PLANNING POLICY AND PLANNING AGREEMENTS

Recent years have seen a steady increase in the use of agreements in t he development control process. The use of agreements has given rise t o considerable controversy and, in an effort to defuse this, the Depar tment of the Environment and the Scottish Development Department issue d guidelines. Amongst other things, these recommend that planning auth orities should, where appropriate, give guidance in development plans about the circumstances in which they intend to seek to impose obligat ions through agreements. This paper examines the extent to which this guidance has been followed by planning authorities in Scotland. It sho ws that structure plans are increasingly making provision regarding th e funding of collective infrastructure and that some local plans are m aking explicit provision arising from detailed planning control polici es. The paper points out that the use of development plans in this way brings the pursuit of such benefits within the Secretary of State's j urisdiction. It also provides an opportunity for public participation in an area where the public have often previously been excluded.