My summer intern project for Lichfields’ Edinburgh office looked at the application of NPF4 policies to Major Planning Applications in Edinburgh and the Lothians.
The introduction of Scotland’s fourth National Planning Framework on the 13th of February 2023 has had significant impact on many local authorities’ planning decisions. From contradictory local development plans to court cases and confusion, the implementation of NPF4 hasn’t been all smooth sailing. Through researching the major planning applications validated by the four Edinburgh and Lothian local authorities since the publication of NPF4, we have sought to understand which NPF4 policies are influencing planning decisions most and how different local authorities are interpreting and using NPF4 to discuss and decide major planning applications.
From the research, it is clear to see that the policies referenced most belonged on the whole to the ‘Sustainable Places’ section of the framework (Policies 1-13). Policy 14 Design, quality and place is the exception to this. The policy most readily utilised was Policy 3 Biodiversity, used more often than even Policy 1 that looks to
“encourage, promote and facilitate development that addresses the global climate emergency”
[1]. Policy 3 has more tangible outcomes than some of the other policies and specifically seeks to enhance and protect the biodiversity of development sites and surrounding areas. Through this policy developments are required to deliver positive effects and strengthen the nature of the site. Likely due to its more objective approach and the priority given in NPF4 to the climate and nature crises, Policy 3 has been both the most used policy when granting planning permission, and the most used policy in refusal decisions as well.
Two policies that also garnered attention in many committee reports were Policy 13 and Policy 14. Focused on ‘Sustainable Transport’ and ‘Design, Quality and Place’, respectively, Policy 13 and 14 reinforced a large number of proposals and were influential in many of the development decisions. Policy 14 and its particular emphasis on the six qualities of successful places informed how many of the Councils approached different proposals. Throughout the proposal evaluations, reference was made to the six qualities, which seek to create healthy, pleasant, connected, distinctive, sustainable, and adaptable places, and the impact of these on sites was considered heavily. ‘Sustainable Transport’ was also at the forefront of many considerations with great concern given to the accessibility and proximity of public transport links, reductions in private car reliance, and the promotion of sustainable travel practices, such as cycling.
As might be expected, the four local authorities all utilised and prioritised policies differently depending on the application. For example, Policy 14 Design, Quality and Place was referenced in 95% of Edinburgh’s reports compared to 11% of Midlothian’s. Instead, Midlothian was more focussed on proposals that impacted Policy 6 Forestry, Woodland, and Trees with 67% of committee reports citing Policy 6 in their decision making. Policy 7 Historic Assets and Places was, unsurprisingly, used the most in proposals and reports pertaining to sites in Edinburgh with 90% of committee reports placing significant weight on the impacts of the site on Edinburgh’s skyline, historic buildings, and UNESCO World Heritage status. Comparatively, the three Lothian local authorities referenced Policy 7 once each across all their major applications.
The relatively underused policies in the latter half of NPF4 may be reflective of the types of proposals submitted but it is interesting that combined, Policies 16-33 were referred to in committee reports a total of 87 times, compared to 229 mentions of Policies 1-15. Interestingly, technical policies such as Policy 19 Heat and Cooling, and Policy 24 Digital Infrastructure gained one mention between them. This could be strictly due to relevancy; however, it will be interesting to see if these policies receive more use over time.
In Edinburgh and the Lothians since NPF4 was adopted there have been 88 Major Planning Applications validated. Of these:
Mindful that Scottish Government’s latest figures reported a decline in major development applications and increasing decision times for Q2 of 2023/24
[2],we looked at whether or not Major applications were being decided within target timescales (4 months) since NPF4 was adopted. East Lothian came closest with an average of 4.5 months for decisions on 4 decided Major applications. Midlothian averaged 5.4 months for 10 decided Major applications, West Lothian 6.3 months for 6 decided Major applications and Edinburgh 7.6 months for 20 decided Major applications.
In terms of NPF4’s challenges, housing development, in particular, has taken a knock with several factors contributing to delays in the approval of developments. One such factor is NPF4’s new land allocation policy outlined in Policy 16 Quality Homes. Policy 16f) states that “
development proposals for new homes on land not allocated for housing in the LDP will only be supported in limited circumstances,”
[2] making it “
very difficult for housing sites not allocated in an LDP to be consented”.
[3] Our research found that out of 28 major housing applications across Edinburgh and the Lothians since the introduction of NPF4, only 28.6% have been decided. In comparison, out of all major applications validated across the four local authorities since NPF4’s introduction 45.5% have been decided.
In conclusion, the policies of NPF4 that have been most universally used in Edinburgh and the Lothians in determining major applications since the adoption of NPF4 have been:
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Policy 1. Tackling the climate and nature crises (59% of applications);
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Policy 2. Climate mitigation and adaptation (57% of applications);
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Policy 3. Biodiversity (76% of applications);
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Policy 7. Historic assets and places, this was specific to Edinburgh though (57% of applications);
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Policy 13. Sustainable transport (62% of applications); and
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Policy 14. Design, quality and place (62% of applications).
In terms of decision making:
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In total 88 applications have been made since the adoption of NPF4, 31 have been approved, 6 have been refused, 3 have been withdrawn and 48 remain undecided
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45% (39) have been for ‘other’ developments of which 51% have been approved and only 2 have been refused, 16 remain undecided
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32% (28) have been for ‘housing’ development of which only 4 have been approved and 3 have been refused, 20 reman undecided
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Only 13% of approved applications are ‘housing’ applications, 43% of undecided applications are ‘housing’ applications and 50% of refused applications are ‘housing’ applications.
My internship is at an end now, but if you wish to discuss any of the above please contact
Nicola Woodward in our Edinburgh office.
Image credit: via
[1] Scottish Government (2023) National Planning Framework 4. Page 36.
[2] Scottish Government (2023) National Planning Framework 4. Page 63.
[3] Scottish Construction Now (2023) NPF4 adding to Scotland’s planning woes. (LINK).
[4] Scottish Government (2024) Planning Applications Statistics 2023/24: Quarterly (April 2023 to September 2023). (LINK).
