Development plan amendment regulations: consultation

Appropriate introduction to the subject of this consultation, including relevant background information and a broad description of our approach to this topic, is set out in pages 3 and 4 of our consultation paper.

The context for the below questions is set out in paragraphs 15-26 of our consultation paper. 

The Scottish Ministers must by regulations set out the circumstances in which they consider that an amendment would result in a significant change to the policies and proposals for the development and use of land of the most recent National Planning Framework (NPF) such that would require that the National Planning Framework should be reviewed in full. 

However, our aim across our proposals for both the NPF and local development plan (LDP) amendment regulations is to be proportionate. We understand the resource burden reviewing these documents as a whole will have. As such, we envisage that the amendment process will be a more responsive and streamlined version of the full review process, whilst balancing the need for due process, including appropriate justification and consultation on the proposed amendment.

While, in practice, we expect to exercise the power to amend NPF  sparingly and only where the Scottish Ministers are satisfied that an amendment is required, there is a requirement to set out in regulation the circumstances or triggers in which a proposed change would require a full review. 

We propose to set the bar for a full review fairly high to ensure it would take a significant change to the most recent document to make a full review mandatory.