Purpose

The report sets out and seeks consideration of
the Evidence Report prior to the submission of said report for
Gatecheck by the Scottish Government Division for Planning and
Environmental Appeals (DPEA). The Evidence Report is a collection
of all the information that must be considered before the Council
can embark on the preparation of the Proposed Local Development
Plan. The purpose of the evidence collected is to inform the plan
making process, and to provide a baseline from which planning
authorities can assess where development should take place in their
areas.

Content

Agreed (1) to voice concern that the LDP is
too restrictive in respect of rural cohesive communities and that
there is a need to invest more in our rural villages and make our
smaller communities more sustainable, particularly where there is
still a strong reliance on the need to have your own
transportation, (2) that the Plan is too restrictive in relation to
building in the countryside and should recognise that development
in the countryside should not be limited to those associated in
farm work only, (3) that organic growth be encouraged in identified
settlements with zoned land, (4) to encourage staff to engage with
communities in developing Local Place Plans so that these concerns
can be addressed, (5) to highlight the need for the renewables
section of the Plan to be further developed to include
consideration of cumulative effects of renewables, (6) to caution
the use of ‘climate and emergency’ together, and (7) to
provide a copy of the powerpoint
presentations as made available at the Seminars in 2024 to Cllr
McWhinnie directly, as requested