A New Local Plan For Sutherland

10th November 2005

This week sees the official start of work by Highland Council planners on a new Sutherland wide local plan. The Council is to leaflet every household and business address in the county to invite individual residents, community groups, local organisations, land owners and national agencies to make contributions to the preparation of the new plan.

The new Sutherland Local Plan will become a key part of the Council's corporate strategy for the county and will be the first single development plan for the whole of Sutherland in more than 30 years. It will provide a blueprint for future action and a statutory basis for important land use changes within the area over the next 5 to 10 years. As a more up to date guide for deciding planning applications, it will ensure that the planning of sites for new homes, industry and business, shops, schools and leisure uses are tied in with proposals for public services and infrastructure. It will also identify and protect important natural and man-made heritage features and the scope for local environmental improvements.

The new plan is required because all four of the existing local plans covering Sutherland are now more than five years old and planning authorities are now expected to keep their local plans up to date to address emerging development and environmental issues. In particular, there is mounting pressure to build new housing in many parts of the county, requiring more land to be earmarked for affordable and private dwellings.

The latest national population estimates indicate that after more than a decade of decline Sutherland~s population grew by 240 (or 1.8%) in the period 2001 to 2004, largely due to the effect of in-migration. A large proportion of in-migrants are in the 55-64 age group, many of whom might have retired early and/or moved to the area due to lower house prices and a better environment.

The new plan will forecast how the Area's population and household figures are expected to change in the future use this as a basis for calculating the need for housing. In preparing the plan, however, development constraints such as drainage, ground conditions, ownership and important crofting interests will be identified and ways of tackling these indicated to help ensure that the required number of houses can be built.

Another key concern is the low proportion of young adults, which is a Highland-wide issue, but particularly pronounced in Sutherland. The 16-24 age group, for example, only makes up 7.3% of the Sutherland population compared to 9.3% of the Highland population. Many move out of Highland to pursue higher or further education and training or to take up jobs. A survey of persons who left in the last 20 years suggested that 75% of them would like to return to the county if suitable jobs were available for them and their families. It is therefore important that the new plan helps encourage new employment opportunities and better community facilities to complement the provision of more housing and so help sustain existing communities.

The Scottish Executive recently issued advice urging the preparation of a new style of local plan, which will be far shorter and simpler in format and content than previous plans. It is also to take less time to prepare than previous plans. This follows a successful pilot by the Council of a more streamlined format in Wester Ross containing fewer policies, clearer (coloured) mapping and more emphasis on results and implementation.

Community consultation will concentrate on quality rather quantity to help make it more effective. The comments from the initial consultation up to Christmas 2005 will help the Council consider the need to set up specific focus groups to explore key local plan issues. Thereafter consultation will be a targeted on a limited number of site options with a series of exhibitions and workshops proposed for April and May 2006.

The public and other interests are to be kept regularly informed of progress over the period of preparing the plan by newsletters, updates via the web and the advertised availability of staff to meet any individuals or organisations with an interest in the Area. In addition to the initial circulation of leaflets with Ward Profiles to generate comments, the plan team has prepared Background Papers on Housing, Economic Development and the Environment. These will be available at local offices, Service Points, post offices and libraries as well as on the Council's website. Copies will also be circulated to the various local and national organisations that are also being consulted on the new plan.

The Council is also about to embark on consultation over the production of a Core Path Plan (CPP) for Sutherland, one of six throughout Highland. This plan, a statutory requirement under the duties of the Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003, is intended to provide the basic framework of routes sufficient for the purpose of giving the public reasonable access throughout their area. Communities, land managers and access takers will all being encouraged to have their say for suggesting suitable routes, especially those that surround settlements and tourist features, and for general comments about the access provision in their local area. Matt Dent, the Access Officer for Sutherland is developing this plan for the county and although not directly linked to the Local Plan process, the CPP consultations will take advantage of the public exhibitions planned for Spring 2006.

The plan team consists of Alan Ogilvie, Brian Mackenzie and Katie Briggs, based in Inverness, but working closely with the local Area office staff in Dornoch.

For more details contact Alan Ogilvie, Principal Planner, The Highland Council, Glenurquhart Road, Inverness IV3 5NX Tel. 01463 702262