This Act lays down new rules for the development and use of land in Scotland. For this purpose, it makes substantial amendments to the Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act 1997. The principal matters that are subject of these new provisions are the system of development plans, the opportunities for community engagement in planning, the effective performance of planning authorities functions, and a new way to fund infrastructure development. The Act is part of a wider programme of reforms to the planning system as a whole.
The Act, among other things, redefines the purpose of planning, lays down new procedural requirements for development plans, defines rules with respect to the National Planning Framework, provides with respect to regional spatial strategies, provides for guidance to planning authorities about undertaking effective community engagement in relation to the local development plan, provides for the making of masterplan consent area and relative schemes, define powers of the Scottish Ministers in respect of local planning, provides with respect to development permission and assessment of health and environmental effects (now including effects on biodiversity), provides with respect to enforcement of planning provisions, provides for the appointment of a National planning improvement co-ordinator and provides generally for performance monitoring, requires a planning authority to prepare a forestry and woodland strategy, and provides for infrastructure levy.
As to the purpose of planning, this is done "to manage the development and use of land in the long term public interest". Anything which (a) contributes to sustainable development, or (b) achieves the national outcomes (within the meaning of Part 1 of the Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act 2015), is to be considered as being in the long term public interest. An important element of the National Planning Framework is infrastructure. Infrastructure in this Act includes (a) communications, transport, drainage, sewerage and flood-defence systems, (b) systems for the supply of water and energy, (c) green and blue infrastructure, (d) educational and medical facilities, and (e) facilities and other places for recreation. Green and blue infrastructure means features of the natural and built environments (including water) that provide a range of ecosystem and social benefits. The Scottish Ministers may change, or clarify, the meaning of infrastructure . The Framework shall include an assessment of the likely impact of each proposed national development's lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions on achieving national greenhouse gas emissions reduction targets (within the meaning given in the Climate Change (Scotland) Act 2009).