National Planning Framework 4
The National Planning Framework (NPF) is a long-term plan for Scotland that sets out where development and infrastructure is needed to support sustainable and inclusive growth. The current framework – NPF3 – was published in 2014 and the Scottish Government has now begun a process of review and preparation of a new framework – NPF4.
NPF4 is expected to look very different to NPF3, with a longer time horizon to 2050, fuller regional coverage and improved alignment with wider programmes and strategies, including on infrastructure and economic investment. NPF4 will also incorporate Scottish Planning Policy so that, for the first time, spatial and thematic planning policies will be addressed in one place. It will have the status of the development plan for planning purposes. This is a change to the current position and will mean that its policies will have a stronger role in informing day-to-day
decision making.
The Call for Ideas
The Scottish Government is committed to encouraging interest and wide public involvement in the preparation of NPF4 and is engaging with the public, community, voluntary and private sectors, as well as academics, experts and professional bodies. To this end, a Call for Ideas on NPF4 was launched on 9 January 2020, including a roadshow with workshop sessions in locations across Scotland.
Individuals and stakeholders were invited to participate in workshop sessions and/or make a written submission. Workshops had to be curtailed as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak, by which point 13 locations around Scotland had been visited.
Read the full report below, intergenerational approaches are mentioned on pages 40, 155 & 165.