Planning for Great Places - Service Statement

Planning for a nature-rich future

Our planning services put nature at the heart of Scotland’s green recovery. We engage with the planning system to help deliver the right development in the right place. We support the use of nature based solutions to help tackle economic, environmental and social challenges; and mitigate and adapt to climate change.

We provide advice on incorporating natural infrastructure into development, helping to create sustainable places that secure multiple benefits to people, business and nature. In partnership with the other key agencies and stakeholders, we will work collaboratively to demonstrate how nature can support good development and help make successful, high-quality places where people can thrive.

Our services aim to provide clarity for investment and help businesses maximise the contribution that nature makes to a wellbeing economy.

This Service Statement explains how we work with others to:

• Share our knowledge about Scotland’s nature
• Help business increase investment in nature
• Support plan and place-making
• Provide advice that enables good development

Sharing our knowledge about Scotland’s nature

Our standing advice, guidance, webinars and training aim to help developers and planners identify good sites and designs that minimise the impacts on nature and maximise the benefits that nature can provide.

• Standing advice and guidance

Our guidance helps planners and developers to secure positive outcomes for nature, landscapes and people. Understanding how a development may impact on nature, and the opportunities that nature offers, enables the design of good developments that are located in the right places.

• Webinars

Creating opportunities to share good practice by taking part in live engagement and discussion on-line

• Training and learning

We support Universities, colleges and professional development to deliver the next generation of developers and planners.

Helping business increase investment in nature

By working in partnership with businesses and other agencies and regulators, we aim to support sector investment strategies, City Deal and other regional economic partnerships deliver the green recovery and a long term wellbeing economy based on a healthy natural environment.

For this we:

• Provide evidence of the benefits and competitive advantage that nature-based solutions can provide to business and industry
• Help enterprise, business and industry sectors develop strategic frameworks that support greater investment in nature and balance economic, social and environmental objectives
• Support increased use of natural capital accounting and environmental green finance

Supporting plan and place-making

We want to help the planning system become the cornerstone of Scotland’s nature-rich future and provide greater certainty for investment. We support a plan-led approach that integrates development with natural infrastructure and uses nature-based solutions to help tackle environmental and social challenges.

In partnership with planners, key agencies, communities, developers and other business sectors, we are:

• Contributing to the development of the fourth National Planning Framework to ensure that the long-term strategy for Scotland maximises the benefits from nature
• Embedding use of Strategic Environmental Assessments and Habitats Regulations Appraisals into the early evaluation of development scenarios. We help to inform and support plan and place-making that secures positive effects for people and nature
• Helping prepare local development plans and other place-plans to use nature-based solutions to achieve diverse places where there are more opportunities for people to connect with nature

Providing advice that enables good development

We provide advice to planners, developers and other interests to help achieve the right development in the right place. We use the Scottish Regulators’ Strategic Code of Practice to make sure our advice is:

• Enabling: We want to engage with developers as early as possible in the development process and before detailed designs have been prepared. We provide advice on Environmental Impact Assessments and Habitats Regulations Appraisals to help find solutions that achieve the right development in the right place.
• Alert to other interests: We will provide advice on the effects of development proposals on Scotland’s nature to help inform decision-making by planning authorities and Scottish Ministers. In doing so, we respect other interests and will seek to understand their needs and aspirations, as well as the challenges they face.
• Proportionate: We focus our advice on developments that have the greatest potential to affect Scotland’s nature (see our checklist below). We object or recommend planning obligations only where impacts raise issues of national interest. We ask for information only where it is needed to make a decision.

Find out more

Our planning role and consulting us
When to consult NatureScot: Checklist
Our response timescales
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