MyEDC

    Technical Notes 2023, Issue 20 - National Planning Framework 4

    • Report by:

      Ann Davie, Depute Chief Executive

    • TN Number:

      020-23

    • Subject:

      National Planning Framework 4

    • Responsible Officer:

      Alison Laurence, Team Leader – Land Planning Policy

    • Publication:

      This Technical Note will be published on the Council’s website following circulation to Members. Its contents may be disclosed or shared outwith the Council.

    Section

    1. Elected Members will be aware that the Scottish Government has been undertaking work to produce National Planning Framework 4 (NPF4).  This Technical Note provides a short update on the process to produce and adopt NPF4.
       
    2. As result of the Planning (Scotland) Act 2019, NPF4 will have a statutory footing and will form part of the Development Plan. NPF4 is arguably the cornerstone of the Planning (Scotland) Act 2019 reforms and will have a significant impact upon the day to day operation of both the development management and development planning functions. NPF4 contains policies on a range of topics that previously would have been matters for the LDP, but which will now be set out at a national rather than a local level. It will, alongside the East Dunbartonshire LDP2, be the key policy document against which development proposals and planning applications must comply.
    1. National Planning Framework 4 is a spatial strategy up until 2045 – the year of the Scottish Government’s target of reaching Net Zero. The central goal of the document now is to ensure that the planning system plays its part in achieving Net Zero. The policies in NPF4 are based on six overarching spatial principles:
    1. Just transition - We will empower people to shape their places and ensure the transition to net zero is fair and inclusive.
    2. Conserving and recycling assets - We will make productive use of existing buildings, places, infrastructure and services, locking in carbon, minimising waste, and building a circular economy.
    3. Local living - We will support local liveability and improve community health and wellbeing by ensuring people can easily access services, greenspace, learning, work and leisure locally.
    4. Compact urban growth - We will limit urban expansion so we can optimise the use of land to provide services and resources, including carbon storage, flood risk management, blue and green infrastructure and biodiversity.
    5. Rebalanced development - We will target development to create opportunities for communities and investment in areas of past decline, and manage development sustainably in areas of high demand.
    6. Rural revitalisation - We will encourage sustainable development in rural areas, recognising the need to grow and support urban and rural communities together.
    1. A Revised Draft NPF4 was laid before the Scottish Parliament for approval on 8 November 2022. A period of scrutiny of around nine weeks followed the laying of the draft, during which the revised NPF4 was debated by the Scottish Parliament before being subject to a vote in the chamber.
       
    2. The Scottish Parliament voted to approve the document as laid before them on 11 January 2023. The document as presented to Parliament constitutes the final version of NPF4 and no amendments were made to it during the period between the publication of the Revised Draft on 8 November 2022 and its approval by Parliament. It is anticipated that Scottish Ministers will adopt and publish NPF4 at 9 a.m. on 13 February 2023. At this point NPF4 will become part of the development plan.  Until 13 February 2023, NPF4 is not part of the development plan and the weight given to it in decision making is a matter for the decision maker. The Scottish Government consider that, because NPF4 has now been approved by the Scottish Parliament, and its adoption and publication (in its approved form) is the only outstanding action, the Framework would be considered as a significant material consideration during the period prior to its adoption. The NPF4 document can be found on the Scottish Government Website [opens in a new window]
       
    3. National Planning Framework 3 (NPF3) and Scottish Planning Policy (SPP) 2014 will be superseded upon the adoption of NPF4. The Clydeplan Strategic Development Plan (SDP) and any supplementary guidance issued in connection with it will also cease to have effect. SDPs including Clydeplan will be replaced in future by Regional Spatial Strategies (RSS). RSSs will not have any statutory status and therefore will not form part of the development plan. RSSs will instead feed into the planning process by influencing the preparation of relevant Local Development Plans and future iterations of the NPF.  Work on preparing RSSs will be expected to begin once statutory guidance is in place however the Scottish Government have suggested this may be in to 2024 before this is available.   
       
    4. A period of six weeks will follow the adoption of NPF4 on 13 February during which a legal challenge may be made.
      A legal challenge would add significant uncertainty to the planning system and an update will be provided should this happen. Any legal challenge must relate to the legal validity of NPF4 and not the merits of the policy content itself.
       
    5. The provisions of the 2019 Act state that in the event of any incompatibility between NPF4 and a Local Development Plan, whichever of them is later in date shall prevail. Therefore, as the East Dunbartonshire LDP2 has been adopted as of 28 November 2022, NPF4 should take precedence once that document has been fully adopted.
       
    6. On a strategic level NPF4 and LDP2 are broadly compatible. However, with regard to some more detailed matters there are some areas where there is a difference in the approach. Notwithstanding the above, LDP2 and its supporting Supplementary Guidance and Planning Guidance contain provisions in addition to those presented in NPF4, particularly for smaller developments. In this respect it is considered that LDP2 will in most cases remain a fundamental tool in the determination of planning applications. Officers from the Local Planning Policy team have provided information to development management on the differences between LDP2 and NPF4 so as to support the planning application determination process.
       
    7. The Chief Planner on 16 January 2023 confirmed that advice on transitional arrangements for Local Development Plans will be published in advance of NPF4 adoption. The Scottish Government also anticipates that finalised Local Development Plan Regulations and Guidance will come into force in spring 2023. It is anticipated that this guidance will provide further detail to explain how to reconcile any differences between an LDP and NPF4.
       
    8. Further updates will be provided to Elected Members as required as further information is provided by the Scottish Government and via work on the commencement of LDP3 and through Planning Board for the determining of Planning Applications.