The Town and Country Planning system plays a key role in protecting and enhancing our natural, cultural and built heritage. However, experience of working with the planning system leads us to believe that unless specific changes are made to the existing planning system it will increasingly fail to deliver for Scottish people and their environment.
The Scottish Executive has indicated its intention to publish a planning white paper in the spring of 2005 and to introduce a planning bill before the end of this parliamentary session. In order to restore public confidence and create a planning system that reflects the needs of the 21st century we recommend that the following five-point plan be incorporated into the Executive’s proposals for change.