Committee
Communities Committee, 17 Jan 2007
17 Jan 2007 · S2 · Communities Committee
Item of business
Community Engagement<br />(Draft Planning Advice Note)
I want to move on to the importance of pre-application consultation. Does the draft PAN place enough emphasis on how developers can carry out meaningful pre-application consultation?
In the same item of business
The Convener (Karen Whitefield):
Lab
I welcome everyone to the meeting.The only item on the agenda today is the draft planning advice note on community engagement, "Planning with People". The dr...
Clare Symonds (Scottish Environment LINK):
Good morning. I am from Friends of the Earth Scotland and I represent Scottish Environment LINK. I was not on the steering group.
Veronica Burbridge (Royal Town Planning Institute in Scotland):
Good morning. I represent the Royal Town Planning Institute in Scotland, where I work as the Scottish planning policy officer. I was not on the steering group.
Jean Charsley (Hillhead Community Council):
I am from Hillhead community council in Glasgow. I also sit on a community planning partnership as a community representative for several community councils....
Petra Biberbach (Planning Aid for Scotland):
I represent Planning Aid for Scotland. I was a member of the steering group.
Allan Lundmark (Homes for Scotland):
I am director of planning at Homes for Scotland, which is the representative organisation of the housebuilding industry in Scotland. My members build more th...
Harald Tobermann (Pilrig Residents Association):
I am the planning spokesman for Pilrig residents association. I am not its chairman, as some of the papers suggest. I first came to the committee in March la...
Alistair Stark (Royal Town Planning Institute in Scotland):
Good morning. I am a self-employed planning mediator. Today, I am here as the senior vice-convener of the Royal Town Planning Institute in Scotland. I am a m...
The Convener:
Lab
Thank you for introducing yourselves.As we heard, some of you sat on the steering group, and a number of you gave evidence on public involvement when the com...
Veronica Burbridge:
The Royal Town Planning Institute in Scotland was pleased with the consultation on the draft PAN, which was done in an open and inclusive manner. However, I ...
Tricia Marwick (Mid Scotland and Fife) (SNP):
SNP
I ask Petra Biberbach to update us on the six workshops that the Executive asked Planning Aid for Scotland to carry out with hard-to-reach groups. Were they ...
Petra Biberbach:
The work was important. It was brave of the Executive to ask us to go out with the draft PAN in the first instance. The groups that we wanted to engage with ...
Jean Charsley:
We think that the PAN has been improved in many ways following consultation. However, having sight of revisions is always lacking. People who have been consu...
Allan Lundmark:
I want to put the exercise in context. Those of us around the table who have been in planning for some time will remember the days when planning advice notes...
Alistair Stark:
I take my hat off to the Scottish Executive for achieving what it has achieved as a result of its public consultation process. The task is almost impossible....
Petra Biberbach:
The Executive has been brave in that it has chosen not only to consult the usual stakeholders but to try to reach all the communities, or at least some repre...
The Convener:
Lab
Do you think that the draft PAN goes some way towards meeting the needs of the intended audiences, principally communities, planning authorities, councillors...
Clare Symonds:
I reiterate what other people are saying. I welcome the PAN and recognise what a huge task we have ahead of us. For me, the chief purpose of community engage...
Jean Charsley:
The problem with the PAN is that it is trying to do three things at once and does them with varying success. It is trying to address things that are between ...
The Convener:
Lab
It would be helpful if you could.
Jean Charsley:
Many local authorities make great efforts to engage with people on local plans. I have reservations about development plans, as I said.The way in which indiv...
The Convener:
Lab
On that point, if the system is open and transparent, if developers are talking to communities and if there is genuine engagement and willingness to be part ...
Jean Charsley:
I agree with you and I think that people are willing to do that, but I am saying that there are some obstacles to that. The draft PAN mentions community plan...
Petra Biberbach:
This is not necessarily in response to what Jean Charsley has said, but we should remember that it is only a planning advice note that we are talking about. ...
Veronica Burbridge:
I agree that the PAN marks a very good start. However, each audience that it attempts to address will require further guidance. That links with Petra Biberba...
Allan Lundmark:
Looking at the current system, it is fairly easy to understand Jean Charsley's concerns about the way in which communities engage with the planning system, a...
Harald Tobermann:
I am going to be a bit more controversial than the previous speakers. As a member of the steering group, I supported the process and many of the elements of ...
Cathie Craigie (Cumbernauld and Kilsyth) (Lab):
Lab
Harald Tobermann said that the PAN and the guidance will not take effect for about two years, until the legislation is fully enacted. Would it not be useful ...
Harald Tobermann:
Absolutely. I fully agree that planning authorities and others should prepare, but I wonder whether a PAN is the right vehicle. Let us step back a bit. The p...
Dave Petrie (Highlands and Islands) (Con):
Con
I will ask about something that Jean Charsley said. Could your views possibly be coloured by your experience of the former situation? Community councils are ...