CAIRNGORMS NATION­AL PARK

PLAN­NING SER­VICE PROTOCOL

Pur­pose and Context

Pur­pose:

1. This Pro­tocol sets out the vol­un­tary agree­ment between the Cairngorms Nation­al Park Author­ity (CNPA) and the five Loc­al Author­it­ies (Aber­deen­shire, Angus, High­land, Moray, Perth and Kinross) who all work togeth­er in the exer­cise of plan­ning func­tions with­in and affect­ing, the Cairngorms Nation­al Park. This Pro­tocol aims to:
   • a) Draw togeth­er the legis­lat­ive back­ground and policy relat­ing to plan­ning in the Nation­al Park in one place so that all inter­ested parties can see how the arrange­ments work;
   • b) Describes the pro­cess for the pre­par­a­tion and adop­tion of the Loc­al Devel­op­ment Plan and the roles of CNPA and loc­al author­it­ies in its implementation;
   • c) Sets out the detailed work­ing arrange­ments in rela­tion to devel­op­ment man­age­ment and enforce­ment; and
   • d) Sets out the use of powers by CNPA and loc­al author­it­ies in rela­tion to spe­cif­ic func­tions includ­ing tree pre­ser­va­tion orders, con­ser­va­tion areas, etc;

Legis­lat­ive Context:

1. The aims of the Nation­al Park are set out in Sec­tion I of the Nation­al Parks (Scot­land) Act 2000 (the Act):
   • a) To con­serve and enhance the nat­ur­al and cul­tur­al her­it­age of the area;
   • b) To pro­mote sus­tain­able use of the nat­ur­al resources of the area;
   • c) To pro­mote under­stand­ing and enjoy­ment (includ­ing enjoy­ment in the form of recre­ation) of the spe­cial qual­it­ies of the area by the pub­lic; and
   • d) To pro­mote sus­tain­able eco­nom­ic and social devel­op­ment of the area’s communities.
2. The stat­utory pur­pose of the CNPA, as set out in Sec­tion 9 (1) of the Act, is to ensure that Nation­al Park aims are col­lect­ively achieved in a co-ordin­ated way. Sec­tion 9(6) of the Act provides that if, in rela­tion to any mat­ter, it appears to the CNPA that there is a con­flict between the first and oth­er Nation­al Park aims, the CNPA must give great­er weight to the first aim, namely to con­serve and enhance the nat­ur­al and cul­tur­al her­it­age of the area.
3. The Cairngorms Nation­al Park was des­ig­nated under the Cairngorms Nation­al Park Des­ig­na­tion, Trans­ition­al and Con­sequen­tial Pro­vi­sions (Scot­land) Order 2003 (“the Des­ig­na­tion Order”). The Des­ig­na­tion Order was amended by the Cairngorms

Nation­al Park Modi­fic­a­tion Order 2010 which facil­it­ated the exten­sion of the Nation­al Park into Perth and Kinross

1. The Nation­al Park Part­ner­ship Plan is the man­age­ment plan for the Nation­al Park and is drawn up under the require­ments of Sec­tion 11 of the Act and is signed off by Min­is­ters. The Plan provides the Stra­tegic con­text for the Loc­al Devel­op­ment Plan. There is a gen­er­al duty in Sec­tion 14 of the Nation­al Parks (Scot­land) Act 2000 for any pub­lic body or office- hold­er to have regard to the Nation­al Park Plan in exer­cising func­tions affect­ing a Nation­al Park. Para­graph 18 of Sched­ule 5 of the Act has amended the Town and Coun­try Plan­ning (Scot­land) Act 1997 to the effect that decisions on plan­ning mat­ters shall take account of the Nation­al Park Plan.
2. CNPA’s plan­ning func­tions are set out in Sec­tion 7 of the Des­ig­na­tion Order. The fol­low­ing powers are ves­ted dir­ectly in CNΡΑ:
   • a) 7(1)(a) — exclus­ive powers in rela­tion to pre­par­a­tion of a loc­al devel­op­ment plan for the Nation­al Park.
   • b) 7(1)(b) — shared powers with the rel­ev­ant loc­al author­ity for plan­ning enforce­ment. One excep­tion to this is in rela­tion to cer­ti­fic­ates of law­ful use or devel­op­ment (Sec­tions 150 to 155 on 1997 Plan­ning Act) where CNPA has no author­ity and the loc­al author­ity has exclus­ive authority.
   • c) 7(1)(b) – shared powers with loc­al author­ity in rela­tion to the spe­cial con­trols in rela­tion to Trees, Land Adversely Affect­ing Amen­ity of Neigh­bour­hood, and Advertisements.
3. Strictly speak­ing CNPA doesn’t actu­ally become the plan­ning author­ity for these pur­poses but this makes little prac­tic­al dif­fer­ence as all ref­er­ences in legis­la­tion to ​‘plan­ning author­ity’ are to be read as ref­er­ences to CNPA.
4. The above func­tions are dir­ectly ves­ted in CNPA by the Des­ig­na­tion Order. Sec­tion 7(3) of the Des­ig­na­tion Order also provides that oth­er plan­ning func­tions can come to be exer­cised by CNPA in cer­tain cir­cum­stances. The most import­ant of those oth­er func­tions are determ­in­a­tion of the fol­low­ing applications:
   • a) Under the 1997 Plan­ning Act:
     • i. For plan­ning permission;
     • ii. For an approv­al required by a devel­op­ment order (the most obvi­ous example of this is in rela­tion to pri­or approv­al under the Gen­er­al Per­mit­ted Devel­op­ment Order);
     • iii. For a con­sent, agree­ment or approv­al required by a con­di­tion imposed on a grant of plan­ning permission
     • iv. For agree­ment (for dis­charge or modi­fic­a­tion of a plan­ning oblig­a­tion) under Sec­tion 75A of 1997 Act.
   • b) Applic­a­tions under the 1997 Plan­ning (Lis­ted Build­ing and Con­ser­va­tion Areas) Act.
   • c) Applic­a­tions under the 1997 Plan­ning (Haz­ard­ous Sub­stances) Act.

5. CNPA’s abil­ity to determ­ine these applic­a­tions is gen­er­ally referred to as its ​“call in” powers. CNPA’s powers are almost identic­al to the ​“call in” powers which the Scot­tish Min­is­ters have in rela­tion to these applic­a­tions. The ​“call in” powers can only be exer­cised where in CNPA’s opin­ion an applic­a­tion in ques­tion raises a plan­ning issue of gen­er­al sig­ni­fic­ance to the Nation­al Park aims.

6. Even where CNPA calls in an applic­a­tion it does not become the ​‘plan­ning author­ity’ for these pur­poses. This makes little prac­tic­al dif­fer­ence as sec­tion 7(8) of the Des­ig­na­tion Order provides that CNPA would have the same powers in rela­tion to a called in applic­a­tion as a loc­al author­ity would have had.

7. Sec­tion 7(8) of the Des­ig­na­tion Order is the basis for CNPA being able to enter into plan­ning oblig­a­tions under Sec­tion 75 of the 1997 Plan­ning Act in rela­tion to called in applications.

Policy Con­text

1. Plan­ning Policy in Scot­land is set out in the Nation­al Plan­ning Frame­work and Scot­tish Plan­ning Policy (SPP).
2. The Nation­al Plan­ning Frame­work sets out in Chapter 4 the role of Nation­al Parks and high­lights that ​“Scotland’s two Nation­al Parks are exem­plars of sus­tain­able devel­op­ment and growth based envir­on­ment­al assets and nat­ur­al resources” (Nation­al Plan­ning Frame­work, para 4.27)

A Flex­ible Strategy for Diverse Places – Scotland’s Nation­al Parks

Scotland’s two Nation­al Parks – Cairngorms, and Loch Lomond and The Trossachs – are spe­cial places. Nation­al Park Part­ner­ship Plans provide the stra­tegic frame­work for co-ordin­ated deliv­ery of the four Nation­al Park aims, sup­port­ing their role as exem­plars of a part­ner­ship approach to increas­ing sus­tain­able eco­nom­ic growth and provid­ing mul­tiple bene­fits for res­id­ents, vis­it­ors and the wider Scot­tish economy.

Our Nation­al Parks are sus­tain­able, suc­cess­ful places. We want to see pos­it­ive plan­ning and innov­a­tion con­tin­ue to strengthen com­munit­ies, encour­age invest­ment, sup­port tour­ism, deliv­er afford­able rur­al hous­ing, and encour­age high qual­ity place­mak­ing and vis­it­or exper­i­ences. Both Parks can be low car­bon places, with poten­tial for increased use of micro­gen­er­a­tion and to sup­port the bio­mass sup­ply chain. They are also con­nec­ted places, with pro­grammed improve­ments to key routes includ­ing the A82 and A9, the scen­ic routes ini­ti­at­ive, the devel­op­ment of the Nation­al Walk­ing and Cyc­ling Net­work, and oth­er path net­work improvements.

Above all, our Nation­al Parks are nat­ur­al, resi­li­ent places. We expect their excep­tion­al envir­on­ment­al qual­ity, com­pris­ing some of the very best of Scotland’s nature and land­scapes, to con­tin­ue to form the found­a­tions of their devel­op­ment plans.

Source: Nation­al Plan­ning Framework

14 Scot­tish Plan­ning Policy sets out that, the four aims must be pur­sued col­lect­ively; that if there is con­flict then great­er weight should be giv­en to first aim; that plan­ning decisions should reflect this weight­ing; that devel­op­ment plans are expec­ted to be con­sist­ent with the Nation­al Park Plan (paras 84 to 86); that Nation­al Parks are areas where wind farms will not be accept­able (para 161); and that devel­op­ment that affects a Nation­al Park should only be per­mit­ted (paras 212 to 213) where:

*   a) The objectives of designation and the overall integrity of the area will not be compromised; or

*   b) Any significant adverse effects on the qualities for which the area has been designated are clearly outweighed by social, environmental or economic benefits of national importance.

15 SPP also provides clar­ity on how loc­al devel­op­ment plans in Nation­al Parks should take account of the Hous­ing Need and Demand Assess­ments pre­pared by loc­al author­it­ies as hous­ing author­it­ies in meet­ing hous­ing land requirements:

“In the Nation­al Parks, loc­al devel­op­ment plans should draw on the evid­ence provided by the HNDAs of the con­stitu­ent hous­ing author­it­ies. Nation­al Park author­it­ies should aim to meet the hous­ing land require­ment in full in their area. How­ever, they are not required to do so, and they should liaise closely with neigh­bour­ing plan­ning author­it­ies to ensure that any remain­ing part of the hous­ing land require­ment for the Nation­al Parks is met in imme­di­ately adjoin­ing hous­ing mar­ket areas, and that a 5‑year sup­ply of effect­ive land is main­tained.” (Source: SPP, Para 121)

Prin­ciples

16 This Pro­tocol was developed based on a num­ber of principles:

*   a) Partnership and trust;
*   b) Working together, sharing responsibility for a consistent approach to planning in the National Park;
*   c) Efficiency and effectiveness, avoiding duplication of effort wherever possible, and sound decision-making;
*   d) Commitment to an open exchange of information; and
*   e) Willingness to keep processes under review and to strive for continuous improvements in performance.

Devel­op­ment Planning

1. Plan Pre­par­a­tion: The CNPA is respons­ible for the pre­par­a­tion and adop­tion of the Loc­al Devel­op­ment Plan for the Nation­al Park and for any asso­ci­ated Sup­ple­ment­ary Guid­ance. The Devel­op­ment Plan sets the con­text for all plan­ning decisions taken in the Park. CNPA will con­vene a part­ner­ship group to over­see the pro­cess involving all loc­al author­it­ies and rel­ev­ant stat­utory agen­cies. Loc­al author­it­ies will con­trib­ute inform­a­tion as reques­ted to assist in Plan pre­par­a­tion. The CNPA will care­fully con­sider rep­res­ent­a­tions made by part­ner loc­al author­it­ies to con­sulta­tions on the LDP and asso­ci­ated plan­ning guid­ance and will dis­cuss these rep­res­ent­a­tions with the rel­ev­ant loc­al author­it­ies as part of the plan pre­par­a­tion process.
2. Cur­rent Devel­op­ment Plan status: The Cairngorms Nation­al Park Loc­al Devel­op­ment Plan 2015 was adop­ted in March 2015. A suite of Sup­ple­ment­ary Guid­ance and Non-stat­utory Guid­ance was approved in Septem­ber 2015. Sup­ple­ment­ary Guid­ance pro­duced by the loc­al author­it­ies is not part of the devel­op­ment plan for the Nation­al Park but may still be a mater­i­al consideration.
3. Plan Deliv­ery: The CNPA has pre­pared an Action Pro­gramme and will con­vene a Plan­ning and Deliv­ery Group, involving all loc­al author­it­ies to pro­mote its delivery

and to mon­it­or the Plan. The CNPA will con­vene a Developers For­um focussed on deliv­ery of devel­op­ment in the Nation­al Park and will attend rel­ev­ant Devel­op­ment For­ums (com­pris­ing plan­ning and hous­ing offi­cials) to pro­mote delivery.

1. Plan Mon­it­or­ing: CNPA will lead on mon­it­or­ing of deliv­ery of the Plan as part of the nor­mal Plan review and pre­par­a­tion pro­cess. Loc­al author­it­ies will share inform­a­tion and provide inform­a­tion on request.

Devel­op­ment Management

1. Defin­i­tions: Although the term ​“plan­ning applic­a­tion” is used through­out this Pro­tocol, for the pur­poses of this doc­u­ment it includes applic­a­tions for plan­ning per­mis­sion, approv­al required under plan­ning con­di­tions, applic­a­tions for dis­charge or modi­fic­a­tion of plan­ning oblig­a­tions, lis­ted build­ing con­sent, con­ser­va­tion area con­sent, advert­ise­ment con­sent, haz­ard­ous sub­stances con­sent and applic­a­tions for pri­or approv­al in rela­tion to per­mit­ted devel­op­ment. The CNPA does not have powers in rela­tion to applic­a­tions for cer­ti­fic­ates of law­ful­ness of existing/​proposed use or devel­op­ment, and High Hedge applic­a­tions and such applic­a­tions will be sub­mit­ted to, and determ­ined by, the rel­ev­ant loc­al authority.
2. Gen­er­al Plan­ning Enquir­ies and Advice: All gen­er­al plan­ning enquir­ies (e.g. about the need for plan­ning per­mis­sion or extent of per­mit­ted devel­op­ment rights) with­in or affect­ing the Park should be dir­ec­ted to the respect­ive loc­al author­ity. The CNPA will gen­er­ally not handle such enquires to min­im­ise the poten­tial for con­fu­sion. CNPA will pro­duce a series of Plan­ning Advice Notes to help people use the system.
3. Pre-applic­a­tion Advice: Pre-applic­a­tion advice is an import­ant part of the plan­ning pro­cess that can improve the qual­ity of out­comes and cer­tainty for devel­op­ment pro­pos­als. Loc­al author­it­ies will handle all pre-applic­a­tion advice and request input from the CNPA for cases that are likely to be called in. Charges will be made as appro­pri­ate depend­ing on each LA approach. The CNPA will gen­er­ally avoid giv­ing pre-applic­a­tion advice except through the sys­tem coordin­ated by each loc­al author­ity. The CNPA Plan­ning Com­mit­tee agreed a pro­ced­ure for Plan­ning Com­mit­tee mem­ber involve­ment in pre-applic­a­tion dis­cus­sions on applic­a­tions in Decem­ber 2015. Loc­al author­it­ies may also involve elec­ted mem­bers in the pro­vi­sion of pre-applic­a­tion advice on cases that are likely to be ​“called-in” and, where they do so, they will indic­ate clearly to the applic­ant that it is the CNPA, not the loc­al author­ity, who are likely to determ­ine the application.

4. Validation/​Registration: Loc­al author­it­ies are respons­ible for val­id­a­tion and regis­tra­tion of a plan­ning applic­a­tions and ini­ti­ation of con­sulta­tions, advert­ising, neigh­bour noti­fic­a­tion and oth­er rel­ev­ant stat­utory pro­ced­ures. Loc­al author­it­ies will noti­fy CNPA with­in 5 days of receiv­ing a val­id plan­ning applic­a­tion. Where an applic­a­tion which has been ​“called in” has been with­drawn on advice from CNPA with view to resub­mis­sion, CNPA will dis­cuss any rel­ev­ant mat­ters with the loc­al author­ity pri­or to advising the applic­ant to ensure that all rel­ev­ant con­sid­er­a­tions are taken into account.

5. Envir­on­ment­al Impact Assess­ment (EIA) Screen­ing and Scop­ing: All applic­a­tions with­in the Nation­al Park that fall with­in the lists provided in Sched­ule 2 of the rel­ev­ant Reg­u­la­tions must be screened for EIA. Loc­al author­it­ies will lead on pro­cessing of both form­al and inform­al requests for the screen­ing of pro­pos­als to determ­ine wheth­er or not they require the pre­par­a­tion of an Envir­on­ment­al Impact Assess­ment. Loc­al author­it­ies will con­sult CNPA on all EIA scop­ing requests, will take account of their views in provid­ing scop­ing responses and will copy such responses to CNPA.

6. “Call in” Arrange­ments: CNPA will ​“call in” plan­ning applic­a­tions which raise a plan­ning issue of gen­er­al sig­ni­fic­ance to the Nation­al Park with­in three weeks of receipt of noti­fic­a­tion from the loc­al author­ity of a plan­ning applic­a­tion. CNPA will pub­lish on a web­site, and keep under review, a list of ​“call in” cri­ter­ia in order to be as clear and pre­script­ive as pos­sible. The CNPA Head of Plan­ning will decide, nor­mally on a weekly basis, which applic­a­tions to ​“call in” based on a set of clear cri­ter­ia that is reviewed annu­ally. Loc­al author­it­ies shall trans­fer the applic­a­tion, with all rel­ev­ant sup­port­ing mater­i­al, to the CNPA with­in five days of the date of ​“call in”. CNPA will noti­fy the applic­ant with­in five days and oth­er inter­ested parties as soon as prac­tic­able after receipt of the files. CNPA will gen­er­ally not com­ment on applic­a­tions that have not been ​“called in” unless advice is spe­cific­ally sought. The cri­ter­ia for applic­a­tions that are likely or unlikely to be called in by the CNPA are kept up to date in this Plan­ning Advice Note.
7. Spe­cial­ist Advice: The CNPA may request spe­cial­ist advice from loc­al author­ity con­sul­tees (eg trans­port­a­tion, envir­on­ment­al health, hous­ing teams)on applic­a­tions it has called-in. This will nor­mally be to fol­low up con­sulta­tions that the loc­al author­ity has ini­ti­ated in its role as plan­ning author­ity pri­or to CNPA call-in, but could also be ini­ti­ated by CNPA fol­low­ing call-in of an applic­a­tion if rel­ev­ant to a par­tic­u­lar loc­al author­ity ser­vice. CNPA employs a series of spe­cial­ist officers (includ­ing land­scape, nat­ur­al her­it­age, out­door access and eco­nom­ic devel­op­ment) who may be con­sul­ted on plan­ning related mat­ters at the dis­cre­tion of plan­ning officers deal­ing with case­work. Loc­al author­it­ies may con­sult the CNPA on any applic­a­tion with­in the Park and any applic­a­tions out­with it which are con­sidered to affect the spe­cial qual­it­ies of the Park. Spe­cial­ist advice will be provided at the dis­cre­tion of the rel­ev­ant Head of Ser­vice. A pro­tocol between CNPA and Scot­tish Nat­ur­al Her­it­age is in place to ensure that there is no duplic­a­tion of effort in provid­ing nat­ur­al her­it­age advice.
8. Developer Obligations/​Contributions: The Cairngorms Nation­al Park Loc­al Devel­op­ment Plan and Sup­ple­ment­ary Guid­ance on Developer Con­tri­bu­tions provide the policy basis for any developer oblig­a­tions with the Nation­al Park. The way in which these policies apply will be dif­fer­ent in dif­fer­ent loc­al author­ity areas depend­ing on the avail­able inform­a­tion about ser­vice pro­vi­sion, pres­sures and costs. The CNPA will con­sult the plan­ning gain/​developer oblig­a­tions team of the rel­ev­ant loc­al author­ity on applic­a­tions that may have impacts that could be mit­ig­ated by a developer oblig­a­tion. The loc­al author­ity plan­ning gain/​developer oblig­a­tions team will inform the CNPA of the level of any oblig­a­tions required and basis for cal­cu­la­tions. In lar­ger or more com­plex cases a degree of nego­ti­ation between the plan­ning gain team, developer and CNPA may be required. If a loc­al author­ity does not sug­gest an appro­pri­ate and trans­par­ent con­tri­bu­tion, then the CNPA will assume

that none is jus­ti­fied. Con­tri­bu­tions towards afford­able hous­ing are also spe­cified by a LDP policy and through non-stat­utory plan­ning guidance.

1. Plan­ning Fees: Plan­ning fees are paid to and admin­istered by Loc­al author­it­ies. CNPA will invoice each LA for 60% of the plan­ning fee for those applic­a­tions ​“called in” in July and Janu­ary. This simple sys­tem has been agreed to achieve equity, to reflect the likely work involved and to keep pro­ced­ures clear and simple. In rare cir­cum­stances, and only for excep­tion­ally com­plex cases, the CNPA may seek a lar­ger pro­por­tion of a plan­ning fee from a loc­al author­ity to reflect the pro­por­tion of work done by the CNPA.
2. Pri­or Notification/​Approval: The CNPA’s ​“call-in” powers extend to these pro­vi­sions of the Gen­er­al Per­mit­ted Devel­op­ment Order where approv­al is required from the plan­ning author­ity. The CNPA has a par­tic­u­lar interest in the man­age­ment of vehicle hill tracks that can have a sig­ni­fic­ant adverse land­scape effect on the Nation­al Park. The loc­al author­it­ies will noti­fy the CNPA of all agri­cul­tur­al or forestry Private Roads and Ways pri­or noti­fic­a­tion applic­a­tions in the Nation­al Park. The CNPA will respond to the loc­al author­it­ies if it con­siders the private road or way pro­pos­al would require pri­or approv­al and also wheth­er it would call-in the pri­or approv­al noti­fic­a­tion. The loc­al author­it­ies will noti­fy the CNPA of all agri­cul­tur­al or forestry Private Roads and Ways pri­or approv­al applic­a­tions in the Nation­al Park and the CNPA will call-in and determ­ine those that raise sig­ni­fic­ant issues for the Nation­al Park.
3. Consultation/​Notification on Elec­tri­city Act Applic­a­tions: Loc­al author­it­ies will con­sult CNPA on all applic­a­tions for energy gen­er­a­tion and trans­mis­sion pro­jects under the Elec­tri­city Act with­in, and poten­tially affect­ing, the Park and noti­fy CNPA of all sim­il­ar Scot­tish Gov­ern­ment consultations.
4. Plan­ning Decisions: CNPA will noti­fy loc­al author­it­ies on res­ol­u­tions to grant or refuse per­mis­sion made with­in one week of the rel­ev­ant Com­mit­tee meet­ing. Loc­al author­it­ies will noti­fy the CNPA on decisions to grant or refuse per­mis­sion, and on EIA scop­ing responses, with­in three weeks of the issu­ing notices.
5. Appeals: Loc­al author­it­ies will work with­in the con­text of their Schemes of Del­eg­a­tion with appeals on most loc­al devel­op­ments to be con­sidered by their Loc­al Review Bod­ies. National/​major devel­op­ments, and applic­a­tions determ­ined by plan­ning com­mit­tee, will be con­sidered by Depart­ment for Plan­ning and Envir­on­ment­al Appeals (DPEA). Appeals for applic­a­tions determ­ined by CNPA will all be con­sidered by DPEA. It will be the respons­ib­il­ity of the author­ity which determ­ined a plan­ning applic­a­tion to handle any sub­sequent appeal.

6. Applic­a­tions to Modi­fy or Dis­charge Plan­ning Oblig­a­tions: CNPA has ​“call-in” powers in rela­tion to applic­a­tions for dis­charge or modi­fic­a­tion of a plan­ning oblig­a­tion under Sec­tion 75A of the 1997 Act which relate to devel­op­ments with­in the Nation­al Park. As a gen­er­al approach, CNPA:

   • a) Will not ​“call in” Sec­tion 75A applic­a­tions where it was not party to the ori­gin­al plan­ning obligation;

   • b) Will ​“call in” Sec­tion 75A applic­a­tions where it was a party to the ori­gin­al plan­ning oblig­a­tion but the loc­al author­ity was not; and

   • c) May ​“call in” a Sec­tion 75A applic­a­tion, hav­ing regard to the mat­ters addressed in the applic­a­tion, where both CNPA and the loc­al author­ity were party to the ori­gin­al plan­ning obligation.

7. All applic­a­tions under Sec­tion 75A of the Plan­ning Act, irre­spect­ive of wheth­er the ori­gin­al plan­ning oblig­a­tion was signed by CNPA, the loc­al author­ity or both, must be sub­mit­ted to the rel­ev­ant loc­al author­ity in the first instance.

Mon­it­or­ing & Enforcement

1. CNPA will mon­it­or con­di­tions dis­charge and adher­ence on applic­a­tions it has called in and approved. Each loc­al author­ity will mon­it­or con­di­tions on applic­a­tions it approves.
2. CNPA and loc­al author­it­ies all have powers of enforce­ment (includ­ing advert­ise­ment con­trol). Each organ­isa­tion has a duty to pre­pare an Enforce­ment Charter that sets out the stand­ard of ser­vice for respond­ing to breaches of plan­ning con­trol. CNPA will lead on pre­par­a­tion of one Enforce­ment Charter for the Nation­al Park, sum­mar­iz­ing the role of all five loc­al author­it­ies and CNPA and provid­ing appro­pri­ate con­tact points.
3. Enforce­ment cases can be brought to the atten­tion of either CNPA or the rel­ev­ant loc­al author­ity. Either CNPA or the rel­ev­ant loc­al author­ity will noti­fy the oth­er of the poten­tial breach of plan­ning con­trol and ascer­tain if it relates to a plan­ning case on which a decision has been made. If it does, then the mat­ter is passed on to the respons­ible author­ity to deal with. If not, then CNPA will lead on cases relat­ing to applic­a­tions that, had they been made, would have been ​“called in”. Loc­al author­it­ies will deal with all remain­ing cases.

Oth­er Matters

1. Tree Pre­ser­va­tion Orders (TPOs): The CNPA and loc­al author­it­ies all have powers in respect of TPOs. The loc­al author­it­ies will deal with all mat­ters in rela­tion to TPOs, main­tain rel­ev­ant records and make them avail­able to the CNPA on request. Loc­al author­it­ies will con­sult CNPA when mak­ing new TPOs. CNPA may request the des­ig­na­tion of new TPOs, nor­mally as part of LDP delivery.
2. Con­ser­va­tions Areas: The 5 Loc­al Author­it­ies have the power to des­ig­nate Con­ser­va­tion Areas and will work with the CNPA to assess the case for any new Con­ser­va­tion Areas as part of the LDP pre­par­a­tion process.
3. Com­mu­nic­a­tions and stake­hold­er engage­ment: The CNPA oper­ates a Developers For­um for developers, landown­ers and agents in the Nation­al Park. It meets three times a year, nor­mally with themed dis­cus­sions and includes oppor­tun­it­ies to net­work and dis­cuss issues between plan­ning author­it­ies and devel­op­ment industry. The CNPA will invite loc­al author­it­ies to par­ti­cip­ate in meet­ings. The CNPA oper­ates a Com­munity Plan­ning Rep­res­ent­at­ives Net­work (PRN) for plan­ning rep­res­ent­at­ives on com­munity coun­cils or asso­ci­ations in the

Nation­al Park. The PRN meets twice year and is an oppor­tun­ity to inform loc­al com­munit­ies and dis­cuss plan­ning issues that affect them. The CNPA will invite loc­al author­it­ies to par­ti­cip­ate in meetings.

1. A9 upgrade works: The A9 upgrade works between Perth and Inverness are a nation­al pro­ject with­in the Nation­al Plan­ning Frame­work. The works will be under­taken in dif­fer­ent sec­tions over more than 10 years. Both CNPA and Perth and Kinross Coun­cil or High­land Coun­cil are con­sul­tees for the sec­tions that are with­in the Nation­al Park. CNPA will provide advice to Trans­port Scot­land or their agents on issues of Land­scape, Eco­logy (on non-des­ig­nated sites), Out­door Access and Com­munity and Private Assets dur­ing stage 2 and stage 3 con­sulta­tions of the Design Manu­al for Roads and Bridges (DMRB) pro­cess or if neces­sary, dur­ing the con­struc­tion process.

Liais­on and Review

1. The pro­tocol, and the effect­ive­ness of the arrange­ments it sets out, will be reviewed annu­ally at a liais­on meet­ing to be con­vened by CNPA for all Heads of Plan­ning or their nominees.

Agree­ment and Con­tact Points

1. The pro­tocol comes into effect on 31 March 2016 and replaces any earli­er agreed ver­sions. Agree­ment is recor­ded by exchange of emails with CNPA and the respect­ive loc­al authorities.

Plan­ning Author­ity	Head of Plan­ning	email
Cairngorms Nation­al Park Authority	Gav­in Miles	gavinmiles@​cairngorms.​co.​uk
Aber­deen­shire Council	Robert Gray	robert.​gray@​aberdeenshire.​gov.​uk
Angus Coun­cil	Ian Mitchell	mitchelll@​angus.​gov.​uk
High­land Council	Mal­colm MacLeod	malcolm.​macleod@​highland.​gov.​uk
Moray Coun­cil	Jim Grant	jim.​grant@​moray.​gov.​uk
Perth and Kinross Council	Dav­id Littlejohn	dlittlejohn@​pkc.​gov.​uk