THE Scottish Government has announced moves to enhance the nation’s planning system by utilising specialist expertise to help boost development and green energy opportunities.
The Planning Hub will support planning authorities to improve resourcing, skills and capacity to deliver planning determinations ‘promptly’. It will initially focus on improving consenting speed for hydrogen developments until March 2025.
Scotland’s public finance minister Ivan McKee visited Chapelcross in Annan, the site of a multi-million pound, net zero-focused development that includes plans for hydrogen production storage, advanced manufacturing, and energy and enterprise campuses.
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, whilst 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.”
Sarah Gadsden, chiefexecutive, Improvement Service added, “It is good to see the Scottish Government highlight the important role of planning in achieving net zero and their subsequent investment in building capacity in the sector. We are very pleased to host the hub as it complements the Improvement Service’s broader approach to supporting public service reform and the work of our National Planning Improvement team supporting planning authorities.”
