Environment and Rural Development Committee, 18 Jan 2006
Meeting date: Wednesday, January 18, 2006
Official Report
155KB pdf
Work Programme
I wanted to include this item on our agenda because members will recall from our away day in the autumn that we discussed the then forthcoming Planning etc (Scotland) Bill. We had an informal discussion about whether we would be the secondary committee on that bill. The matter was raised at one of our last meetings before Christmas and I asked Mark Brough to do some background work on what was happening with the bill. It was important to bring that back to the committee, given our discussions.
The paper that has been circulated includes a briefing on how the Communities Committee is dealing with the Planning etc (Scotland) Bill, as there is a read-across to environmental issues. The key thing to note is that there is no secondary committee as such to deal with the bill, although the Parliamentary Bureau has appointed the Local Government and Transport Committee to consider specifically business improvement districts. However, there are issues that are relevant to our work. The Communities Committee's process appears to involve taking evidence from witnesses in the round. Rather than come before this committee, environmental issues will therefore be dealt with by non-governmental organisations in that committee's meetings.
There are possible issues relating to national scenic areas that central Government in Scotland has been considering for the past decade. The Executive has signalled its intention to publish a consultation paper on national scenic areas by the end of January, with a view to amending the bill at stage 2. I flag that up to colleagues because I would like the committee to keep an eye on that—it is obviously a big issue for us in our consideration of environmental legislation. We thought that such issues might arise with the Nature Conservation (Scotland) Bill, but they did not and we were therefore unable to consider them. I expect the minister to write to the conveners of the Communities Committee and the Environment and Rural Development Committee to bring us up to speed with his intentions, which would let us consider matters before stage 2. As I said, I wanted to give members an update on how the Communities Committee is dealing with the Planning etc (Scotland) Bill and thought that it was important to flag up that matter—which Mark Ruskell has previously raised with me—for the Official Report. It is important to bring everyone up to speed on what is happening.
I also expect members to have a lot of questions about crofting, which Maureen Macmillan and Rob Gibson want to say something about. They have previously raised crofting issues with us.
I hope that the Communities Committee is aware of concerns about the impact of planning on crofting, which we have discussed in the committee and privately. Can we get assurances from that committee that it is aware of the impact of planning on crofting?
Colleagues will remember that we had a lengthy discussion when the minister appeared in front of us; Maureen Macmillan and Rob Gibson raised quite a few planning issues. I suggest that I ensure that we communicate with reference to the Official Report of that meeting. We could copy the minister into our correspondence about the concerns that we expressed. That evidence could then be formally considered as part of the evidence on the Planning etc (Scotland) Bill and the cross-cutting issues could be properly considered. Are members happy with that approach, or is there anything in particular that you want on the agenda?
I am reasonably happy, but we had limited time with the minister. We could further explore the relationship between township plans and the use of common grazings, and how planning affects that relationship. Whether plans in the crofting community or planning procedures relating to the ultimate destiny of a particular piece of land have priority must be decided. Recent cases, such as the Taynuilt case, point in the direction of planning procedures having precedence. That must be sorted out.
Yes. That is loud and clear.
For members' information, we expect the forthcoming crofting bill to be introduced by the end of February, which would allow us to consider its proposals before stage 2 of the Planning etc (Scotland) Bill—evidence will still be being taken on the stage 1 report for that bill at that point. As long as we flag up the issues in advance, we will have a little bit of time when the crofting bill is introduced.
Is it intended that we take formal evidence on issues relating to national scenic areas?
I will come back to the committee on that once I receive a letter from the minister. I simply wanted to ensure that members are up to speed with what is happening. I did not appreciate exactly what the timescales were and wanted to ensure that people who are interested in our work could see what we were doing.
I am conscious that today's meeting has been lengthy, so I thank colleagues who have stayed to its bitter end.
Meeting closed at 12:49.