On 5 December 2017, Scottish Minister for Local Government and Housing, Kevin Stewart, stood before the Chamber of the Scottish Parliament to deliver a Ministerial Statement on planning and inclusive growth. He did this in the context of the recently submitted Planning Bill, which has now been laid before Parliament.
Mr Stewart spoke of the need for effective planning in Scotland, both in terms of its impact on communities and the wider economy, and dedicated the Scottish Government to proactively acting and engaging with all stakeholders to achieve this. He also noted the importance of context and argued that Brexit acted as another spur to improving Scotland’s planning process which, despite Mr Stewart acknowledging progress, still, in his view, had much to be improved upon.
Throughout his address, the Minister emphasised the importance of community engagement and the linking-up of different stakeholders and all of civic Scotland. Furthermore, he argued that the Bill currently before Parliament was focused on promoting inclusive, community-oriented growth, and vital to securing investment. Mr Stewart was also keen to stress that the Bill would also help the Scottish Government to achieve its goals in community empowerment and community input, especially, according to the Minister, by creating a statutory link between community and space planning.
While the majority of Mr Stewart’s address focused on the thematic content of the Bill, he did briefly touch upon the issue of short-term lets. The Minister acknowledged that there were concerns in some sectors about short-term lets but cautioned Parliament to listen to the findings of the Expert Panel once they are published, and also called for action only when there is “robust evidence” showing a need to act. There were no further explicit mentions of short-term letting in the Minister’s speech or in the subsequent round of questions.
Also of note was Kevin Stewart’s reiteration that there would be no inclusion of a third party right of appeal in the planning process under the Bill as proposed.
When the question session began, Scottish Conservative Housing and Communities spokesman, Graham Simpson, criticised the Bill for the impact that he foresaw it having on local authorities, particularly in terms of the infrastructure levy in the Bill. However, the Minister refuted Mr Simpson’s concerns, maintaining that local councils would be properly resourced and would not suffer as a result of the Bill.
Labour housing spokesperson, Pauline McNeill, also raised some concerns with the Bill. She raised the issue of remedies for communities who have planning decisions go against them and slammed the Bill as lacking the openness and transparency needed.
Furthermore, Green MSP and critic of short-term rentals, Andy Wightman, took the opportunity to speak during the debate. However, he did not speak about short-term lets specifically but focused on the issue of the third party right of appeal. He argued that the measures proposed would be corrosive to the empowerment of communities in the planning process. The Minister noted his disagreement with Mr Wightman on this issue and claimed that the Bill provided robust protection for local communities in the process.
With thanks to Halogen Communications.