CAIRNGORMS NATIONAL PARK AUTHORITY 
Title: EXISTING STRUCTURE PLAN POLICIES AND 
OBJECTIVES WITHIN THE CAIRNGORMS 
NATIONAL PARK 
Prepared by: NORMAN BROCKIE, PLANNING OFFICER (Local 
Plan/Policy) 
Purpose 
This aim of this report is to assess the policies and objectives within the four existing 
structure plans, which may cause conflict with the proposed CNP Local Plan. 
The Highland, Morayshire, Aberdeenshire and Angus Structure Plans will be addressed in 
turn and problem areas highlighted; firstly with regard to their objectives and secondly their 
policies. While the CNP Park Plan will eventually provide the planning framework for the 
Local Plan, the existing structure plan frameworks must be addressed and ‘adopted/adapted’ 
as appropriate and relevant to the CNP’s area, aims and objectives. 
All of the structure plans are available for viewing on the relevant Local Authority website; 
we have a copy at the CNPA HQ which can be viewed within the office. 
Recommendations 
• The Board supports the intention to proceed with the development of a new CNP 
Local Plan, which will take cognisance of the existing structure plan frameworks and 
emerging Park Plan, but will create a local plan which is tailored to the specific aims 
and needs of the CNP area. 
Executive Summary 
The four existing structure plans are all less than 4 years old from adoption, and are therefore 
relatively up to date; Aberdeenshire and Angus have dated their structure plans as being in 
place until 2016. The proposed CNP Local Plan “must conform to the structure plan” 
according to section 37 of SPP1:The Planning System (Scottish Planning Policy). The 
proposed CNP Park Plan will “provide a strategic context for development plans” (section 30 
of SPP1). What this basically means is that the Park Plan will provide the framework that 
structure plans previously provided, but that the existing structure plans should be adhered to 
as well, in as much as they are relevant to the Park area. 
Until the 4 existing structure plans are replaced they will still hold some level of statutory 
influence, although this will be lessened by degrees with the passage of time and, in 
particular, by the adoption of the CNP Park Plan, the CNP Local Plan and the introduction of 
CNPA Interim Planning Policies and/or Supplementary Guidance. The latter 4 would be 
important material considerations in the case of an inquiry, where the reporter would also 
have to take cognisance of the fact that the relevant structure plan was produced prior to the 
existence of the CNP and without recognition of its four aims. 

EXISTING STRUCTURE PLANS: OBJECTIVES 
1. HIGHLAND Structure Plan was adopted in March 2001; its vision has 15 objectives, 
which are to maximise: 
a) Community empowerment and decision-making. 
b) The diversification of the regional and local economies. 
c) The quality and number of employment opportunities. 
d) Accessibility to and quality of housing. 
e) The safety, enjoyment and diversity of towns and villages. 
f) Standards of health for all. 
g) The effectiveness and efficiency of infrastructure provision. 
h) Accessibility to community facilities and services. 
i) Accessibility to education and training. 
j) The maintenance and enhancement of the cultural heritage, including landscape 
and Gaelic language. 
k) The quality of the built environment. 
l) Biodiversity. 
m) The optimal use of renewable and non-renewable resources. 
n) The efficiency of energy use. 
o) The quality of air, water and land. 
The Strategic Issues to be addressed are: a growing population, rural depopulation, an 
ageing population, housing needs, inequalities, access to services, economic structure, 
peripherality, transport pressures, integrated transport, other infrastructure services, 
new technology, culture and language, built heritage, natural heritage, agriculture, 
forestry, other primary resources and community decision-making. 
2. MORAYSHIRE Development Plan (Structure and Local Plans combined) was adopted in 
April 2000; the plan has 4 main aims: 
a) Promote economic growth and development. 
b) Spread the benefits of economic growth across the community. 
c) Maintain and improve the natural and built environment. 
d) Underpin development by promoting sustainability. 
There are 8 strategic issues to be addressed: 
I) The provision of adequate land for development focussed on the existing 
settlement pattern. 
II) The securing and targeting of resources to promote economic development and 
employment opportunities. 
III) The securing of a modern transport and communications network. 
IV) The protection and conservation of the valued elements of the natural and built 
environment. 
V) The efficient use of energy related to and in the location of the development. 
VI) The sustainable use of natural resources. 
VII) The promotion of community planning and development. 
VIII) The promotion of well designed and located development in remoter rural areas. 

3. ABERDEENSHIRE Structure Plan (NEST North East Scotland together, Aberdeen 
& Aberdeenshire Structure Plan 2001-2016) was adopted in June 2002; its vision has 
3 principles: 
a) Responsible management of our natural, built and community resources. 
b) Fairness in allocation of these resources between competing demands. 
c) The need to benefit both existing and future generations. 
Each principle has 3 aims: 
a1) minimize the use of non-renewable resources and use renewable resources 
within their carrying capacity, minimising waste. 
a2) Work with nature, encouraging diversity and minimizing harmful 
environmental impact. 
a3) Foster quality and the unique cultural identity of the north-east. 
b1) Optimise the diversity of opportunity for and fair access to health, security and 
prosperity. 
b2) Recognise the interdependence of communities, each at its own scale, and the 
part each has to play. 
b3) Satisfy the needs of a competitive economy and viable community before 
individual wants. 
c1) Give long-term and global cumulative effects greater weighting than purely 
short-term and local effects. 
c2) Apply the precautionary principle. 
c3) Deal with all of the above together as a whole on behalf of everyone. 
The strategy has 11 objectives; 1-6 are strategic land-use, 7-11 are locational. 
Objective 1 To create a long-term sustainable framework of settlements in a 
hierarchy, which focuses major development on the main settlements in the North 
East. The roles of each type of settlement and area are set out in more detail in Table 
1 and the Strategic Diagram (Figure 1). 
Objective 2 To integrate land use and transportation and ensure that development is 
well related to public transport, especially on the main communication corridors. 
Objective 3 To foster and promote economic diversity and competitiveness, create 
new economic development opportunities and develop the natural strengths and 
growth sectors of the business economy, all in accord with sustainable principles. 
Objective 4 To locate homes, jobs and services in scale with each other and with the 
role and function of each settlement. 
Objective 5 To protect, enhance and promote the natural, built and cultural heritage of 
the North East. 
Objective 6 To create a long-term framework for the communications network, 
giving preference to public and freight transport, cycling, walking and 
telecommunications. 
Locational Objectives 
Objective 7 To secure a choice of location for a viable supply and adequate variety of 
land for housing (including affordable housing), employment, services and open 
space, which: relates development to each settlement’s ability to accommodate it 

without loss of amenity or identity; ensures that the particular use or uses proposed for 
each site will maximise the overall sustainability of the community; gives preference 
to the use and re-use of sites within existing settlements; avoids development in areas 
at significant risk of flooding or near other major hazards; relates the density of 
development, when considered with adjoining land uses, to its proximity to services 
and the transport network; will help to regenerate poorer communities and areas. 
Objective 8 To protect and enhance the vitality of town centres as preferred locations 
for retail, leisure, community and business functions. 
Objective 9 To confirm the function and role of Aberdeen’s Green Belt. 
Objective 10 To protect the countryside from development other than what is needed 
for the rural economy and settlement strategy. 
Objective 11 To give special protection to international, national and locally 
designated sites of environmental importance, but also to foster the natural and built 
environment as a whole. 
4. ANGUS (Dundee and Angus Structure Plan 2001-2016): This was adopted in 
October 2002; there are no definitive aims for the plan, but there are 10 general 
principles to underpin sustainable development within the area: 
I) Create the conditions for a vibrant and diverse economy providing increased 
and varied job opportunities. 
II) Integrate land-use and transport to improve accessibility for everyone between 
home, work, leisure and services with a view to maintaining air quality, 
reducing pollution and unnecessary travel. 
III) Promote urban renewal and community regeneration and address rural and 
urban disadvantage to assist reduction of poverty and inequality. 
IV) Provide for local housing need and ensure access to affordable housing. 
V) Give priority to the reuse of previously developed sites where appropriate. 
VI) Encourage the continued development and maintenance of viable and vital 
communities which support an appropriate range of facilities. 
VII) Promote environmentally sustainable use of existing and planned infrastructure 
and service capacity to support and facilitate development. 
VIII) Promote the use of renewable energy and resources, the efficient use of energy 
and the reuse, recovery and recycling of waste. 
5. All of the aims/principles of the four existing structure plans are generally relevant to 
what the CNPA will be trying to achieve in its Local Plan; those which are area 
specific, such as Aberdeenshire Objectives 1 and 9, will have no relevance within the 
CNP and as such will not be used. 

EXISTING STRUCTURE PLANS: POLICIES 
6. The following table looks at specific policies within the four structure plans which the 
CNP Local Plan may find problematic, with regard to the aims and objectives of the 
Park. 
Policy No. & Title 
Policy Content 
Reason for Conflict 
HIGHLAND 
Housing Policy H1 
Housing Allocations for 
Areas 1998-2017; e.g. for 
the 
Local Plan zones within the 
Highland Council Area (not 
broken down by 
settlements). Badenoch & 
Strathspey is one of 8 such 
areas; allocations are given 
for the periods 1998-2007 
and 2007-2017. 
We would expect to apply the work 
done by the Cairngorms Housing 
Forum (across the whole Park), 
combined with the Local 
Authorities’ Housing Strategy, to 
get a more specialised local 
perspective, as opposed to a 
regional distribution. 
Mineral Policies M1-M4 
Mineral Resources: their 
extraction and protection. 
These policies give a positive (but 
conditioned) approach towards 
quarrying proposals, developments 
which are likely to be in conflict 
with the Park’s aims. 
Energy Policies E1-E4 
Wind and Hydro Energy 
Scheme Developments. 
As above, the generally positive 
approach will be tempered within 
the CNP to apply more stringent 
environmental and landscape 
considerations. 
Environment Policy N1 
Nature Conservation: in 
designated areas “develop-
ments which would have an 
adverse effect on the 
conservation interests for 
which a site has been 
designated will only be 
permitted where there is no 
alternative solution and 
there are imperative reasons 
of over-riding public 
interest”. 
Within the Park we would (most 
likely) apply the Sandford Principle 
as a determining factor when in 
conflict with this type of policy; as 
with CNP Aim 1 when the 4 aims 
of the Park are in conflict with each 
other. 
MORAYSHIRE 
No conflicting policies 
ABERDEENSHIRE 
Housing Policy 8 
Housing Allocations 
Jan.2000 to Dec.2005. 
This policy makes little allowance 
for the area within the Park, a mere 
50 new houses for the whole Marr 

area (within which only a few 
settlements are within the Park). 
We would expect to apply the work 
done by the Cairngorms Housing 
Forum (across the whole Park), 
combined with the Local 
Authorities’ Housing Strategy, to 
get a more specialised local 
perspective. 
Housing Policy 9 
Housing Allocations 
Jan.2006 to Dec.2010. 
As above, with 100 houses 
allocated for Marr. 
Housing Policy 12 
House Building in the 
Countryside Beyond the 
Green Belt. The specifics 
within this policy (e.g. “Any 
such conversion must be 
within the building’s 
original structure..”) 
Such detailed policy may be 
considered overly restrictive within 
the CNP LP. 
Environmental Policy 
19 
Wildlife, Landscape and 
Land Resources: this 
policy (like Highland N1) 
could allow development 
within a designated area 
where the “over-riding 
public interest” and no 
feasible alternative factors 
could be applied. 
Within the Park we would (most 
likely) apply the Sandford Principle 
as a determining factor when in 
conflict with this type of policy; as 
with CNP Aim 1 when the 4 aims 
of the Park are in conflict with each 
other. 
Policy 26 
4 Tier Policy Areas for 
Minerals, Landfill, Land 
Raise and Wind Farm 
Proposals. This policy 
allows for a sequential 
exploration of tiered 
planning designations, e.g. 
Ramsar Sites would be tier 1 
and the most restrictive, 
NSA’s are tier 2, Areas of 
Landscape Significance are 
tier 3 and areas with no 
designations are tier 4, and 
therefore more suitable for 
development. 
This type of policy may be 
problematic as we may feel that 
within the Park there is no lower 
level of landscape designation 
where such developments would be 
more likely to get permission, but a 
general high level of landscape 
value, with environmental 
designations an additional 
consideration. 
ANGUS 
Environmental 
Resources Policy 1 
Natural Heritage Designa-
tions: as with Highland N1 
and Aberdeenshire 19; this 
policy could allow 
development within a 
designated area where the 
Within the Park we would (most 
likely) apply the Sandford Principle 
as a determining factor when in 
conflict with this type of policy; as 
with CNP Aim 1 when the 4 aims 
of the Park are in conflict with each 

“over-riding public interest” 
and ‘no feasible alternative’ 
factors could be applied. 
other. 
Environmental 
Resources Policy 10 
Renewable Energy: 
proposals for such will be 
favourably considered 
where the benefits and 
impacts can be suitably 
addressed. 
The CNP LP is likely to take a less 
supportive line with wind-farms 
and hydro-schemes; with the 
Sandford Principle likely to be 
applied when all the Park Aims are 
considered. 
7. POLICY ISSUES. 
While there may be no policies which we would categorically disagree with, there are 
matters of wording and detail with which we may wish to amend. In the first instance 
such policies can be tackled by the introduction of Interim Policy or Supplementary 
Guidance, to be approved by CNPA following consultation. 
8. LEGISLATION: The proposed CNP Local Plan “must conform to the structure 
plan” according to section 37 of SPP1: The Planning System (Scottish Planning 
Policy). The proposed CNP Park Plan will “provide a strategic context for 
development plans” section 30 of SPP1. What this basically means is that the Park 
Plan will provide the framework that structure plans previously provided, but that the 
existing structure plans should be adhered to as well, in as much as they are relevant 
to the Park area. 
Structure plans are proposed for abolishment in the 2005 Planning Bill, which will 
limit 2-tier development planning to the 4 city-regions of Glasgow, Edinburgh, 
Dundee and Aberdeen (which will have strategic and local development plans). For 
the rest of Scotland there will be a single-tier development plan system. Until the 4 
existing structure plans are replaced they will still hold some level of statutory 
influence, although this will be lessened by degrees by the adoption of the CNP Park 
Plan, the CNP Local Plan and the introduction of CNPA Interim Planning Policies 
and Supplementary Guidance. The latter four documents would be important material 
considerations in the case of an inquiry, where the reporter would also have to take 
cognisance of the fact that the relevant structure plan was produced prior to the 
existence of the CNP and without recognition of its four aims. 
Conclusions 
9. While the CNP Park Plan will (in time) provide the strategic framework for the new 
CNP Local Plan, the existing structure plans will still be relevant in their lifetime, 
where they actually have relevance within the CNP area. Where there is conflict 
across existing structure plan policies, or between them and the Park Aims, Interim 
Planning Policies and/or Supplementary Guidance can be introduced and adopted by 
the CNPA as material considerations. 
Norman Brockie 
12th November 2003