|
Scottish Government's Proposals for a planning hierarchy
SESA responded to the Scottish Government’s proposals for a planning hierarchy. This hierarchy would define planning applications into categories of national, major and local development, thereby allowing planning authorities to apportion resources to the size of development.
The consultation focused on defining major development and proposed that such applications should be subject to pre-application consultation with local communities and a report of the consultation processes should accompany a planning application. The Scottish Government proposed that waste management development with a capacity over 25 000 tonnes per annum should be major development.
In its response SESA suggested that the proposed thresholds were too low and would effectively define the vast majority of waste management planning applications as major development. The consultation’s proposals were clearly at odds with the Scottish Government’s commitment to promptly deliver a network of waste management facilities to secure Scotland’s compliance with EU Directives on waste.
Instead, SESA suggested the definition of major waste management development should be limited to development which falls within the scope of the EIA regulations.
SESA's Response
|
