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"Single most important document" on land use in Aberdeenshire now out for consultation

Communities, residents and developers are amongst those being urged to take part in "real and meaningful" consultation on options for future development in Aberdeenshire.

Documents relating to the Main Issues Report (MIR) for the emerging Local Development Plan (LDP) for Aberdeenshire are available online now.

A special meeting of Aberdeenshire Council's Infrastructure Services Committee today (Thursday, April 30) approved public consultation arrangements for the MIR.

It is the latest step towards the creation of a final LDP for Aberdeenshire, which will set out ambitious long-term and site-specific visions for the area, and provide a practical framework within which the outcome of planning applications can be decided with a degree of certainty and efficiency.

The council hopes Scottish Ministers will approve a final LDP in early 2011, but there is a great deal of work to be done before then and consultation will play a major role.

Speaking after consultation arrangements for the MIR and associated documents were approved by councillors, ISC chairman, Peter Argyle said: "This consultation is incredibly important and everything is still open to change, so it's imperative that people in Aberdeenshire get involved and have their say.

"The Local Development Plan will affect the way Aberdeenshire develops for years to come, and so will have an impact on a great many people.

"We want this to be a genuine and very meaningful consultation and in that respect the Main Issues Report should provide a sound platform for the consultation process and the informed discussion of alternatives.

"The documents have been designed to try to get the best possible engagement with all sections of the community in Aberdeenshire and we want the widest range of people possible to comment on the options presented.

"This is such an important issue for individual communities and for Aberdeenshire as a whole, so I really hope people will get involved and have their say during the consultation period, which is part of an ambitious timetable to produce the final plan.

"While there are 20 specific questions throughout the MIR, we are sure that what is presented will raise significantly more issues than just those the questions ask, and we are happy to receive any representations on the report."

In March the ISC approved a Development Plan Scheme which set out a demanding timetable for the production of the LDP.

It is a key statutory document in terms of the new system of development planning introduced by the Planning (Scotland) Act 2006. It will provide Aberdeenshire's policies and land use allocations for the future delivery of the finalised Aberdeen City and Shire Structure Plan.

The Structure Plan itself is expected to be approved by the time a Proposed Local Development Plan for Aberdeenshire is produced, expected in February 2010, but the options presented in the MIR should be flexible enough to allow changes to the Finalised Structure Plan to be accommodated.

The MIR aims to highlight and promote discussion on key areas of policy change, and to allow discussion of the merits of different sites which could be taken forward for development.

It contains a series of options, including a set of preferred options, for future development in Aberdeenshire. (See notes to editors)

These options are derived from consultation with a variety of groups, including community councils, the Citizens Panel and the development industry.

The report includes a series of 20 questions to guide consultees and is expected to be the main focus of engagement and consultation on the LDP.

The next stage of the plan-making process, the Proposed Plan, will be written in light of the responses received to the MIR.

A range of policy options, including the development of new approaches to certain policy areas, such as rural development and enabling development, are presented in the MIR.

Land allocation options are also set out - these present the council's initial analysis of more than 800 development proposals received on behalf of landowners, developers and community groups.

It is important to note that the options presented in the MIR remain the professional advice of officers as to the way in which development could take place - consultees will have opportunity to influence decisions councillors will ultimately make for sites and to have a say on the policies to be included.

Councillor Argyle told the special meeting, to which all Aberdeenshire councillors were invited: "We have to get out and talk to our community councils, communities, developers, talk to everybody and tell them: ‘it's the single most important document coming your way this decade and you have to get involved - if you do like it, say so, and if you don't, say that too."

Aberdeenshire Council's Director of Planning and Environmental Services, Dr Christine Gore, said: "The next Local Development Plan needs to be a plan for the communities of Aberdeenshire and not Aberdeenshire Council's plan.

"If we're going to achieve that, then this consultation does need to be real and meaningful. There is nothing in this plan that is not open to change - the only given is that it has to comply with the Aberdeen City and Shire Structure Plan."

Councillors today agreed to the publication of the Aberdeenshire Local Development Plan Main Issues Report for public consultation, for seven weeks, starting on May 18 and ending on July 6.

They also agreed the publication of the plan's Monitoring Report and Environmental Report to support the consultation, and to the publication of an explanatory leaflet for consultees.

The consultation process will be supported by a series of 20 public meetings at venues across Aberdeenshire from May 25 to June 18, with the aim of explaining the options presented and encouraging engagement.

Copies of the Main Issues Report and supporting documents will now be directly mailed to around 320 community and industry stakeholders and will also be lodged in libraries and area offices.

They will also be posted on Aberdeenshire Council's website as soon as possible, meaning the consultation effectively starts ahead of the formal period.

Information dedicated to the consultation can also be found on Aberdeenshire Council's website at: www.aberdeenshire.gov.uk/ldp