Meeting of the Parliament 22 March 2016
The purpose of amendment 75 is to remove from the bill section 42A, which was inserted at stage 2.
I said at stage 2 that I considered the kind of statutory minimum distance for which the amendment provided to be unnecessary, because decisions about the location of crematoriums are rightly a matter for the planning system, as are decisions about development adjacent to crematoriums. A statutory minimum distance is inflexible and arbitrary and is an unnecessary blunt solution. It has the potential to undermine the functioning of the planning system and place unnecessary restrictions on the provision of crematoriums and housing.
Throughout the bill’s passage, I have said that the proposed location of a new crematorium is a matter properly dealt with by the planning system, and I continue to be of that opinion. All planning applications are determined on their individual merit, in accordance with the local development plan and all material considerations. What may be regarded as a material consideration is a matter for the planning authority concerned and might include matters such as privacy and decency, preservation of sanctity and tranquillity, traffic and increased footfall, which are all relevant to crematoriums.
The location and individual characteristics of the site and proposal are likely to be key considerations in decision making. None of that would be taken into account by a statutory minimum distance, which would simply be a rigid and arbitrary distance with no particular justification or purpose.
10:15I understand the concerns that are at the root of section 42A. It is important that crematoriums are tranquil places of peaceful contemplation. Nonetheless, I continue to believe that the best way to achieve that is through the planning system. A 200m distance offers no guarantee of that. Indeed, section 42A says nothing about any kind of development other than crematoriums and housing, and it would not necessarily do anything to offer any kind of screening for the crematorium or take account of any other local circumstances.
In seeking to remove section 42A from the bill, I commit the Scottish Government to providing specific policy advice for planning authorities to assist in considering planning applications for crematoriums as part of the next revision of Scottish planning policy. Scottish planning policy promotes consistency while allowing sufficient flexibility to reflect local circumstances. That would be the most effective way in which to ensure that planning authorities consistently consider relevant issues in the context of specific locations when they assess development applications for crematoriums.
Planning policy of that type is already provided by Scottish planning policy in relation to other types of development. For example, Scottish planning policy advises planning authorities to consider buffer zones between dwellings and some waste management facilities, and it advises on preferred distances for particular types of facilities. Similarly, community separation is one of the factors to be considered when planning for the location of onshore wind farms.
I know that some people are concerned that Scottish planning policy is not statutory. However, the Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act 1997 requires planning applications to be determined in accordance with the development plan
“unless material considerations indicate otherwise.”
As a statement of ministers’ priorities, the content of Scottish planning policy is a material consideration that carries significant weight. Setting out guidance about the location of crematoriums in Scottish planning policy will ensure that all planning authorities will consider crematoriums in a consistent way. It will allow local circumstances to be taken into account, which means that planning decisions about crematoriums will reflect local circumstances in a way that would not be possible with a statutory minimum distance.
Such issues are currently dealt with well by the planning system, and that is an appropriate way to address the issues that have been raised in relation to crematoriums. I want decisions about where crematoriums are located to be handled sensitively and consistently by the planning system, and I believe that the approach that I have outlined will achieve that.
I move amendment 75.