Planning permission and planning policy
Planning permission overrides the need for a felling licence, tree
preservation orders and the protection afforded by other
designations, once it has been granted. The planning system is
important and it is essential to understand how it works. Most cases
of woods under threat which the Woodland Trust deals with relate to
planning applications for development affecting ancient woods,
parkland and individual ancient trees.
The planning system works hand in hand with the felling licence
system. Felling trees and clearing the land does not in itself require
planning permission. The planning authority could only prevent that
from happening by serving an emergency tree preservation order.
However, felling may require a felling licence.
The planning system consists of two parts: planning policy and
development control (increasingly known as development management).
- Planning policy is produced by central and local government to
guide future development in an organised and coordinated manner.
- Development control over individual planning proposals is
operated by local planning authorities, which must make their
decisions within the framework set out by the forward planning
system
Permitted development
covers certain classes of development which do not require a planning
application.
Development covers building work, and changes of use of buildings
and land
National planning policy guidance
The Scottish Executive sets out national guidance in National planning
policy guidance (NPPGs) supplemented by Planning advice notes (PANs),
which give more detailed advice and guidance on best practice for
subject areas.
NPPG14 on Nature conservation states: “planning
authorities should seek to protect trees, groups of trees and areas of
woodland where they have natural heritage value or contribute to the
character or amenity of a particular locality. Ancient and
semi-natural woodlands have the greatest value for nature
conservation” (NPPG14, para 51),
PAN60 on Natural heritage provides
further guidance on trees and woods.
Local development plans
There are 32 unitary authorities in Scotland (and one national park),
responsible for all planning functions in their areas. Each is
required to produce a structure plan (and an Indicative forestry strategy
- IFS), either exclusively for its area or jointly with other
councils. All councils are responsible for producing local plans for
the whole of their area. Scottish local authorities can also produce
subject local plans. Examples include an urban nature conservation
subject local plan (Dundee) and minerals subject local plans (North
East Fife and the Scottish Borders).
Indicative forestry strategies
IFSs are a link between forestry (generally outside the planning
remit) and the planning system. IFSs generally focus on new planting -
and sometimes management, rather than protection of the existing
resource. They are an integral part of approved structure plans in
Scotland and the whole of Scotland except the Lothians is covered by
an approved IFS.
What you can do
Plans are generally produced in consultation draft form (often
replaced or preceded by an issues report), before a formal finalised
draft is published. After consultation period, the planning authority
considers any representations, and may issue proposed changes in an
attempt to overcome at least some of the objections and then publish
subsequent drafts.
If you are concerned about a specific development proposal, you need
to check what stage the plan is at. If you can still feed comments in
on the development proposal which may be included in the plan, then
the earlier in the process the better. You can feed comments in
through formal consultation procedures as set out by the council.
You need to check the details of the development proposal set out in
the plan. It is also helpful to check what protection ancient woods
and trees have under the plan and the details of the indicative
forestry strategy (if one has been produced). If the proposal is not
included in the plan or is contrary to general policies this will add
a lot of weight to your campaign.
If the development has been approved in a previous plan and the land
is designated for that use, then you need to engage with the
development control system, which involves objecting to specific
planning applications (see Planning permission).
You can comment on development plans even if you are not concerned
about a specific proposal. Ensuring the plan contains the best
possible protective policies for woodland and trees will pre-empt
development proposals that could lead to their damage or loss. When
commenting on development plans you can refer to national planning
policy guidance.
Find out more
- Your local council’s website, planning policy office or local library
should be able to provide you with details of the local development
plan.
-
A guide to the planning system in Scotland is available
online
click
here or by telephoning
08457 741741 and asking for the Planning Helpline
- A Planning Bill will be introduced into Parliament in early
2004, this may affect some of the above detail.
Related sections
Disclaimer.
This information is based on the experiences of the
Woodland Trust and Ancient Tree Forum in dealing with cases of woods
and trees under threat. While its content is intended to broaden
understanding of the process, the Woodland Trust and Ancient Tree
Forum do not accept liability for any errors or omissions or for any
loss arising from use of the information contained herein by other
parties. In any circumstances outside the knowledge and competence of
an individual, he or she should always seek advice from an appropriate
qualified professional such as a surveyor or solicitor depending on
the case. None of the information on this web-page is to be relied
upon as a statement of fact.
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