Planning and the Sports Centre

Nothing is ever simple. The idea of a new Regional Sports Centre for Dundee won all party support when it came to Committee. Now the same 29 councillors who cheered it through must decide whether the project should get planning permission.

That may seem strange, but the councillors on the planning committee must work by different rules when deciding planning applications. They must make their decisions on planning grounds and planning grounds alone. No political lobbying is allowed; councillors are expressly forbidden from saying how they will vote until the item is debated at the Development Management Committee.

It may also seem strange that the same department which drew up the plans for the Regional Sports Centre in Caird Park also provides planning advice to councillors. Like the councillors, the officers must play by different rules when it comes to planning. The system depends on the professionalism of the officers. And our officers are very professional indeed, bound by the rules of their professional organisation.

However, under our binding Code of Conduct, councillors have to be seen to behave in a way that the average person would regard as fair and honest. "Be seen to behave" are important words here. I imagine to anyone outside the arcane world of the council, the planning system as described here might fail that test. But there are safeguards.

Development Management always meets in public. Copies of the officers' reports and recommendations to DM are placed online. All the supporting papers submitted by developers are placed online ... these can be very long and sometimes there are forty-five of them. But at least they are there.

There also has to be public consultation. For a major development like the Regional Sports Centre, the developer (in this case the city council)  has to be carry out pre-application consultation with the community. This includes sending details of the proposal to local community councils and consulting the wider community using at least one locally advertised public event.

A number of official bodies have to be consulted too, for example Historic Environment Scotland which has objected to building the sports centre hub close to Mains Castle, a mediaeval building of national importance. That objection means the Scottish Government has to be notified and could presumably call the application in if Ministers had concerns.

It also includes preparing a "design and access statement" setting out information about the design of the proposal and access for disabled people.

Where there could be a significant effect on the environment, there may be a need for an Environmental Impact Assessment. Scottish Government guidance suggests this should be done at a very early stage. The developer should consult the planning authority, and planning officers decide whether there should be an EIA. The presence of rare or endangered species might trigger an EIA.

The application also has to comply with the local development plan unless there are "material considerations" which allow us to set the plan aside.

So as councillors on Development Management, what have we got to do? Government guidance provides the general answer ... " the planning system should help build a growing economy, but at the same time protect our environment for future generations and make sure that communities can enjoy a better quality of life."

In practice that means ensuring that all the procedures have been correctly followed; and deciding whether the plans as proposed are fit for purpose. It's not about whether a Regional Sports Centre is a good idea or not ... that has already been decided. What we have to do is decide whether the people who put this proposal together got it right.

For a long time in Dundee there was a myth that lobbying councillors was a bad thing and possibly illegal. I remember one senior councillor brandishing a letter some unsuspecting developer had sent him as if approaching an elected member was some sort of crime.

However, the Improvement Society guidance for councillors states ... "The Councillor Code of Conduct does not prohibit a councillor, either as a member of a planning committee, Local Review Body or as a local elected member, from discussing the details of any planning application with anyone. Applicants, their agents (planning consultants, architects, engineers, etc.), neighbours, local community groups and campaigners all have a legitimate voice that should be heard by councillors."

Had it not been for well researched lobbying by objectors the Caird Park proposal would have been heard at the last Development Management Committee. The objectors argue that the council has failed to do the public participation properly and have called for a pre determination hearing. This blog is long enough without explaining all that ... but Caird Park is a precious asset, and there is no harm in taking all the time required to get this right. I think we can live with the delay.