Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI) Scotland has called for an urgent debate about how planning departments are funded, after it found the Planning (Scotland) Act 2019 could cost them up to £59 million over the next 10 years - in order to undertake the duties it contains.
According to the institute, the Act, which received Royal Assent in July, has outlined 49 new and unfunded duties on planning authorities. It estimates that this could cost between £12.2 million and £59.1 million.
RTPI Scotland know first hand that planning departments are already under severe financial pressures, as they have lost a quarter of staff and 40% of their budgets, just over the past 10 years.
Convenor at RTPI Scotland, Julia Frost, said, "this analysis shows that we need significant investment in planning services just to make sure that they comply with the law. This, combined with the fact that planning has suffered budget cuts more severely than other local government functions, means that we need an open and honest debate on how we resource planning services in the future".
“If we don't give planners the time and resources to process planning applications, and proactively create plans for the future, we won't be able to build new homes, regenerate our town centres or protect our most valuable landscapes and buildings".
RTPI Scotland's research calls on the Scottish Government to:
It also requires local authorities to ensure that any revenue generated from processing planning applications is reinvested in the planning service.
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