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The Government's clear purpose and overarching aim is to create a more prosperous Scotland by increasing the rate of sustainable economic growth. The Government Economic Strategy sets specific indicators towards achieving this aim including increasing the rate of new housebuilding, reducing our ecological footprint, increasing the proportion of journeys to work made by public or active transport, increasing renewable energy production, reducing waste, and improving perceptions, attitudes and awareness of Scotland's reputation.
Creating sustainable communities, where people can live and work in attractive, healthy and accessible environments, can also assist in the achievement of all of these aims. The Scottish Sustainable Communities Initiative sets the bar high, encouraging landowners, developers, and the people of Scotland to work together to create places where a better quality of life is achievable now and for the long term. The Scottish Government is committed to creating an enduring legacy of high quality, distinctive new development which meets people's needs and aspirations today, protects and enhances the unique natural and built heritage of our country and contributes to a more sustainable future.
Climate change sets a challenging context for all future development. Scotland's communities, old and new, will have to adapt to the impacts and play their part in reducing emissions of greenhouse gases. We are committed to introducing a Scottish Climate Change Bill which will embed a more sustainable way of thinking and create certainty to support investment in new technologies, as we move Scotland towards a low-carbon economy. To deliver our emissions reduction targets more environmentally responsible development must become the norm, designed to higher standards and capable of minimising impacts on the environment, whilst also adapting to the unavoidable consequences of changes to our climate.
Scotland has a close affinity with our neighbours around the North Sea, with shared challenges in designing built environments suitable for climates that vary from cold, wet and windy to warm and sunny. Countries such as Finland, Sweden and Denmark provide examples of innovative approaches to development which demonstrate high environmental building standards. We can learn from this experience and develop a Scottish response. There are a number of potential benefits: for property owners and occupiers through reduced energy costs and adaptability, for the environment through reduced negative effects, and for the housebuilding industry through creation of a modern, attractive and marketable product.
The Scottish Sustainable Communities Initiative aims to bring innovation into our settlements and promote exemplars of how communities could live in future. We hope Local Authorities, landowners and developers are inspired to play their part and contribute to the future sustainable growth of Scotland. We invite you to be among the first to take the necessary steps now and submit proposals which lead the way in the development of new sustainable communities.
Introduction
The planning system already provides for new development that can be well located, well designed and takes account of the needs and aspirations of local communities in the context of wider global challenges. The Scottish Sustainable Communities Initiative ( SSCI) goes further by encouraging inspirational developments which will serve as exemplars of the highest quality development that can be achieved at the beginning of the 21st Century.
There is no simple definition of a "sustainable community". Spatial planning, architecture, design and building standards play a significant role in shaping buildings and places in ways which also take account of and mitigate the effects of climate change. There are some obvious characteristics of sustainability including very low carbon footprints, low impact/natural building materials and on-site renewables. Others are less visible. A comprehensive approach is necessary, enabling the design and creation of "places" which have identity and which have benefits for the wider area, the existing community, the people who will live and work there and the environment. Homogenous, single-use housing areas that are not well related to the patterns of development around them and which encourage consumption of energy and resources and unhealthy and insular lifestyles should be relegated to the past.
The SSCI is one of the ways in which the Scottish Government is influencing and shaping future development which should be, not only environmentally, but also economically and socially sustainable. The SSCI encourages the creation of a number of very low or zero carbon communities and provides a platform to stimulate a rise in environmental and design quality standards within new developments and to showcase the architectural and design skills that exist in Scotland. The aim is to create places that will be inherently sustainable as a result of their enduring appeal.
The Scottish Government is not seeking to be prescriptive about the scale of development which could be proposed under the SSCI. It is recognised that across Scotland there is scope for new sustainable communities to take a variety of forms. A relatively small scale proposal in a remote rural location which is well connected to and supports existing communities in the local area, whilst being sustainable in itself may also help neighbouring places to become more sustainable. Appropriate development which supports the future of small towns may also be part of this Initiative. A large scale new build or regeneration project within a city could be promoted as a new sustainable neighbourhood, again influencing sustainability in surrounding areas. There may also be opportunity or need for the creation of a wholly new sustainable settlement in certain parts of the country. The scale of a proposed development relative to its setting and location will be an important part of the consideration of the sustainability of all proposals and will determine the variety and mix of land uses required.
Successful proposals will benefit from support in progressing developments through regulatory processes and assistance with masterplanning, and innovative community engagement. One of the key requirements of the Initiative is that proposals are developed in partnership - the public and private sector both need to be signed up to enable the delivery of these new communities, which in some cases will be over the long term. This coupled with the themes of planning modernisation in relation to early engagement with communities, planning authorities making their requirements clear from the outset, and developers providing all necessary information to enable a decision to be reached should secure a clear route through the planning system without Government involvement. Direct financial assistance from the Scottish Government towards SSCI proposals will not generally be available.
What are the desired outcomes?
SSCI settlements will provide high quality, affordable homes for all sectors of the community, they may include opportunities for the creation of jobs, provision of education and other services necessary to enable high standards of living, cultural identity and create an environment which encourages healthy and active living. These new communities should fit well in the local landscape, maximise the opportunities of the location and should be fully integrated with public and active transport networks, rather than being dependent on the car. They will be successful places which have meaning for the people who will call them home.
The Initiative is primarily focussed on the results that can be achieved. The delivery of some projects may take a number of years, however, a clear picture of the intended outcomes at the inception stage of a project will help to clarify how they can be realised.
An SSCI development should:
contribute to meeting identified housing requirements in the area
demonstrate a level of innovation and quality of design which will lead to the creation of successful places and serve as an inspiration to future development in Scotland;
make a significant contribution to reducing emissions of carbon dioxide both in construction and throughout the community's life;
minimise pollution;
create opportunities to live healthier, more active and environmentally responsible lives and so influence behaviour and attitudes;
demonstrate that the delivery of high quality sustainable forms of new development is achievable within reasonable timescales;incorporate provision for evaluation of the success and benefits of the approach and outcomes, so that future developments can benefit by learning from innovation.
Housing
New sustainable communities should be housing-led projects. It is important that investment in new development is targeted to areas where it can assist in meeting housing requirements. The creation of new communities may therefore be particularly appropriate in those parts of Scotland experiencing significant housing pressures. It is recognised that current market conditions are tighter than in the recent past, but demand remains strong with sustained levels of need being experienced, and some areas are likely to continue to experience pressures even in that context. More generally, it is crucially important that short-term fluctuations do not detract from the clear underlying need to increase housing supply and improve its responsiveness, especially given forecast growth in the number of households of 19% between 2006 and 2031.
The location of the housing land supply should be considered through the preparation of development plans. Proposals involving sites not currently identified in a development plan will require to demonstrate how they contribute to the strategy of the plan. In some areas the planning context may already be sufficiently clear to enable a proposal to be taken forward directly through a masterplan and planning application.
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