Planning and Architecture

  • Compulsory Purchase Reform: post-consultation update

    19th February 2026 by

    Overview Between September and December 2025, the Scottish Government consulted on a comprehensive package of proposals to reform and modernise Scotland’s compulsory purchase system. The consultation was part of our ongoing reform programme, the timescales and objectives of which were outlined in a previous blog. In this blog we provide a brief update following the...

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  • National Planning Framework 4 Policy Overviews 23 to 33

    29th January 2026 by

    NPF4 policy overviews We have collated over three blogs, overviews of advice and guidance available for each of the 33 policies contained in National Planning Framework 4. The blogs contain the following policy split. blog 1 – policy 1 to 11 blog 2 – policy 12 to 22 blog 3 – policy 23 to 33...

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  • National Planning Framework 4 Policy Overviews 12 to 22

    29th January 2026 by

    NPF4 Policy overviews We have collated over three blogs, overviews of advice and guidance available for each of the 33 policies contained in National Planning Framework 4. The blogs contain the following policy split. blog 1 – policy 1 to 11 blog 2 – policy 12 to 22 blog 3 – policy 23 to 33...

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  • National Planning Framework 4 Policy Overviews 1 to 11

    29th January 2026 by

    NPF4 Policy overviews We have collated over three blogs, overviews of advice and guidance available for each of the 33 policies contained in National Planning Framework 4. The blogs contain the following policy split. blog 1 – policy 1 to 11 blog 2 – policy 12 to 22 blog 3 – policy 23 to 33...

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  • Publications declutter

    8th December 2025 by

    The 2025 Programme for Government contained a commitment to declutter the planning system by removing all dated national planning advice. This commitment continues our aim to reduce the volume of advice, to avoid confusion and reduce complexity. We consulted a number of stakeholders over the summer on a list of advice and other guidance that...

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  • Update on Elected Member Training

    25th November 2025 by

    The Planning (Scotland) Act 2019 included mandatory training for elected members as part of a package of measures designed to improve the effectiveness of the planning system as a whole. In 2023, we consulted on the proposed implementation of mandatory training for elected members in planning. There was broad support for the mandatory element to...

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  • Planning and the Housing Emergency Delivery Plan – Actions Update

    28th October 2025 by

    Since publication of the Planning and the Housing Emergency Delivery Plan last November, we have worked collaboratively and at pace to make significant progress towards delivery of the 23 actions within it. Building on that momentum, we are now progressing more planning actions which we committed in The Housing Emergency Action Plan (HEAP), as we...

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  • Water Resilient Dundee

    20th June 2025 by

    Across Scotland, sewer systems in urban environments are being inundated by rainfall from more extreme and frequent rainfall events. In response, Dundee City Council (DCC) has teamed up with Scottish Water to spearhead the ‘Water Resilient Dundee’ partnership. The Water Resilient Dundee (WRD) partnership aims to jointly plan and sustainably manage water in the city...

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  • Planning partners are working together to help deliver homes that are needed

    9th June 2025 by

    Planning partners are working together to help deliver homes that are needed Addressing the housing emergency requires a collective effort, with the planning system playing a key role in finding solutions. Planners and industry partners have collaborated to drive forward a solutions-focused approach to address the challenges in developing new homes and to accelerate their...

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  • The benefits of pre-application discussions and processing agreements

    24th April 2025 by

    This blog highlights the benefits of collaborative pre-application discussions and processing agreements. Both can help to provide greater clarity and certainty to prospective applicants and make the planning application journey smoother, quicker and potentially cheaper.  Pre-application discussions  Pre-application discussions are discussions between a prospective applicant and the relevant planning authority prior to the submission of...

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