planning Service is also co-locating at Kintail House with Ness Horizons, part of Highland Opportunities Limited which will allow some shared services.

During the 3-day closure any urgent calls to the Inverness area planning office will be handled by the Planning and Development Service at Headquarters, Glenurquhart Road, Inverness on 01463 702250 and will be passed on to relevant staff.

The new main contact details for enquiries at Kintail House will be:

The Highland Council, Planning and Building Standards,
2nd Floor, Kintail House, Beechwood Park, Inverness IV2 3BW
tel: 01463 255200 or e-mail: planning.inverness@highland.gov.uk

Original article here

Monday 7 March 2011

Is March 16th a big day for Highland Wide Plan?

Some insight from the Development Plans Manager:

"We will be taking a report to the March 16th Committee meeting with a full appraisal of all views, and will make further recommendations to Councillors. If there are major changes proposed by the Council then there will have to be further public consultation. If no major changes are proposed an Examination will follow, and the Reporter appointed to deal with it will come to a view on whether the Council’s view is acceptable."

(There is a Planning, Environment and Development
(PED) Committee Meeting listed on the Headquarter's meeting timetable for that date)

Latest on Community Councils from Highland Council site

New Community Council scheme (04/03/11)

A new scheme governing the running of Community Councils in the Highlands takes effect from 1 April 2011. It brings together eight separate schemes into one Highland-wide scheme.

Community Councils are expected to adopt a new constitution and standing orders before 30 June and hold their first elections – to be held every four years - in November of this year.

The core membership will be 7 members and the maximum membership will be 13, depending on population. The quorum will be 4 members.

The scheme agreed by The Highland Council follows three phases of consultation with the public.

Convener Sandy Park said: “Community Councils play an important role in representing the views of local residents. The major review brings together 8 separate schemes in the Highlands into one and should result in a more consistent operation of Community Councils and better representation in our communities, through more contested elections.”

Link here

"Enemies of Enterprise"

"The town hall officials who take forever to make those planning decisions that can be make or break for a business - and the investment and jobs that go with it."

Click here for more