Under reference to item 6 of the Minute of the meeting of this Joint Committee held on 16 March 2020 there was submitted a report by the Strategic Development Plan Manager requesting that consideration be given to the indicative Regional Spatial Strategy (iRSS) for the Glasgow City Region as part of the Scottish Government’s development of National Planning Framework 4 (NPF4), a copy of which was appended to the report. 

The report intimated that the iRSS would provide background information to help inform NPF4 so that initial strategic priorities of the Glasgow City Region could be built into the emerging new statutory Development Plan system.
  
NPF4 would consider what Scotland should look like in 2050; set out national planning policies; guide where future development should take place; be supported by a delivery plan and aligned to Scotland’s Infrastructure Investment Plan and Strategic Transport Projects Review 2.  Due to the ongoing Covid-19 situation, the draft NPF4 would now be laid before the Scottish Parliament in 2021 for formal parliamentary scrutiny.  The duty to prepare a formal RSS under the terms of the Act and related guidance would come into force once NPF4 was approved, potentially in 2022.

To inform this process the Scottish Government had identified the priorities that planning should focus on.  These priorities were consistent with those proposed for consideration as part of the refresh of the City Region’s Regional Economic Strategy and broadly similar to the current themes set out in the approved Clydeplan SDP. As Scotland’s only metropolitan area, comprising a third of Scotland’s population, generating a third of its GVA and with 40% of its vacant and derelict land, it was important that the spatial priorities for the Glasgow City Region were reflected in NPF4 to support not only the economic, social and environmental ambitions of the City Region itself but also those of Scotland nationally and to support the recovery from Covid-19.

The iRSS submission should comprise of a map or diagram of the national important regional spatial priorities supported by a brief supporting narrative.

The Glasgow City Region Chief Executive’s Group had considered and endorsed the iRSS during the week beginning 27th April 2020.

The iRSS had to be submitted to the Scottish Government by the end of June 2020. Following approval at this meeting, the iRSS would be considered by the Glasgow City Regional Cabinet on 2 June 2020 followed by the Glasgow City Region Partnership on 18 June 2020. 

Clydeplan had offered itself as a resource to the Scottish Government to support its activities around further engagement on NPF4/Scottish Planning Policy; the iRSS with other regional planning groupings; and the development of formal RSS guidance.

It was proposed that the third and fourth paragraphs in the Housing section of the iRSS be amended to read:

The City Region will reinforce its efforts to create high quality places which deliver the right type of homes in the right locations by increasing the priority given to housing which supports regeneration activities, particularly through the reuse of vacant and derelict land and higher density development particularly around key transport nodes and existing centres.

The current target is to deliver 6,000 new homes each year to 2029. To achieve this will require joint action by both the public sector and housebuilding industry including Registered Social Landlords.

This was agreed unanimously.

DECIDED:

(a) That the indicative Regional Spatial Strategy, as amended, be submitted to the Scottish Government as part of their development of NPF4; and

(b) That it be noted that the indicative Regional Spatial Strategy would be submitted to the meetings of the Glasgow City Region Cabinet and Glasgow City Region Partnership in June 2020 for endorsement.