Development Plans

Development Plans

Development Plans are prepared by each local authority in accordance with Scottish Executive legislation and guidelines. By the present system there are two levels of Development Plans, namely the Structure Plan which is a statement of the principles and broad policies which will guide the more detailed Local Plan. But if the current Planning Bill becomes law, it could change, with the Structure Plan being replaced by a broad statement of intent.

The Argyll and Bute Council (ABC) Structure Plan was approved in November 2002 after considerable debate and it included 50 much-needed amendments which had been required by the Scottish Executive.

In December 2003, ABC issued a Consultative Draft Local Plan which sought to reverse some of the Scottish Executive's amendments concerning the Green Belt in the Helensburgh area. This caused considerable local disquiet and five Helensburgh organisations (including the HGBG) submitted objections and comments. Commendably ABC revised the Plan taking account of most of our comments. The Final Draft is a substantial improvement and in our view is generally good for Helensburgh. However there are still some issues on which we have commented. We have held discussions with Council officials on the issues we have raised with a view to cooperative resolution and we will await the Councillors’ final decisions.

Download a .pdf version of the HGBG submission [45kb]

In July 2006 proposed modifications to the Plan were made public. A six week consultation on them will happen in July - August. After that the Council will submit its amended Plan to a public local inquiry (PLI). That is likely to happen early in 2007, with the Plan being approved and operative after that.

If some of the modifications suggested by HGBG are not included, then HGBG will make representations at the PLI. However, there are signs that the Council has responded positively to aspects of our submission on the Plan and HGBG, in turn, will be able to withdraw some of its objections.