Planners, developers and communities are anxious to secure a well-balanced national planning framework for Scotland through NPF4. However, no final decisions have yet been made and Scottish Government continues developing policy proposals with stakeholders. This webinar explores the key themes emerging from the NPF4 development process and explores what all stakeholders need to know about what is coming next.
The Scottish Government’s most recent ‘Position Statement’ on NPF4 was issued in late July. It states that NPF4 “will include national planning policies, providing a clear and coherent plan for future development and will have the status of development plan, informing day-to-day planning decisions.” If NPF4 succeeds in informing daily planning decisions, then stakeholders need to continue to make their voices heard now before it is finalised. So what direction is the draft policy taking?
NPF4 is seeking to meet many objectives. It is intended to reflect UN Sustainable Development Goals, Scotland's national outcomes and to have Place Principle as a key driver. It is to address climate change. It is also to focus on four key outcomes: Net-Zero Emissions; Resilient Communities; A Wellbeing Economy; and Better, Greener Places. This webinar examines how the present direction of NPF4 will meet the development and place needs of communities, developers and planners while addressing strategic policy targets.
Stefano Smith will outline the key themes emerging in NPF4, giving insights from his role in the Scottish Government’s NPF4 policy development process. Pam Ewen will discuss the interplay between local development plans and development management with NPF4 from her perspective as a local authority head of planning. Petra Biberbach will reflect upon what meaningful engagement with communities in development planning could and should be, speaking from her experience in leading Scotland’s primary place and active citizenship charity for the last fifteen years.
Key points
Director
Playfair Scotland
Chief Executive
PAS
Head of Planning
Fife Council
Director
Stefano Smith Planning
Donald Anderson
Director
Playfair Scotland
Prior to setting up the company, Donald worked as Director of the PPS Scotland Office for nine and a half years, as a company with specific expertise in inward investment, government and public service issues. Donald has worked on projects with an investment value more than £4billion in recent years. His work has covered most of Scotland working in 28 of the 32 local authority areas.
Donald was a councillor for over 20 years, working extensively on delivering economic development and investment and was one of the key public sector figures who helped Edinburgh become the strongest city economy in the UK outside London. Donald helped the city’s Festivals to thrive and conceived and created Edinburgh’s Christmas Festival which brings nearly £200million into the city each year. Donald was unashamedly pro-development during his period in office.
Petra Biberbach
Chief Executive
PAS
Petra Biberbach is Chief Executive of award-winning national charity, PAS. With a career spanning public, private and third sector, Petra brings a wealth of expertise to the post in the fields of planning, sustainable development, renewable energy, community engagement and research.
Petra is currently the Vice Chair of LINK Group and chairs the Property Development Group. Petra served as a member on the Independent Review of the Scottish Planning System and recently completed two terms as a board member of the Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park Authority and was Convenor of the Planning Committee. In 1998 she founded and became the first chair of the Campaign for Borders Rail (CBR) which campaigned successfully for the reopening of the Borders Railway.
She enjoys golf, choir, cycling, gardening and still singing along to Leonard Cohen!
Petra Biberbach
petra@pas.org.uk
0131 659 9771
Pam Ewen
Head of Planning
Fife Council
Pam returned to Fife Council to head up planning in September 2015. The planning authority deals with thousands of applications/consents, delivers projects, provides specialist advice and prepares FIFEplan and other planning policy. All with the aim of ensuring the planning system can support sustainable economic growth in keeping with the authority’s aim to make 'Fife the best place to do business'.
Pam has worked within a number of planning authorities in Scotland since graduating in the early 1990s from Strathclyde University. In different management roles throughout the last 22 years in Fife Council and TAYplan SDPA, Pam has led a number of award winning projects including winning the overall UK RTPI Planning Award for the TAYplan Strategic Development Plan in 2011.
She has a degree in Town Planning, an MBA and is a Member of the Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI). Pam is a previous Convenor of RTPI Scotland, a member of Heads of Planning Scotland Executive, RTPI General Assembly and RTPI Membership & Ethics Committee. Beyond her passion for planning, she cherishes family time and enjoys golf.
Stefano Smith FRTPI
Director
Stefano Smith Planning
Stefano is a commercial and pragmatic development planner with a strong customer focus. Stefano has nearly 30 years of UK professional experience of managing multi-disciplinary teams within a planning, environmental, design and engineering consultancy.
He has extensive experience in providing development planning and project management services in the environment, infrastructure, energy, commercial, industrial, housing and mixed-use sectors. He is a Chartered Fellow of the Royal Town Planning Institute (FRTPI) with experience in statutory planning (including approvals & consents and expert witness), sustainability, regeneration, master planning & urban design, consultation & engagement strategies and tools & development economics. He is a seasoned practitioner in stakeholder engagement and the development of communication strategies, as well as the use of appraisal and assessment tools.
Stefano has successfully advised, negotiated, and delivered complex land development and infrastructure projects of ranging sizes. He has worked in both the private and public sectors, particularly pertaining to the principles and practice of the economics of urban regeneration, land development, sustainability, urban design, complex environmental assessment, and project management.
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