SNH PLANNING REVIEW REPORT OUT

18th February 2008

A report into the future handling of planning casework by Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) has today (18 February 2008) been published on the SNH website. The report was commissioned from Heriot-Watt University to help SNH to make as effective a contribution as possible to Scotland's new planning regime.

SNH has a statutory duty to give advice to planning authorities in Scotland when asked to do so. Since 2003 the number of planning cases referred to SNH annually for comment has risen by about 60%. Many of the cases have not involved any important issues for biodiversity, landscape or outdoor recreation. The considerable amount of work involved in assessing them has also diverted SNH staff from other work. The SNH board was therefore keen to see whether, within the new framework of the Planning etc (Scotland) Act 2006, SNH could streamline its involvement in the planning system while still protecting the natural heritage.

The report confirms the importance of SNH's role within the planning system, finding that planning authorities value highly the objective and comprehensive advice that it provides. It does, however, identify several ways in which SNH's efforts could be more sharply focussed and the responsibility for safeguarding and enhancing the environment could be more widely shared amongst relevant bodies, including planning authorities themselves. The report suggests actions to achieve these goals, including appropriate training for local authority staff. SNH's board will consider these recommendations shortly and any SNH action will be put in place to coincide with Scotland-wide changes to the planning system such as e-planning. The report can be found on the SNH website -
HERE

John Thomson, director of strategy and communications at SNH, said: "The planning system has a vital role to play in delivering the sort of Scotland that we want in the future, as laid out in the Scottish Government's five strategic objectives. We at SNH attach great importance to the contribution that we make to the planning system and are pleased that our partners value our input so highly. But we know too that the system can and should improve, and we are keen to do our bit in making it more efficient and more effective. The recommendations in this report will, we are confident, help us in that effort.

"We would like to thank everyone who took part in this review process for their contributions. Our board will be considering over the next couple of months how best to turn ideas into action. But in the meantime we would welcome any further comments that anyone may wish to submit in the light of the report's findings and suggestions. They should phone or email them to Richard Ferguson at our Battleby office (01738 444177) Richard.Ferguson[AT]snh.gov.uk ."