Latest planning act will cut delays and streamline process to the benefit of all

The director of CBI Scotland says that there is a "presumption against development" (your report, 25 February).

It is now many years since I left the then Scottish Office to join the Highlands and Islands Development Board (note the title). However, when I was under-secretary, planning, there was certainly no general presumption against development, and I doubt there is now.

On the contrary we took a proactive approach, setting out guidelines for which areas of coast were, in principle, suitable for oil-related developments and which were unsuitable.

The latest planning act, when fully implemented, will do much to tackle current delays, provided enough properly qualified planning officers can be recruited, trained in communication skills and given the time and resources to update development plans. It would also help if minor alterations to properties outside conservation areas did not require planning permission or could be dealt with by delegation of the decisions to planning officers.

Developers themselves should not put forward proposals that clearly lie outside existing development plans. Moreover, as your leader the same day argues, developers should lift the quality of their applications. There are many current instances of proposed developments which are too bulky or too high, in an attempt to secure maximum private commercial return.

Development plans and planning controls are about determining the overall balance of public benefit and not about maximising the developer's private profit.

RONNIE CRAMOND

Dun-Ard Gardens

Edinburgh

Iain MacMillan, the director of CBI Scotland, warns of the expensive nature of planning delays in Scotland.

As a member of the Edinburgh Council planning committee, I find striking examples of such delay.

The new Edinburgh City Local Plan provides a framework for planning development and decisions. Having been drawn up and finalised in early 2007, the plan was put out for public consultation. The subsequent objections are to be considered by a reporter (appointed by the Scottish Government) at a public local enquiry.

The objections were referred in October 2007 and indications are that the public enquiry will begin in September 2008. A delay of almost a year is untenable in an already lengthy process.

The new Planning Etc (Scotland) Act 2006 (which mainly comes into force later this year) is designed to streamline the planning system. For the sake of us all, I very much hope it will. But I would advise Mr MacMillan not to hold his breath. Initial indications are that any impact on such delays will be modest.

The Scottish Government needs to address the culture which deems such delays acceptable.

(CLLR) CAMERON ROSE

City Chambers

Edinburgh

Your Web View column (26 February) reminds us that the planning system is a part of the democratic process.

As democracy is only the least bad system of government, we shall always have clashes between national and local interests.

In strictly local cases, the hand of the local authority needs to be strengthened, especially in regard to attempts to alter zoning in the local plan. We should remember that developers are, in the main, driven by profit and not much else.

In all cases, those who actually pay the social costs of a development should be compensated by the developer.

R L WOOD

Fir Park

Tillicoultry, Clackmannanshire