Decision Maker: Buchan Area Committee

Outcome: For Determination

Is Key Decision?: No

Is Callable In?: No

Date of Decision: April 22, 2025

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