Planning policy and planning agreements

Abstract

Recent years have seen a steady increase in the use of agreements in the development control process. The use of agreements has given rise to considerable controversy and, in an effort to defuse this, the Department of the Environment and the Scottish Development Department issued guidelines. Amongst other things, these recommend that planning authorities should, where appropriate, give guidance in development plans about the circumstances in which they intend to seek to impose obligations through agreements. This paper examines the extent to which this guidance has been followed by planning authorities in Scotland. It shows that structure plans are increasingly making provision regarding the funding of collective infrastructure and that some local plans are making explicit provision arising from detailed planning control policies. The paper points out that the use of development plans in this way brings the pursuit of such benefits within the Secretary of State's jurisdiction. It also provides an opportunity for public participation in an area where the public have often previously been excluded.