You are viewing 1 of your 1 free articles
Scottish government launches new ‘planning hub’ to fast-track decisions and boost development
The Scottish government is launching a new ‘planning hub’ to help boost development and green energy opportunities across the country.
It said the hub will support planning authorities to improve their resourcing, skills and capacity to deliver decisions “promptly”.
The hub will be based in Annan at the site of a former nuclear power plant called Chapelcross.
READ MORE
It will initially focus on improving planning consent speed for hydrogen developments until March 2025.
Chapelcross is the site of a multimillion-pound, net zero-focused development, which includes plans for hydrogen production storage, advanced manufacturing, and energy and enterprise campuses.
Scotland’s minister for public finance Ivan McKee visited the site to launch the hub.
He said: “Communities across Scotland benefit from a planning system that is efficient, effective and well-resourced.
“The planning hub will utilise and build capacity and skills to enable good quality development that improves places and quality of life, while growing our economy and supporting the transition to net zero.
“In the first instance, it will have a focus on hydrogen applications – a vital industry that Scotland is embracing as we diversify our energy supply.”
Last year, government statistics showed that the Scottish planning system saw average decision times for major housing projects fall 28% last year, while the number of applications fell by 21%.
However, the Scottish planning system is still nearly 5% slower than it was pre-COVID (2019-20), despite processing 45% fewer large applications.
Earlier this year, Inside Housing reported that affordable housing starts and approvals in Scotland fell to a 10-year low in 2023, according to the latest government statistics.
