MSPs have been urged to think again about the ‘eye-watering’ financial implications of the new Planning Bill currently making its way through the Scottish Parliament.
The Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI) Scotland issued its warning after the possible total cost associated with the provisions now included in the Bill – set out in a Financial Memorandum – rose to over a billion pounds.
RTPI Scotland said these figures could lead to a planning service that is unable to function properly.
Craig McLaren, the RTPI’s director of Scotland and Ireland said, “The new duties and responsibilities included in the current Bill will have a massive financial impact on planning authorities, developers and communities. None of them have funded attached to them and their imposition could cause the planning service to grind to a halt entirely.
“There is surely a need now for MSPs to look again at whether the 91 new duties and responsibilities introduced during the scrutiny of the Bill are an essential part of it or whether they could be introduced through new and existing policy provisions or secondary legislation and regulations.”
