From today (Tuesday February 01) new planning regulations will require property developers in Scotland to consider entering into Good Neighbour Agreements (GNAs) with community bodies that will control and direct operations and activities on development sites.
Turley Associates, Scotland’s leading independent planning and urban design consultancy, said developers should welcome Good Neighbour Agreements as they are an opportunity to engage with the community to deal with local amenity issues.
However, GNAs are new territory for the development industry and it will be important that they do not add delay and cost to bringing forward sustainable economic development.
A GNA is a bilateral agreement between a developer and a community body, such as a community council. Aside from prohibiting money payments, the scope of a GNA could set out how the development site may be used and/or how operations on site are to be conducted either permanently or during a set period.
A GNA might, for example, require information to be passed to the community body about the development, limit certain activities, require upkeep of areas or even require the involvement of local businesses in the developments construction or occupation.
The regulations do not require all development schemes to be accompanied by a GNA, but once entered into such agreements do become legally binding. GNAs are, in theory, voluntary agreements, although it is arguable that planning authorities may look to impose them upon developers in association with the grant of planning permission.
‘Developers understandably might see such agreements as just another hurdle to overcome before a development can get underway. However, GNAs could prove an extremely useful tool as part of the pre-application community consultation process that the Scottish planning regime requires. A local planning authority is likely to look more favourably upon planning applications that are accompanied by these agreements as they will show a high degree of community engagement,’ said Richard Phillips, a director in the Edinburgh office of Turley Associates.
Good Neighbour Agreements will remain in place unless both parties agree to modify or discharge it. If parties fall out and are unable to reach agreement on the modification then either party can apply to the relevant planning authority for determination. The legislation also provides the right for each party to appeal directly to Scottish Ministers.
‘Local authority planning departments are already stretched in some areas and are looking carefully at their resources and workloads. The recent consultation on permitted development rights that closed earlier in January was underpinned by the need to reduce pressure in the planning system,’ explained Phillips.
‘Local authority planning offices are unlikely to welcome the additional burden of having to determine disagreements over GNAs. Any disagreement that needs planning authority determination is likely to slow the whole planning system down further,’ he added.
