Hansard

I congratulate Mr Bowman on his first speech. Obviously, it comes on the back of circumstances that none of us desired, but it was good to hear from him for the first time. That will probably be the last time that I will be extremely nice to Mr Bowman in the chamber.

If I had been asked 10 years ago, before I became a councillor, whether I would ever desperately want to speak in a debate on planning, I would have said, “You’re having a laugh.” However, the longer I worked in my council ward and the more I have worked in Paisley in its entirety, the more I have found that planning is one of the major issues. I agree with the minister that the planning system is not broken, but it can be, and do, so much better.

I want to bring up some local issues and challenges for me. My problem, which is both good and extremely challenging, is that the great town of Paisley has more listed buildings than any other place in Scotland, other than our nation’s capital. Many people are shocked when they hear that, because when they think about Paisley they have a vision of post-industrial decline and not of the vibrant and exciting town that I know and love. The advantage is that, as we move towards the summer announcement of the UK city of culture 2021, our historic buildings will play an important part in any success with our bid for that. The challenge is that many of those historic buildings are now empty and, in some cases, they are slowly but surely rotting away. My constituents are angry that it appears that nothing can be done regarding those historic sites.

We have listed buildings such as the old Paisley territorial army hall, which has lain empty for years. A developer currently owns the building and there has been planning permission for flats for some time, but regeneration never seems to happen, as the developer sits on it and waits for sunnier economic times. There is also the old Royal Alexandra infirmary. The front half of the building has been redeveloped but, because of various on-going problems, the rear of the building is rotting away. The owner is a London-based developer who has probably never seen Paisley and would not be able to point to it on a map. The building is regularly broken into by young people and others, and there is serious antisocial behaviour on occasions—for example, fires have been started. All of that is happening as families live next door. They have to live with that on-going issue.

Renfrewshire Council has no intention of enforcing any of the legislation that is available to it for fear of ending up with responsibility for the building. Rather than try to find alternative solutions, it just leaves the building as it is. There is legislation available, but no one appears to want to take responsibility. The minister is correct that everyone who is involved in the process needs to show leadership, but some of our communities feel that there is no help. There is an issue with listed buildings and the planning process. Historic Environment Scotland does its job and desperately tries to save buildings, but councils tend to run away from the responsibilities. There needs to be more input from local communities so that they feel that they are being listened to and that things can change.

I welcome the fact that the Scottish Government wants the planning system to increase the delivery of high-quality housing developments through a quicker, more accessible and efficient process. That would be helpful, but my problem is that developers and local authorities would prefer to build on greenbelt land or build new schools and further infrastructure rather than to look at alternative options. Planners and developers would rather move people out of our towns and cities and build on what they deem to be easier sites.

Brownfield sites in certain towns are too difficult and risky for developers, but when brownfield sites are in leafy suburbs or certain cities, people spend years pushing plans through the system, no matter how difficult it is to do that.

We need a system that makes it easier to develop and regenerate our towns and cities. We need a can-do attitude that pushes planners away from their risk-averse ways. I am not saying that we should be reckless; I am saying that we need to rise to the challenge and create the flexibility in the system that will help to redevelop our communities. We do not need a system that is patchy, at best.

I therefore welcome the fact that the Scottish Government wants Scotland’s planning system to lead and inspire change by making clear plans for the future. To achieve that, we can simplify and strengthen development planning, by aligning community planning and spatial planning and by introducing a requirement for development plans to take account of the wider community, so that local people get the opportunity to ensure that the planning system delivers what they want.

As I said, what I want is development of our town centre. That is what the public wants for the historic buildings that I mentioned. I could mention more buildings, such as the old fire station, across from my constituency office, which has not been occupied in my lifetime—and that did not begin yesterday, Presiding Officer.

Our approach should ensure that communities have a new right to come together to prepare local plans, so that they have the opportunity to plan their own places. Such plans should form part of the statutory local development plan—that is important. Such an approach will empower people and ensure that they can move towards getting what they want for their communities. It can and should change the imbalance in the current system.

The Scottish Government proposes to discourage repeat applications and improve planning enforcement. Now we are talking. Improving enforcement would help in many of the cases that I have experienced.

As I said, how we deal with historic buildings is extremely important to me. The world-famous Thomas Coats memorial church is in the west end of Paisley. It is a massive building and it is regarded as the Baptist cathedral of Europe—if the Baptist church has that type of structure. It has been part of the Paisley skyline for more than 100 years. Built in the Gothic revival style in red sandstone, it has a striking crowned steeple that is 200ft from the ground, and it seats 1,000 people—