Chapter 1: Introduction

Two people looking at a map

The Edinburgh City Local Plan

1.1 The Edinburgh City Local Plan sets out the Council's policies to guide development in the city and its proposals for specific sites. The Plan covers the whole of the urban area, and part of its rural, Green Belt fringe. A second local plan, the Rural West Edinburgh Local Plan, covers the remainder of the Council's area, generally west of the City Bypass. Figure 1.1 shows how the Council's area is divided between these two plans. The Edinburgh City Local Plan is a replacement for five existing local plans, prepared at various times since 1992, covering different parts of the same area.

1.2 The Local Plan has been prepared within the wider, strategic framework set by the Edinburgh and the Lothians Structure Plan 2015 for the City of Edinburgh Council area and that of the three Lothian councils. This was approved by the Scottish Ministers in 2004. The Local Plan has the same end date in view, i.e. 2015.

1.3 The purpose of the Local Plan is to:

provide a clear basis for determining planning applications
allocate land to meet needs and targets set out in the Structure Plan
provide a clear framework for regeneration strategies prepared by the Council, other public sector agencies and developers
provide support for wider strategies of the Council, particularly the Local Transport Strategy, and help infrastructure providers to plan for the future.

1.4 The Local Plan and the Structure Plan together make up the development plan for the area that they both cover. Planning legislation states that decisions on planning applications and other planning matters should: 'be made in accordance with the development plan unless material considerations indicate otherwise' (Section 25 and 37(2) of the Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act 1997).

Figure 1.1 Edinburgh Local Plan Boundaries

Figure 1.1: Edinburgh Local Plan Boundaries

National Planning Policy Guidance

1.5 Local plans are expected to be consistent with national planning policy and advice issued by the Scottish Government. This identifies how the planning system can support the Executive's wider objectives for sustainable development, economic competitiveness, social justice, environmental quality, design and integrated transport. A range of national documents are of relevance to the Local Plan area, including Scottish Planning Policies (SPPs), Planning Advice Notes (PANs), Designing Places and Scottish Historic Environment Policy. The Local Plan has been prepared in line with the content of these documents.

National Planning Framework for Scotland

1.6 The Scottish Executive published the National Planning Framework for Scotland (NPF) in 2004. This sets out the Executive's policy on the long term spatial development of Scotland up to the year 2025. The NPF recognises that managing pressure for economic and housing growth are the key challenges for planning in Edinburgh and highlights the importance of placing new development in sustainable locations. The second National Planning Framework for Scotland was issues in June 2009. This refers to the national significance of th Edinburgh Waterfront regeneration proposals, described as one of the largest urban regeneration projects in Europe.

The New Planning Act, 2006

1.7 New planning legislation, the Planning etc. (Scotland) Act 2006, was brought into force in 2009. This introduces major changes to the planning system and how local plans (to be called ‘local development plans’ (LDPs)) are prepared. It is likely that work will start on the City of Edinburgh Council’s first LDP in 2011 and that this will cover the whole Council area, replacing both this and the Rural West Edinburgh local plans. This local plan has been prepared with some of the principles of an LDP in mind: it takes a strategic approach, has been kept as short as possible, focuses on key issues and leaves more detailed matters to be dealt with in supplementary guidance.

Community Involvement

1.8 A wide range of people representing amenity groups, service providers, residents, landowners, developers, government agencies and others have been involved in producing the plan and helping to shape its contents at various stages. The Plan was finalised in 2007 following preparation and publication of a draft in 2006 and consideration by the Council of comments submitted in response. Objections to the finalised Plan were dealt with by a public local inquiry held in 2008. This version of the Plan incorporates a number of modifications proposed in 2009, following consideration of the enquiry recommendations.The process is a lengthy one, and Figure 1.2 helps explain the steps involved.

Table 1.2 ECLP Programme

Year	Progress
2004	Notice of Intention to prepare plan published
2005	Issues paper published
2006	Local plan drafted. approved for consultation consultation May-June Strategic Environmental Assessment scoping report prepared environmental report prepated & published (November)
2007-2008	Local plan finalised (March) placed on deposit objections considered modified proposals published public local enquiry held to deal with unresolved objections
2009	Plan adopted

Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA)

1.9 All new local plans must now be the subject of a strategic environmental assessment. The purpose is to identify the effects that policies and proposals in a plan will have on the environment with a view to helping to promote sustainable development. The findings have to be published in an environmental report. A strategic environmental assessment has been undertaken for the consultative draft version of this Plan, and an interim environmental report was published in December 2006. The Plan has been amended to take account of responses to the interim report. The environmental report was finalised and published with the finalised Local Plan. It does not form part of the Plan, but groups and individuals were invited to consider the environmental report when deciding their own responses to the Plan.

Monitoring and Review

1.10 The monitoring of the effectiveness of policies in operation is an important part of the process. As far as possible, the policies in this Plan will facilitate monitoring and review. Monitoring will provide the information and evidence base necessary for the Council to review the Plan and keep it up-to-date. Formal monitoring reports will be prepared at regular intervals.

1.11 The planning legislation requires that the development plan – the structure plan and local plans – should be kept under review and up-to-date. The intention at the time of its approval was to review the Edinburgh and the Lothians Structure Plan 2015 and prepare a replacement for it by 2008. It was subsequently agreed by the structure plan authorities and the Scottish Ministers that a review by this date was not needed and would not be prepared. Instead, the Edinburgh and the Lothians Structure Plan 2015 will now be replaced by the strategic development plan to be prepared under the new, 2006 planning act for a wider area which includes the Scottish Borders and part of Fife (Council areas). This plan is likely to be submitted to the Scottish Ministers during 2011. It will, amongst other things, provide a detailed review of strategic housing land requirements for the area concerned and it will also set the framework for the review and eventual replacement of this local plan.

Using the Plan

1.12 The Plan consists of a Written Statement and a Proposals Map. The essence of the Plan is the policies and proposals for development and use of land. These are highlighted in the Written Statement to distinguish them from supporting text, and each is given its own reference. The Proposals Map shows which parts of the city are affected by particular policies. Planning legislation states that if there is a contradiction between the Written Statement and the Proposals Map, the provisions of the Written Statement shall prevail.

1.13 It is important to bear in mind that planning proposals will be considered 'in the round' - i.e. with reference to all the policies that may be relevant. Policies should not be taken out of context and will not be applied by the Council in isolation.

1.14 Policies are often expressed positively, in terms of what kinds of development will be permitted or encouraged. Where a policy states that certain types of development will be permitted, it should also be understood that failure to meet the Council's expectations and aspirations may provide grounds for refusal of planning permission. Where a policy states that 'it should be demonstrated that...', the applicant will usually be required to provide the further information necessary before a decision is made.