Fife Development Plan Scheme

Fife Development Plan Scheme 

December 2012 (Fifth Edition)

FIFE DEVELOPMENT PLAN SCHEME (FIFTH EDITION) 

The Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act 1997 (as amended by the Planning etc 

(Scotland) Act 2006) and the Town and Country Planning (Development Planning) 

(Scotland) Regulations 2008, require planning authorities to prepare a Development 

Plan Scheme each year. This is the fifth edition of the Fife Development Plan Scheme 

and includes: 

• current information on supplementary planning guidance (Table 1) 

• a timetable for preparing current and future Local Development Plans (LDPs) in Fife 

(Table 2) 

• a participation statement, which will describe the opportunities for public 

consultation and Fife Council’s proposals for public involvement in the preparation 

of the plans. 

The Development Plan Scheme is available to view at http://tinyurl.com/8r4p7xe and 

in Council offices and public libraries. 

Contact us at fife.devplan@fife.gov.uk 

Follow us on Twitter: @FifeDevPlan 

Sign up to the Fife Development Plan Update email newsletter at www.fifedirect.org.uk/ 

fifedevplan 

2 FIFE DEVELOPMENT PLAN SCHEME

DEVELOPMENT PLANS 

The planning system in Scotland is led by development plans which, 

together with national planning policy guidance, form the basis for 

making planning decisions. 

The development plan for an area was previously made up of two types 

of plan – a Structure Plan and a Local Plan. Structure Plans provided 

more strategic and long term guidance for an area; Local Plans set 

out more detailed policies and proposals to guide development, including site specific and 

detailed policies which guide the day-to-day decisions made on planning applications. 

The Fife Development Plan currently consists of the Fife Structure Plan 2006-26 1 , TAYplan, 

SESplan and 3 recently adopted Local Plans covering Mid Fife, St Andrews & East Fife and 

Dunfermline & West Fife. 

We have also adopted the Fife Minerals Subject Local Plan, a Fife wide land use strategy for 

the extraction and use of minerals, and the Fife Core Paths Plan 2 which identifies core paths 

for walking, cycling, horse riding and use by the disabled across Fife. 

As part of the Government’s reform of the planning system, planning legislation in Scotland 

has undergone a major change through the Planning etc (Scotland) Act 2006. Decisions on 

where and how development will take place in Scotland are now influenced by three types of 

statutory document: 

• National Planning Framework for Scotland – NFP2; 

• Strategic Development Plans; and 

• Local Development Plans. 

National Planning Framework 2 (NPF2) was published by the Scottish Government in 

2009. It sets out a strategy for the long term development of Scotland’s towns, cities and 

countryside and is concerned with how they will develop over the next 20 to 25 years. NPF2 

identifies a number of national projects in Fife, including the replacement Forth crossing, the 

potential for a new international container terminal at Rosyth and Fife’s flagship Energy Park 

in Methil. The Scottish Government has recently commenced work on NPF3 and the next 

version of the Development Plan Scheme will report on progress made in 2013. 

Strategic Development Plans (SDPs) are being prepared for the four city regions in Scotland 

(Glasgow, Edinburgh, Aberdeen and Dundee). Fife lies within both the Edinburgh city region 

(SESplan) and Dundee city region (TAYplan) SDP areas. The plans will focus on the key land 

use and development issues that cross the planning authority boundaries. The strategic 

development plan areas covering Fife are shown in Figure 1.1. 

The Local Development Plan (LDP) sets out more detailed policies and proposals that guide 

development and seek to implement the SDP requirements on a site specific basis over a 

ten year period in Fife. The Government expects that LDPs will be succinct documents and 

concentrate on key policies and proposals. LDPs should also be adopted within two years of 

the approval of a relevant SDP. 

1. The Fife Structure Plan forms part of the development plan for Mid and West Fife. However, with the approval of TAYplan, 

the Structure Plan no longer forms part of the development plan for North FIfe as it has been superseded by TAYplan 

2. Prepared under the terms of the Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003 

FIFE DEVELOPMENT PLAN SCHEME 3


We are calling the Local Development Plan “FIFEplan” to give it a Fife identity as it spans 

the strategic development plan areas of SESplan to the south and TAYplan to the north. 

The programme for the preparation of FIFEplan will follow a number of key stages: 

Publish Development Plan Scheme 

Main Issues Report & Monitoring Statement 

(includes preferred options and alternative 

proposals for development and seeking views of 

organisations and individuals 

Proposed Local Development Plan 

(a stronger view of proposed development 

locations proposed by the Council, informed by 

the consultation responses at the previous stage) 

Examination 

(independent examination of proposed plan and 

issues raised in representations) 

Adoption 

(includes modifications made following 

examination) 

The SDPs and LDP will each be accompanied by an Action Programme to provide 

a monitor of progress of the plan policies and proposals and identify the key 

agencies 3 and other organisations such as housebuilders who have responsibility for 

implementing the plan. The Action Programme identifies what is to be done, who is 

responsible, and when it will be achieved; it will be updated at least every two years. 

3. Key agencies are: Scottish Enterprise, the Scottish Environment Protection Agency, Scottish Natural Heritage, 

Scottish Water, the regional transport partnerships SESTran and TACTran, and Fife Health Board; Government 

agencies (Architecture & Design Scotland, Historic Scotland and Transport Scotland are also part of the key 

agencies group). 


SUPPLEMENTARY PLANNING GUIDANCE 

Supplementary planning guidance may also be prepared in support of existing 

development plan policies. New supplementary planning guidance will be subject to 

publicity and consultation in which case they will become part of the development 

plan – thereby giving them as much status as the policies contained within the plan. 

Their main purpose will be to help applicants understand what planning authorities 

expect in relation to planning applications. A full list of current and proposed Fife 

Council planning guidance is included in Table 1. 

ASSESSMENTS 

Local planning authorities are also required to carry out strategic environmental 

assessment 4 (SEA) of all statutory plans, programmes, and policies so that their 

significant environmental effects are understood. The SEA process develops in parallel 

with the plan, and an environmental report is published for consultation at each stage 

of the plan. 

Habitat Regulations Appraisals to consider the impact of policies and proposals on 

nature conservation sites and an equality impact assessment to address the potential 

impacts of the policies and proposals on different sections of the community are also 

undertaken for each plan. 

DEVELOPMENT PLAN TIMETABLE 

The Fife Structure Plan 2006-26 was approved on the 24th May 2009 and set the 

strategy for the Local Plans that have recently been adopted. 

A summary of the key dates and programme for the three current area Local Plans, the 

Fife Minerals Subject Local Plan, and the Fife Core Paths Plan are provided in Table 2. 

The timescales for plan examinations were determined by the volume and nature of 

the issues to be considered and by the programme set by the Directorate for Planning 

and Environmental Appeals (DPEA) who is responsible for making the arrangements 

for the examinations. As a result, the timescales for plans have changed to reflect the 

completed examination programmes. 

The Dundee, Perth, Angus and North Fife Strategic Development Plan (TAYplan) and 

the South East Scotland Strategic Development Plan (SESplan) each have their own 

Development Plan Scheme. TAYplan was approved by Scottish Ministers in June 

2012 and SESplan is currently at examination with a programmed approval date of 

September 2013. Work on TAYplan 2 is programmed to commence in 2013 with a pre- 

Main Issues Report (MIR) consultation in May/June that will inform the MIR which will 

be published in 2014. Table 2 outlines the proposed programme for TAYplan 2. 

4. Prepared under the terms of the Environmental Assessment (Scotland) Act 2005 


The three recently adopted Local Plans will form part of the Development Plan until 

replaced in the future by FIFEplan. 

FIFEplan will implement the SDP requirements on a site specific basis over a ten year 

period in Fife. A summary of the indicative timescales which will need to be met in 

order for FIFEplan to be adopted within 2 years of the SDPs being approved is included 

in Table 2. 

The FIFEplan MIR was approved by planning committee on 15th November 2012 and 

the consultation period will run from 14th January – 10th March 2013. 

PARTICIPATION STATEMENT 

The Scottish Government expects engagement with the public to occur from the 

earliest stages in the planning process to enable community views to be reflected 

in plans and development proposals. Minimum requirements for consultation and 

engagement in the planning system are set out in legislation. The methods used 

by the Council are also based on the principles set by the Scottish Government in 

PAN3/2010 Community Engagement which provides advice to communities on how 

they can get involved, as well as advice to planning authorities and developers on 

ways of effectively engaging with communities on planning matters. 

European, U.K., and Scottish 

Government legislation 

Scottish Planning Policy 

National Planning Framework 

National Land Use Strategy for 

Scotland 

Strategic Development Plans 

(SESplan & TAYplan) 

National Waste Management Plan 

Fife Community Plan 

Fife Economic Strategy 

Strategic Transport Plan 

Area Transport Plan 

Community Safety Strategy 

Local Housing Strategy 

Area Waste Plan 

Biodiversity Action Plan 

Environmental Strategy 

LOCAL 

DEVELOPMENT 

PLAN 

Key agency group: 

Scottish Govt agencies 

(Architecture & Design Scotland, 

Historic Scotland, Transport 

Scotland) 

Scottish Natural Heritage 

Scottish Environment Protection 

Agency 

Scottish Water 

SEStran and TACtran 

Fife Health Board 

Scottish Enterprise 

The Fife Partnership (NHS Fife, 

CVS Fife, Fife Constabulary, 

Scotland’s Colleges Fife, SEStran, 

Skills Development Scotland) 

Community councils 

Residents groups 

Business groups 

Housing associations 

University of St Andrews 

Neighbouring planning 

authorities 


As part of our revised approach to plan preparation, we have taken account of survey 

comments we have received and comments from community council training. 

Community councils want to be involved more from the outset. The Planning 

Committee’s decision to produce a Fife-wide LDP included a remit to develop an 

engagement strategy to build a dialogue with communities, key agencies, and other 

stakeholders as an integral part of the LDP process. 

WAYS TO PARTICIPATE 

There are minimum legal publication requirements set out by the Government for 

each stage of the LDP. Fife Council wants to build on the work already developed in 

preparing the current Local Plans. In the early stages of plan preparation the focus is 

on seeking views of communities and gathering information and evidence to gain a 

better understanding about the issues and opportunities in the area. 

LDP EXCHANGE 

One element of this was the establishment of the Fife Local Development Plan 

Exchange in 2011 to test ideas on the form and content of the LDP, on matters such as 

consultation methods. 

The LDP Exchange is not a decision making group; nor does it get involved in detailed 

site issues. It is a forum to exchange ideas and act as an informal sounding board for 

the Development Plan team – and, importantly, it allows for a continuous dialogue 

throughout the plan process. 

We will continue to work with communities at a local level. Invitations to register an 

interest in being part of the LDP Exchange were issued from the end of October 2011 

and new members are still able to sign up at www.fifedirect.org.uk/fifeplan 

COMMUNITY MATTERS 

The Council’s commitment to this approach included the creation of an additional 

participation stage before we prepared the Main Issues Report. This was an open 

call to community groups and organisations to submit ideas for their communities. 

This stage was called Community Matters and helped us identify what matters were 

important to local communities and reflect these in the Main Issues Report. 


CONSULTATION METHODS 

The methods used for consultation will vary according to need and may include 

newspaper adverts and news releases, workshop discussions, displays and exhibitions, 

neighbour notification, briefings, drop-in information events, and surveys. There will 

also be an invitation to comment in written form but increasingly communication is 

happening through web-based surveys and our online consultation facility. 

The Council’s online consultation facility will also continue to be developed and 

is now established as the main consultation forum for development planning and 

supplementary guidance. The Fife LDP webpage (www.fifedirect.org.uk/fifeplan) 

has been set up to communicate news and information and be the forum for views 

through the LDP Exchange. Social media, too, is being used to share news and views 

with a wider audience, and a new dedicated email address has been set up to be the 

single point of contact for all LDP emails – fife.devplan@fife.gov.uk. 

The 2008 Development Plan Regulations introduced some additional consultation 

requirements. Planning authorities must notify owners, lessees or occupiers of sites 

for which the LDP proposes development and which would have a significant effect 

on the use and amenity of the site. Neighbours who are within 20 metres of a new 

development proposal likely to affect their amenity development site should also be 

notified; FIFEplan will extend this to 30 metres to ensure we notify those who should 

be. 

Fife Council also issues regular Development Plan e-mail bulletins on a monthly basis. 

These are sent to subscribers, consultees and to everyone who has been consulted 

on or has submitted representations to our Local Plans. Registered subscribers are 

currently sitting at 1,220 strong, an increase from 2011. 

The table below sets out more detail on the methods of community engagement 

undertaken at each stage of the 3 adopted Local Plans but also provides an indication 

of consultation proposals and timescales for FIFEplan. 


CONSULTATION METHODS 

Stage Publicity & Engagement Timescales 

1.Publish Development Plan 

Scheme 

2. Community Matters (prepublication 

stage of the 

Main Issues Report) 

3. Publish Main Issues Report 

and Monitoring Statement 

4. Publish Proposed Plan, 

Action Programme, and 

Statement of Conformity 

• Committee report and approval 

• News releases to advertise publication 

• Copies available in libraries 

• Published on Council website 

• 2 copies to Scottish Ministers 

• Details and web links included in e-bulletin and social media 

• On-line consultation facility 

• News releases 

• Fife LDP Exchange/key agencies 

• Letters/invitations to submit comments/views 

• Local member briefings 

• Updates on Council website, e-bulletin, and social media 



• Publication of notice in local newspapers 


• Public information displays 

• Drop-in information events across the 7 local community planning areas 

• Copies to Scottish Ministers, key agencies, neighbouring planning authorities, 

SESplan and TAYplan, community councils and other community groups 


• Invitations to submit comments/views 

• Publish on Council website with on-line consultation facility 






• Copies to Scottish Ministers, key agencies, neighbouring planning authorities, 

SESplan and TAYplan, Community Councils and other community groups 


• Invitations to submit comments/views 

• Publish on Council website with on-line consultation facility 


Annually 

from Jan. 2012 

12 weeks non-statutory participation 

period 

from Oct. 2012 

8 weeks consultation period from Jan 

2013 (6 weeks statutory minimum 

requirement by legislation) 

from Sept. 2013 

6-8 weeks consultation period from 

Nov 2013 (6 weeks statutory minimum 

requirement by legislation) 

5. Examination • Publication of notice in local newspapers 

• News releases 


from July 2014 

6. Publish post examination 

modifications 





• Letters to all who made representations on Plan 


• Publish on Council website 

• Copy to Scottish Ministers 


Required within 3 months of receiving 

examination report 

7. Adopt and publish Plan • Committee report and approval 


• Press releases to advertise publication 

• Letters to all who made representations on Plan 




Sept. 2015 

8. Adopt and publish Action 

Programme 




Publish within 3 months of LDP 

adoption and review at least every 2 

years 


TABLE 1: SUPPLEMENTARY PLANNING GUIDANCE ,DEVELOPMENT FRAMEWORKS AND DEVELOPMENT 

BRIEFS (POSITION AT NOVEMBER 2012) 

Topic Status Timescales Change since DPS4 

Supplementary Planning Guidance 

Affordable Housing 

Current Supplementary Planning 

Guidance (Sep 2011) 

Monitor and review through the LDP 

Complete as programmed 

Design and Access Statements 

Proposed Supplementary Planning 

Guidance 

Being reconsidered as part of a 

review of the suite of design policies 

through the LDP. Included within 

the MIR consultation in Qtr 1 2013. 

Timescale reviewed from Qtr 1 2012 

to consult with the MIR 

Fife Urban Design Guide 


Guidance (Sept 2005) 

Under review 

Being reconsidered as part of a 

review of the suite of design policies 

Green Infrastructure 


Guidance 

Approved for consultation in Qtr 1 

2013 

Deferred from Qtr 2 2012 to consult 

with the MIR 

Houses in Multiple Occupation in 

Central St Andrews Conservation Area 

Approved Supplementary Planning 

Guidance (June 2011) 


– review in 2013 


Housing in the Countryside Current PCG (March 2007) Monitor and review through the LDP No change 

John Smith Business Park - 

Supplementary Planning Guidance 


Guidance 

September 2012 

New item 

Lochgelly Supplementary Planning & 

Transportation Guidance 


Guidance (Sep. 2011) 



Maintaining an effective five year 

housing land supply at all times 


Guidance 


2013 


with the MIR 

Planning Obligations Framework 

Reviewed current Financial 

Frameworks Supplementary 

Planning Guidance (in each Local 

Plan Action Programme) 


2013 


with the MIR 

Public Art Guidance Note 


Guidance 

Approved January 2012. Monitor 

and review through the LDP. 


Renewable Energy 


Guidance (March 2007) 



St Leonards Fields and Memorial 

Hospital 

Supplementary Planning Guidance Approved November 2011 New item 

Sustainability Checklist 


Guidance 

September 2010 


Wind Energy 


Guidance (June 2011) 

Monitor and review through the LDP. 

Consult on some aspects through 

the MIR. 


Development Frameworks 

Note – Development frameworks are a new addition for version 5 of the Development Plan Scheme. 

East Sands Urban Design Framework Approved September 2010 New item 

Invertiel and Linktown Strategic 

Development Framework 

Levenmouth Strategic Land 

Allocation Strategic Framework 

Development Briefs 

Approved May 2010 New item 

Approved October 2012 New item 

Note – Development briefs are a new addition for version 5 of the Development Plan Scheme. 

ATS depot, Cupar Approved March 2011 New item 

Draft development brief for 

Bonnygate, Cupar gap site 

Gap site at 269-293 High Street, 

Cowdenbeath 

Notes: 

LDP – Local Development Plan 

MIR – Main Issues Report 

PCG – Planning Customer Guideline 

Consultation 08/10/12 – 02/11/12 New item 

Approved March 2011 New item 


TABLE 2: DEVELOPMENT PLAN PROGRAMME 

5280/DEC12

Fife Development Plan Scheme

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