Agenda Document Pack - Planning Committee - 22/04/2026
North Ayrshire Council · 22 April 2026
Back to Planning Committee — 22 April 2026 and its agenda
Text extracted from the council's PDF. Layout and reading order may differ from the original.
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North Ayrshire Council, Cunninghame House, Irvine KA12 8EE Planning Committee A Meeting of the Planning Committee of North Ayrshire Council will be held in the Council Chambers, Ground Floor, Cunninghame House, Irvine, KA12 8EE on Wednesday, 22 April 2026 at 14:00 to consider the undernoted business. Meeting Arrangements - Hybrid Meetings This meeting will be held on a predominantly physical basis but with provision, by prior notification, for remote attendance by Elected Members in accordance with the provisions of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 2003. Where possible, the meeting will be live-streamed and available to view at https://north-ayrshire.public- i.tv/core/portal/home. 1 Declarations of Interest Members are requested to give notice of any declarations of interest in respect of items of business on the Agenda. 2 Minutes The accuracy of the Minutes of the meeting held on 18 March 2026 will be confirmed and the Minutes signed in accordance with Paragraph 7 (1) of Schedule 7 of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 (copy enclosed). 3 26/00168/PP : Dundonald Links, Ayr Road, Irvine Seeking permission to vary condition 15 of planning permission 19/00748/PPM to enable 34 of the consented holiday lodges to be available for sale (rather than rental) (copy enclosed). 4 National Planning Improvement Plan (NPIF) Submit report by the Executive Director (Communities & Housing) to advise of the completion and publicising of the Planning service’s National Planning Improvement Framework (NPIF) and agree future use (copy enclosed). 1
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North Ayrshire Council, Cunninghame House, Irvine KA12 8EE 5 Urgent Items Any other items which the Chair considers to be urgent. Webcasting Please note: this meeting may be filmed/recorded/live-streamed to the Council's internet site and available to view at https://north-ayrshire.public- i.tv/core/portal/home,where it will be capable of repeated viewing. At the start of the meeting, the Provost/Chair will confirm if all or part of the meeting is being filmed/recorded/live-streamed. You should be aware that the Council is a Data Controller under the Data Protection Act 2018. Data collected during the webcast will be retained in accordance with the Council’s published policy, including, but not limited to, for the purpose of keeping historical records and making those records available via the Council’s internet site. Generally, the press and public will not be filmed. However, by entering the Council Chambers and using the press or public seating area, you acknowledge that you may be filmed and that any information pertaining to you contained in the video and oral recording of the meeting will be used for webcasting or training purposes and for the purpose of keeping historical records and making those records available to the public. In making this use of your information the Council is processing data which is necessary for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest. If you have any queries regarding this and, in particular, if you believe that use and/or storage of any particular information would cause, or be likely to cause, substantial damage or distress to any individual, please contact dataprotectionofficer@north-ayrshire.gov.uk 2
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North Ayrshire Council, Cunninghame House, Irvine KA12 8EE Planning Committee Sederunt Robert Foster (Chair) Cameron Inglis (Vice-Chair) Scott Davidson Stewart Ferguson Margaret Johnson Amanda Kerr Davina McTiernan Jim Montgomerie Ian Murdoch Ronnie Stalker Chair: Apologies: Attending: 3
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Planning Committee 18 March 2026 At a Meeting of the Planning Committee of North Ayrshire Council at 2.00 p.m. involving a combination of participation by remote electronic means and physical attendance within the Council Chambers, Irvine. Present (Physical Participation) Robert Foster, Cameron Inglis, Stewart Ferguson, and Ronnie Stalker. Present (Remote Participation) Scott Davidson, Margaret Johnson, Amanda Kerr, Davina McTiernan, and Jim Montgomerie. In Attendance A. Finlayson, Chief Planning Officer (Communities and Housing); R. Lynch, Senior Manager; C. Leslie, Solicitor (Legal); S. Wilson, Committee Services Officer; and M. Burley, Senior Communications Officer (Communications) (Democratic Services) (Corporate Services). Chair Councillor Foster in the Chair. Apologies Ian Murdoch. 1. Declarations of Interest There were no declarations of interest by Members in terms of Standing Order 11 and Section 5 of the Code of Conduct for Councillors. 2. Minutes The Minutes of the Meeting held on 28 January 2026 were confirmed and signed in accordance with Paragraph 7 (1) of Schedule 7 of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973. 3. 26/00033/PP : Site to West and South of Mains Bungalow, Irvine Submitted a report by the Chief Planning Officer under Section 42 of the Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act 1997 seeking permission to vary condition 5 of planning permission 25/00287/PPM to enable the phasing of site remediation operations. Officers responded to Members’ questions and the Committee unanimously agreed to approve planning permission. Agenda Item 2 5
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4. 25/00589/PP : Swinlees Quarry, Dalry Submitted a report by the Chief Planning Officer seeking permission to vary condition 2 of planning permission N/15/00749/PP to extend the period of operations for a further 10 years until 31 March 2036. The Committee unanimously agreed to approve planning permission. 5. Urgent Items There were no urgent items. The meeting ended at 2.20 p.m. The full meeting proceedings can be viewed at https://north-ayrshire.public-i.tv/core/portal/home 6
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NORTH AYRSHIRE COUNCIL 22nd April 2026 Planning Committee Locality Irvine Reference 26/00168/PP Application Registered 11th March 2026 Decision Due 11th May 2026 Ward Irvine South Recommendation Approved subject to Conditions __________________________________________________________________ Location Dundonald Links, Ayr Road, Irvine Applicant Darwin Alternative Investment Proposal Variation of condition 15 of planning permission 19/00748/PPM to enable 34 of the consented holiday lodges to be available for sale (rather than rental) ___________________________________________________________________ 1. Description Planning permission (ref. 19/00748/PPM) was granted on 4th December 2019 for a tourism development at Dundonald Links consisting of the erection of a replacement clubhouse and 97 holiday lodges (to provide a total of 124 individual units) as well as other improvements and upgrades to maintenance facilities, removal of the existing pre-fabricated clubhouse building and the formation of a new road access onto Ayr Road. The development commenced in July 2020. The planning permission has now been partially implemented, with the replacement clubhouse having opened in November 2021 and the first phase of the holiday lodges having also been built and in use. The applicant seeks planning permission to amend condition 15 of ref. 19/00748/PPM which would enable 34 of the 124 holiday lodges to be made available for sale to private owners. The applicant has stressed that the holiday lodges would still be used for holiday purposes only and that they would not be made available for permanent residential use. An application under Section 42 of the Act, if granted, creates a new planning permission without altering the conditions on the previously granted permission. The planning authority Agenda Item 3 7
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must consider "only the question of the conditions to which planning permission should be granted." No physical changes to the consented development are proposed in the application. The holiday lodges which would be offered for sale would be identical to those already with planning permission. The rationale for the proposal is to raise the substantial upfront capital investment to carry out the remaining works to complete the development. Dundonald Links is located to the south of Irvine and is accessed from Ayr Road. The site is allocated in the adopted North Ayrshire Local Development Plan for leisure and open space. 2. Consultations and Representations Neighbour notification was undertaken in accordance with statutory requirements, and the application was advertised in a local newspaper. No representations were received. No consultations required to be carried out. 3. Analysis Section 42 of the Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act 1997 is a mechanism which allows for the submission of a planning application for the development of land without complying with condition(s) subject to which a previous permission was granted. As noted above, Section 42 of the Act stipulates that in this type of application the "planning authority shall consider only the question of the conditions subject to which permission should be granted." The main determining issue in this case is whether the proposed amendments to condition 2 would accord with the relevant development plan policies for the site and in respect of any other material planning considerations. Circular 4/1998 sets out the tests for planning conditions, as follows: - Need for a Condition - Relevance to Planning - Relevance to the Development to be Permitted - Ability to Enforce - Precision - Reasonableness Condition 15 of planning permission ref. 19/00748/PPM states the following: "That the occupation of the lodges hereby approved shall be limited to persons visiting Dundonald Links for holiday purposes only. The maximum letting period to any individual or group shall be limited to 30 days and shall not be re-let to the same persons) for consecutive periods or for more than 30 days in any 12 month period, In addition, the lodges shall not be sold, let, or sub-let for any other purpose without the prior written approval of North Ayrshire Council as Planning Authority. For the avoidance of doubt, none of the lodges shall be occupied as a permanent residence. Reason: To restrict the development to the terms of its justification/special need." 8
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In this application, it is proposed to amend condition 15 as follows: "That the occupation of the lodges hereby approved shall be limited to persons visiting Dundonald Links for holiday purposes only. In relation to the 90 letting lodges, the maximum letting period to any individual or group shall be limited to 30 days and shall not be re-let to the same persons) for consecutive periods or for more than 30 days in any 12 month period. In relation to the 34 lodges which are available for sale, the site operator must maintain a register of occupiers for each year, which is available at any time for viewing by the Planning Authority. For the avoidance of doubt, none of the lodges shall be occupied as a permanent residence. Reason: To restrict the development to the terms of its justification/special need." The proposed amendment confirms that no change of use of the holiday lodges to residential housing is proposed in the application (including those already developed and those yet to be developed). The sale of holiday lodges is considered acceptable within a tourism development consisting of other holiday lodges. Ownership of the lodges does not of itself present any planning issues within this setting. Dundonald Links is a self-contained land holding and is privately owned. There are no public roads or streets within Dundonald Links and the entire site is managed by the applicant. The applicant does not intend for Dundonald Links to become a housing estate and recognises that the control of occupancy to ensure the lodges are used only for holiday purposes is the relevant planning consideration. They are seeking to secure additional investment from purchasers to complete the development and secure the future of the location as a high-quality tourist destination for North Ayrshire. It is anticipated that this would generate additional visitor expenditure in the local economy. It is not considered that the introduction of 34 owner occupied lodges would undermine the tourism potential of the development as a whole. As noted above, the proposed condition would replicate the current restriction which prevent all the lodges in the development from being occupied as a permanent residence, irrespective of ownership status. With that safeguard in place, it is considered that the amendments to condition 15 would be acceptable. As noted above, the use of planning conditions must be in accordance with the tests set out in Circular 4/1998. The proposed amendments to condition 15 would meet all six tests. With regard to National Planning Framework 4, it has been determined that the Section 42 application does not raise any significant strategic planning issues which conflict with the foregoing assessment. The proposed amendments to condition 15 accords with the development plan and meet the tests for planning conditions as set out in Circular 4/1998. There are no further material considerations in relation to the application. It is therefore recommended that the application is approved, subject to the conditions set out below. 4. Full Recommendation Approved subject to Conditions 9
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Condition 1. That, prior to the commencement of phase 2 of the development, an appendix to the transport statement (as submitted with planning application ref. 19/00748/PPM) shall be prepared to consider the need for a ghost island right turn lane on Ayr Road at the main site access and submitted for the written approval of North Ayrshire Council as Planning Authority. The scope of the transport statement shall be agreed in writing with the planning authority beforehand. In the event that a ghost island right turn lane on Ayr Road is required, the facility shall be provided prior to the completion of phase 2 of the development to the satisfaction of North Ayrshire Council as Planning Authority, or, with the mutual agreement of both parties, by an earlier date as may be deemed necessary in the interests of the safe and efficient movement of traffic on Ayr Road. Reason In the interest of road safety. Condition 2. That the development hereby approved shall be implemented in accordance with the plans, drawings and specifications associated with planning permission ref. 19/00748/PPM to the satisfaction of North Ayrshire Council as Planning Authority. Reason To define the terms of this planning permission. Condition 3. That the occupation of the lodges hereby approved shall be limited to persons visiting Dundonald Links for holiday purposes only. In relation to the 90 letting lodges, the maximum letting period to any individual or group shall be limited to 30 days and shall not be re-let to the same persons) for consecutive periods or for more than 30 days in any 12 month period. In relation to the 34 lodges which are available for sale, the site operator must maintain a register of occupiers for each year, which is available at any time for viewing by the Planning Authority. For the avoidance of doubt, none of the lodges shall be occupied as a permanent residence. Reason To restrict the development to the terms of its justification/special need. Allan Finlayson Chief Planning Officer For further information please contact Mr A Hume Planning Officer on 01294 324318. 10
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NORTH AYRSHIRE COUNCIL 22 April 2026 Planning Committee Title: National Planning Improvement Plan (NPIF) Purpose: To advise Members of the completion and publicising of the Planning service’s National Planning Improvement Framework (NPIF) and agree future use Recommendation: It is recommended that the Planning Committee: 1) Notes the completion of the National Planning Improvement Framework (NPIF) in respect of regulatory requirements, and 2) Notes the intention to incorporate and publicise the NPIF in future service delivery and community engagement. 1. Executive Summary 1.1 The Planning service has completed the preparation of its National Planning Improvement Framework (NPIF). This report requests that Planning Committee notes this outcome and agrees that the NPIF will be published and used in consultation with all North Ayrshire communities to inform a future accountable and effective Planning service delivery. 2. Background 2.1 The Planning (Scotland) Act 2019 introduced a new approach to measuring the performance of planning authorities. It made it mandatory for planning authorities to prepare a report on their performance and identify future improvement actions from 2025 onwards. This report is the National Planning Improvement Plan (NPIF), which replaces the former Planning Performance Framework (PPF) and it is to be published and submitted to Scottish Ministers. The Act also allowed Ministers to set out the form, content, and process in publishing the NPIF, including the quantitative and qualitative information to be included and any outcomes that are to be used to assess the performance of all planning authorities in Scotland 2.2 A new role of National Planning Improvement Champion (NPIC) was introduced in the Act to monitor the performance of planning authorities and provide advice to them, as considered appropriate, on the steps that might be taken to improve performance by planning authorities. The NPIC post is based within the Improvement Service and accountable to Scottish Ministers. Agenda Item 4 11
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2.3 The National Planning Improvement Framework (NPIF) has been developed by the NPIC and the framework process comprises the following 4 stages: • Stage 1 - where the planning authority undertakes a self-assessment exercise and identifies improvement areas. • Stage 2 - where an improvement action plan and performance assessment arising from stage 1 undergoes peer collaborative review. • Stage 3 - where the agreed improvement action plan and performance assessment are provided to Scottish Ministers and the Council’s Chief Executive. • Stage 4 - where the NPIF and improvement action plan is published, actioned and monitored. The North Ayrshire Planning service has now completed stages 1 -3 and will now enter stage 4. 2.4 The self-assessment of the Planning service is attached as Annex 1 to this report, providing a full overview of performance and the Improvement Action Plan detailing the improvement actions to be implemented in the next two years. 2.5 The review of North Ayrshire Councils Planning service has been confirmed as “making excellent progress”. This confirmation maintains a long history of service delivery excellence and North Ayrshire’s Planning service continues to be one of the top performing nationally. Notwithstanding this, the focus of the NPIF performance assessment has been on identifying improvement actions to ensure the continuous improvement of the Planning service. 2.6 The key improvement actions identified include: • The undertaking of a service review to prepare a workforce planning strategy and evaluation of resources. • To further develop and undertake an evaluation of local, regional and national challenges to Planning to ensure effective service delivery. • To undertake a review and update of the Councils Planning Enforcement Charter. 2.7 The NPIF Performance Assessment and Improvement Action Plan has now been reviewed by the National Planning Improvement Champion who has confirmed it to Scottish Ministers and the Council’s Chief Executive. 2.8 The NPIF will now be published on the Councils website and consulted on with all North Ayrshire community councils. The Improvement Action Plan will therefore be in the public domain and open to scrutiny by all North Ayrshire communities. There will be regular checks by the Planning service and the National Planning Improvement Champion on progress. It is also anticipated that every six months there will be a review to evaluate what progress has been made on the agreed improvement actions. 3. Proposals 3.1 It is recommended that the Planning Committee notes the completion of the NPIF and agrees that it should be published and consulted on and integrated in the future work of the Planning service to be used as a basis for continued community engagement and to inform future accountable and effective service delivery. 12
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4. Implications/Socio-economic Duty Financial 4.1 None. Human Resources 4.2 None. Legal 4.3 The legislative requirements for the preparation, submission and registration of NPIF’s are set out in the Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act 1997 as amended by the Planning (Scotland) Act 2019. Equality/Socio-economic 4.4 The Council is required to take account of the NPIF in the preparation of North Ayrshire’s third Local Development Plan (LDP3) which will be subject of an equalities impact assessment. and assessment on the impact of the plan on children. Climate Change and Carbon 4.5 The Council is required to take account of the NPIF in the preparation of North Ayrshire’s third Local Development Plan (LDP3) which will be subject of a Strategic Environmental Assessment. Key Priorities 4.6 Communities and Local Democracy are one of four interlinked and interdependent priorities set out in the Council Plan (2023-28). The preparation of the NPIF and consultation on it are a means of enabling local communities to be active in the preparation of North Ayrshire’s next Local Development Plan and placemaking approaches. Community Wealth Building 4.7 None. Islands Communities Impact Assessment (ICIA) 4.8 None. United Nations Rights of the Child (UNCRC) 4.9 The Council is required to take account of the NPIF in the preparation of North Ayrshire’s third Local Development Plan (LDP3) which will be subject of an equalities impact assessment on the impact of the plan on children. 13
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Consumer Duty 4.10 None. 5. Consultation 5.1 There is no legal requirement for the Council to consult with communities on the NPIF however, doing so as intended, is good practice and an invaluable way of engaging and involving in the work of the Planning service to best support communities. David W. Hammond Executive Director (Communities and Housing For further information please contact Allan Finlayson, Chief Planning Officer,on 01294 324319. Background Papers 0 14
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__________________________________________________________________________________ National Planning Improvement | Improvement Service National Planning Improvement Framework (NPIF) North Ayrshire Council Performance Assessment 2025/26 March 2026 Cohort 3 15
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__________________________________________________________________________________ National Planning Improvement | Improvement Service 16
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__________________________________________________________________________________ National Planning Improvement | Improvement Service Planning Authority: North Ayrshire Council Lead officer: Allan Finlayson Email: allaninlayson@north-ayrshire.gov.uk Phone number: 07500 226257 North Ayrshire Planning Service The Planning Service in North Ayrshire, from January 2024, sits within the Housing and Public Protection Service within the Communities and Housing Directorate. The Chief Planning Officer heads a team of ten professional planners and four support staff split between two teams: Development Management and Strategic Planning. Our Development Management team continue to deliver sector-leading determination timescales for planning applications while handling a high number of cases per officer. The Strategic Planning Team is at a progressed stage and on track in the preparation of North Ayrshire’s third Local Development Plan, undertaking early engagement with communities and stakeholders. Introduction The Planning (Scotland) Act 2019 introduced a new approach to measuring the performance of planning authorities and made it mandatory for authorities to prepare a report on their performance after the end of each financial year. The National Planning Improvement Framework (NPIF) has been developed by the National Planning Improvement Champion and aims to support a planning authority to assess their performance, identify areas of improvement and ascertain how best to action these to maximise their effectiveness and efficiency. The National Planning Improvement Framework aims to support the purpose of planning to manage the development and use of land in the long-term public interest through ensuring that: ▪ The planning system enables the delivery of sustainable, liveable, and productive places. ▪ Planning services are equipped to work effectively and efficiently, embedding continuous improvement. ▪ Users are able to engage constructively with the planning system and planning service. A self-assessment tool has been development and focuses on the attributes of a high performing planning authority. The attributes are grouped into five themes as detailed below. 17
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__________________________________________________________________________________ National Planning Improvement | Improvement Service 18
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__________________________________________________________________________________ National Planning Improvement | Improvement Service NPIF Scoring Matrix Engagement on the National Planning Improvement Framework (NPIF) On completion of a draft NPIF the Planning service fulfilled a required peer review meeting with the National Planning Improvement Champion, the Improvement Service, Elected Members and internal and external stakeholders. An intention to include the attendance of external peer review partner (Angus Council) was not possible as a result of matters out with North Ayrshire’s control. The peer review meeting examined the NPIF, discussed its content and the Planning service in North Ayrshire with all attending parties. A decision was made not to invite a community council to the peer review meeting for the reason that this would not be fully representative of all communities of North Ayrshire. To fulfil the importance of engaging with all North Ayrshire’s communities it was determined to update the NPIF with feedback received from the peer review meeting attendees, the National Improvement Champion and the Improvement Service and, thereafter, to consult on a revised NPIF with all community councils in North Ayrshire. The revised draft NPIF was subsequently issued to all community councils in North Ayrshire seeking comments. In addition, the Chief Planning Officer offered to present a summary of the draft NPIF to all community councils at one of their meetings to inform on the NPIF and assist in the submission of community views. Presentation of the NPIF was subsequently made to all responding community councils and all feedback has been incorporated into the finalised NPIF. In summary, comments 19
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__________________________________________________________________________________ National Planning Improvement | Improvement Service on the NPIF were positive as was feedback on community engagement with the Planning service and North Ayrshire Council more widely. Attendance at community council meetings also provided opportunity to discuss contentious planning applications, future engagement opportunities in relation to the emerging Local Development Plan and North Ayrshire Council more widely in respect of many matters such as community wealth building, community wellbeing and community infrastructure delivery. Notwithstanding good experience of past engagement being noted, discussion on lesson learning took place on how community engagement and planning decision making could be improved in the future. The approach taken in respect of community consultation on the NPIF was welcomed by all community councils and acknowledged as good practice to be built on in the future. The only concerns raised by community councils in relation to the NPIF were made in respect of identified staff resourcing which was seen as a potential impediment to the success of future engagement with communities and the addressing of identified community needs. The best examples of this related to impact on investigation and enforcement of unauthorised development and the ability of the Planning service to fully develop community engagement in respect of aspirations and concerns contained in registered Local Place Plans (LPPs). 20
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__________________________________________________________________________________ National Planning Improvement | Improvement Service A high performing planning authority needs to have the right number of people to do the work expected of it with the rights skills set. It also needs to have a strategy to ensure that it retains and recruits the right staff in the future. It supports staff to upskill and to be prepared for changes in policy, legislation, and new circumstances. Please consider the following when thinking about this attribute and how you have performed over the last year: Does the planning authority have the sufficient level of staff to carry out all activities within the required timeframes? YES – although staff resource issues exist Does the planning authority have the ability to carry out all activities within the required timeframes with its current budget? YES Does the planning authority have the ability to carry out all activities within the required timeframes with its current income? YES Does the planning authority received responses from consultees within the prescribed timescale when assessing planning applications? YES Does the planning authority have the ability to access the appropriate advice, expertise, evidence, and data it requires? YES Narrative The Development Management Team is one of the smallest pro-rata of all Scottish Planning Authorities at only 5.75 FTE posts comprising of 1.75 FTE Senior Planning Officers, 2 Planning Officers and 2 Assistant Planning Officers. The team has 2 FTE support staff with no enforcement or specialist officers. The team has experienced significant resource issues in the last year with business case justification required for the recruitment of a Planning Officer vacancy and difficulties thereafter in recruiting an Assistant Planning Officer position following internal promotion. The Planning Officer position was vacant, for 4 months and the Assistant planning officer post was vacant for one year but has recently been filled. ATTRIBUTE 1: THIS PLANNING AUTHORITY HAS SUFFICIENT RESOURCES AND SKILLS TO MAXIMISE PRODUCTIVITY 21
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__________________________________________________________________________________ National Planning Improvement | Improvement Service Informal peer review of comparable Planning service resourcing has confirmed that the team is as little as one third of the size of comparable authorities and with as much as twice the caseload per officer. Consultees play a significant role in the processing of planning applications. Internal consultation responses are generally received within the requested timescale. However, there are regulatory pressures on our internal consultees and therefore limited resources available to direct planning application consultations. External consultation responses have been noticeably delayed as a result of pressure by additional demands arising from the implementation of National Planning Framework (NPF4), enhanced Local Development Plan (LDP) requirements and resourcing pressures generally. Delay in the consultation process impacts on planning application determination timescales and is outwith the control of the Planning service. The Strategic Planning Team is comprised of a Strategic Planning Manager, 2 Planning Officers, 1 Assistant Planning Officer and a Technician. The team is currently operating at a reduce resource following the loss of the Assistant Planning Officer to a promoted post in a neighbouring authority As with the Development Management team the Strategic Planning team is small when compared to comparable Planning Authorities and has no specialist officer resource in areas such as historic buildings or landscape. The team is responsible primarily for all aspects of the preparation of the Council's Local Development Plan and providing support to community bodies in the preparation of Local Place Plans. The team consists of a manager, two planning officers, an assistant planning officer and technician. The Strategic Planning Team has recently finalised an Evidence Report and submitted this to Scottish Government as part of the “Gatecheck” process. The breadth of topics to be covered and the data collection, analysis and engagement that is necessary to pass the Gate Check stage provided a significant workload challenge for the team. Identified risks related to the capacity for engagement with Key Agencies and the impact of an Evidence Report being returned following Gate Check would have on the planning authority being able to meet the Scottish Government expectation of having a new style LDP in place within around 5 years of the Regulations coming into force i.e. by May 2028. To date these risks have been managed and the LDP is on track for adoption by May 2028. Budget provision has been made to support the preparation of the LDP, including the procurement of specialists to provide appropriate advice, expertise, evidence and data, specifically in relation to Transport Appraisal; Play Sufficiency Assessment and landscape assessment. Informal review of the Planning service over the past year has identified the following issues. 22
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__________________________________________________________________________________ National Planning Improvement | Improvement Service Difficulties in recruitment Career progression only possible where a vacancy becomes available Ageing workforce in senior positions Succession planning limitations Increasing legislative complexity without additional resource Pressure of maintaining service excellence in the face of additional pressures A formal review of the Planning service to examine these issues in more detail is planned in the coming year. Action Formal reviews of the Planning service will examine existing resource suitability for current and future workload, identify potential gaps in service provision, provide risk management and a pathway to ensure appropriate future service provision. 23
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__________________________________________________________________________________ National Planning Improvement | Improvement Service Professional and Financial Resources The establishment resource of the Planning service is; Head Count: Chief Planning Officer 1 Development Management 5.75 Development Planning 4 (currently 3 as a result of vacancy) Technical Support 4 Total 14.75 (currently 13.75 as a result of vacancy RTPI Chartered Staff: 6 Age Profile: Under 30 2 30-39 5 40-49 5 50 and over 3 The Chief Planning Officer monitors the service budget on a monthly basis with the respective service Accountant. Planning fee income for 25/26 was similar to that of previous years at approximately £750,000. With outgoings of considerably less than this, the Planning service has historically “over recovered” in respect of income against expenditure without a resulting increase in resources. 24
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__________________________________________________________________________________ National Planning Improvement | Improvement Service Please consider the following when thinking about this attribute and how you have performed over the last year: Does the planning authority have a workforce planning strategy in place? NO – this is an action Does the planning authority have the ability to support staff development and upskilling and send staff on relevant courses? YES – training budget exists Does the planning authority have a deliverable commitment to support staff health and wellbeing? YES – both corporately and within service Narrative North Ayrshire Council’s Performance Management Strategy and fair-work-first- statement aim to aims to create a flexible, skilled, and motivated workforce that supports the council's vision of a "Fair for All" North Ayrshire. The Council also has a Wellbeing at Work policy Corporate Health, Safety & Wellbeing and is committed to excellence in health, safety and wellbeing by preventing or minimising any adverse impact of our activities and services, and by ensuring that its employees and communities are safe and protected. Beyond the identified Council policies there is no Planning workforce strategy however, as previously noted, a review of the Planning service is programmed for the next year which will establish service capacities, needs, and strategy for delivery. This work will build on the informal review previously noted and inform in areas such as workforce direction, recruitment strategy and financial opportunities/constraints. Action The recruitment of Town Planners and associated staff is a national challenge as recognised in work such as the Royal Town Planning Institute /Heads of Planning Scotland and Scottish Government Future Planners Project. A historic reduction in the number of undergraduate Town Planning courses has been addressed with potential geographic significance to North Ayrshire with the initiation of an accredited course at the University of West of Scotland bolstering the only other undergraduate course at Dundee University and the postgraduate course at Glasgow University. The North Ayrshire Planning service does not currently have budget for intern or graduate placements however this will be considered in the programmed Planning service review. A more pressing concern, however, is the limited staff resource that can be dedicated to the investigation into and enforcement of planning breaches. This is an ongoing difficulty in meeting the expectations of customers concerned with enforcement matters. The Planning service has no dedicated enforcement officer, and this obligation ATTRIBUTE 2: THE PLANNING AUTHORITY HAS A VALUED AND SUPPORTED WORKFORCE 26
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__________________________________________________________________________________ National Planning Improvement | Improvement Service is shared between Development Management Officers who already have a higher than nationally averaged workload in respect of application caseload. Therefore, the investigation of additional staff resource for the service is an action. An additional resource concern is the absence of a managerial position in the Development Management team to reflect the existence of such in the Strategic Planning team. This is a staffing resourcing issue that will also be investigated as an action. Opportunities to support Planning staff by means of training and upskilling are constantly reviewed and a limited training budget exists for this. The Planning service is also committed to enhancing the skills, talents, and confidence of staff through attendance at relevant and suitable training and development courses which include those hosted by the RTPI, relevant chapter events, HOPS and the Improvement Service and other providers. 27
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__________________________________________________________________________________ National Planning Improvement | Improvement Service Improvement Action Plan (People theme) Attribute Score (1=Making excellent progress, 5= No progress) 1. The planning authority has sufficient resources and skills to maximise productivity 4 2. The planning authority has a value and supported workforce 2 Based on the grading above, outline any areas of improvement that are required and by whom and their level of importance (High/ Medium/ Low) and by when (short/ medium/ long term). Improvement Action What action will you take? What will the outcome be? Owner Importance High Medium Low Timescale Short term – 1 year Medium term – 3 years Long term – 3+ years Resources Service review Allan Finlayson High Short Internal Workforce Planning strategy Allan Finlayson High Short Internal/peer review Enforcement resourcing improvement Allan Finlayson High Short Development Manager resourcing improvement Allan Finlayson Medium Medium 28
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__________________________________________________________________________________ National Planning Improvement | Improvement Service A high performing planning authority has a positive culture through ensuring it has sound governance, effective leadership and a commitment to continuous improvement. The authority has an identified chief planner, who is supported by a strong leadership group to advise on decision-making, policy and operational management. Please consider the following when thinking about this attribute and how you have performed over the last year: Has the planning authority undertaken an annual assessment of its performance and acted upon areas previously identified as in need of improvement? YES – annual informal assessment undertaken with committed action to formalise Has the planning authority achieved recognition at relevant awards or through performance accreditation frameworks? YES – previous award recognition however current resourcing issues preclude seeking this at this time Has the planning authority engaged in peer review, good practice exchange or improvement activities? YES – informal peer review and lesson learning regularly undertaken Has the planning authority addressed any complaints upheld by the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman and have evidence of this and that it has learned from valid cases? YES – previously however no SPSO cases within the reporting period Narrative Continuous improvement of the Planning service is always the subject of ongoing review and focusses on Development Management and Local Development Planning obligations. Development Management performance has decreased slightly as a result of resourcing difficulties but remains nationally leading and significantly higher than national averages. The Local Development Plan (LDP) is currently on track for adoption before the 2028 Scottish Government target however programme slippage has been noted recently, again as a result of resourcing issues and the delay experienced in Scottish Government’s ATTRIBUTE 3: THIS PLANNING AUTHORITY HAS EMBEDDED CONTINOUS IMPROVEMENT. 29
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__________________________________________________________________________________ National Planning Improvement | Improvement Service consideration of the LDP Evidence Report at Gate Check stage. The LDP Development Plan scheme is as up to date as possible in these circumstances. National award recognition of the high standards of performance and achievements of the Planning service has been achieved previously. Most notably awards have been given in the Scottish Awards for Planning (2019) and Royal Town Planning Institute’s Awards for Planning Excellence (2016 and 2017). Regrettably, given resourcing pressures, the focus of the Planning service is now on maintaining performance and has not recently been in a position to seek award recognition to promote the service excellence being maintained. Development Management Performance Our decision-making demonstrates continuous evidence of nationally leading timescales in the determination of all type of planning applications to assist the development and meet customer expectations. Development management performance has decreased slightly in the last year as a result of long-term vacancies and recruitment difficulties however the performance of the Planning service remains the highest in Scotland in most measurable indices and in the top three of all. The offer of processing agreements or other agreed project plan is made to prospective applicants in advance of all major applications and availability publicised on planning authority website. Early collaboration with applicants and consultees on planning applications providing clear and proportionate development advice is usually available in the promotion of free of charge pre-application discussions for all prospective applications. This service is currently suspended for less significant proposed developments on the basis of vacancy and recruitment impacts but will be re-introduced as soon as possible following successful recruitment. Legal agreements are avoided where possible or invariably concluded within 6 months of ‘resolving to grant’ planning permission. The Planning service Enforcement charter was last updated in March 2023 and is therefore due for further updating. This is action for progression in the short term. Action Development Plan Progress North Ayrshire’s Local development plan is currently on track for adoption in late 2027 in advance of the Scottish Government 2028 target for all Planning Authorities. The Development plan scheme was last adopted in November 2024 Development Plan Scheme as required annually. Updating is currently postponed until confirmation of a decision by Scottish Government at Gate Check. Engagement with stakeholders including Elected Members, industry, agencies, the public and Scottish Government are engaged appropriately through all key stages of development plan preparation. 30
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__________________________________________________________________________________ National Planning Improvement | Improvement Service Continuous improvement: progress relevant service improvement commitments identified through NPIF report. Delivery of 2025/26 Service Improvement Actions Repositioning the Planning Service to promote Placemaking: Ayrshire Growth Deal: Contribute to the implementation of the Ayrshire Growth Deal in North Ayrshire and the wider growth and investment opportunities. In addition to supporting the delivery of major investment planned for Hunterston, the Planning Service has supported the preparation of masterplans for Ayrshire Growth Deal projects at i3 and the Great Harbour, both in Irvine. Support economic recovery and renewal by contributing to a cross service/Council approach to economic development, centred on placemaking and Community Wealth Building. Exploring the alignment of planning and community wealth building, including in context of NPF4. The Planning Service continues to collaborate with Economic Development and Community Wealth Building to input into the preparation of a Regional Economic Strategy for Ayrshire and the Council’s Community Wealth Building initiatives to support sustainable economic development within the Ayrshire region and North Ayrshire communities. Driving Improved Performance: Development Management: Continue to provide an efficient and effective Development Management Service. The Planning service continues to maintain sector-leading performance in comparison with nationwide peers despite recent resourcing difficulties. Service Delivery: review service delivery to identify potential opportunities to improve. The Planning service was operating under an extended period of resource constraint since 2024 as a result of the filling of three vacancies out of a team of fifteen therefore there has been limited opportunity to review potential service improvements. Notwithstanding the above position, the Local Development team has continued to develop community engagement. The team has significantly supported the preparation of Local Plan Plans (LPPs) by local communities to engage, inform and support the 31
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__________________________________________________________________________________ National Planning Improvement | Improvement Service preparation of the emerging Local Development Plan (LDP3). Collaboration with Community Wellbeing colleagues in community engagement has been further developed to deliver “one-stop” community consultation involving the Planning service and the preparation of interdependent information resources such as Place Profiles North Ayrshire Place Profiles that collate information from cross Council services. Modifications to the Development Management processes continue to be made to ensure planning applications can be determined as efficiently as possible. Limited staff resource requires that case officers have responsibility for enforcement, the validation process, sending acknowledgement letters, consultations, posting site notices and ensuring the Uniform database is maintained to support service standards being upheld. Recent changes have been made to remove some information publicly displayed on the Council’s Online Planning Information System (OPIS) such as objection comments and consultation responses. The reason for this is that resource does not exist to redact information and also that OPIS appears to be being used by some of the public as an extension to social media platforms e.g. referring to and cross-referencing comments to seek to direct application assessment. Promoting the plan-led system: Development Planning: Following the timetable set out in the Development Plan Scheme, develop Evidence Base to inform LDP3. The Development Plan Scheme was last adopted in November 2024, and we are on track and nearing the end of the Evidence Reporting stage of LDP3 preparation. A strong emphasis is placed within the Strategic Planning Team service on sharing good practice, skills, and knowledge, including via HOPS sub-forums, the Knowledge Hub resource, and informal groups, including the Fife LDP Peer Review Group and regular meetings with South and East Ayrshire. In 2025, the Chief Planning Officer “reached out” to peers in East and South Ayrshire to further develop regional understanding of Planning and related matters and inform collaborative working, for example, in respect of regional economic and spatial strategy, and housing, climate and nature crises. This has progressed significantly in the subsequent period to develop regional spatial and economic understanding and initiatives. 2025/26 Service Improvement Actions As a result of the Planning service operating under an extended period of resource constraint no new improvement actions for the Planning Service have been set at this time. The Service is continuing to focus on the early stages of preparing Local Development Plan 3 and is on track for adoption in accordance with Scottish Government targets. 32
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__________________________________________________________________________________ National Planning Improvement | Improvement Service Delivering an efficient and effective Development Management service is being maintained with the highest level of performance being demonstrated in national comparison. Notwithstanding the above, the Chief Planning Officer intends to continue to develop regional collaboration in further discussion with neighbouring authorities in Inverclyde and Renfrewshire Councils. Action 33
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__________________________________________________________________________________ National Planning Improvement | Improvement Service Please consider the following when thinking about this attribute and how you have performed over the last year: Does the planning authority have an effective scheme of delegation in place? YES – reviewed annually and up to date Have all councillors who exercise a planning function undergone statutory training and is there is evidence of ongoing training for members? YES – historically undertaken in advance of and beyond legislative requirement Have more than x % of officer recommendations have been overturned by councillors at committee or Local Review Body. NO – historically low numbers of overturned recommendations Narrative The Planning service is incorporated within North Ayrshire Council’s Communities, Housing and Public Protection directorate. This directorate was newly formed in 2024 to respond to the Council’s commitments in these service areas. The decision-making ability of the Planning service is established in the Council’s adopted Scheme of Delegation, and this details the circumstances whereby planning applications are required to be considered and determined by the Planning Committee. The scheme of delegation provides decision making powers to the Chief Planning Officer on an extended basis in the interests of efficiency in dealing with local planning applications however major and sensitive applications are commonly determined by the Council’s Planning Committee. The Scheme of Delegation was most recently adopted in October 2025 and is regularly reviewed. The Local Review Body is the method of appealing decisions made by the Chief Planning Officer under the Scheme of Delegation. The Local Review Body conducts reviews in respect of the refusal of planning permission, failure to determine applications and the imposition of conditions. In the last year, the Local Review Body (LRB) determined only four applications for review. This is considered to demonstrate both general satisfaction with the decision making of the Chief Planning Officer under the Scheme of Delegation and the appropriateness of decisions made. The Local Review Body overturned only one officer decision in this period. ATTRIBUTE 4: THE PLANNING AUTHORITY HAS SOUND GOVERNANCE 34
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__________________________________________________________________________________ National Planning Improvement | Improvement Service The Council’s Planning Committee is the decision-making board which determines planning applications where delegation authority is not provided to officers. The Planning Committee meets monthly to consider recommendations on planning applications and Local Development matters as appropriate. In the past 12 months, 96% of applications considered by the Planning Committee were decided in accordance with officer recommendation. This equates to only one officer recommendation being overturned in that period. The Planning (Scotland) Act 2019 requires that mandatory training is implemented for all elected members who are involved in any decisions involving planning matters. It should be noted that, as a commitment to effective decision making, North Ayrshire Council has historically undertaken elected member training significantly in advance of this legislative requirement. Training is undertaken on a six-monthly basis most recently in December 2024, June 2025 and December 2025. Interim and individual training can be provided at any time e.g. for new Committee members as and when required. In the last year only two appeals to Scottish Ministers for planning decisions have been made and both remain under consideration. One further planning appeal was submitted but was rejected as being out with the remit of the DPEA. As noted above in respect of delegated decisions, the low level of appeals to Scottish Ministers is considered to demonstrate general satisfaction with and the appropriateness of decisions made. Guidance to applicants on how to appeal either to Scottish Ministers or the Local Review Body is available on the Council’s website Planning reviews and appeals. 35
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__________________________________________________________________________________ National Planning Improvement | Improvement Service Please consider the following when thinking about this attribute and how you have performed over the last year: Does the planning authority have an identified Chief Planning Officer in place? YES – since 2021, well in advance of regulatory requirement Does the Chief Planning Officer advise on corporate decision making and policy within the broader organisation? YES Is the planning authority's Chief Planning Officer a member of the Royal Town Planning Institute? YES Does the Chief Planning Officer advise and support external bodies through engagement in organisations’ committees, advisory groups or working groups? YES Does the planning authority have a strong leadership team that supports a culture of continuous improvement? YES - both corporately and within service Narrative A Chief Planning Officer was appointed in 2021, in advance of the statutory requirement being put in place by the Scottish Government in 2024. The officer in question is a Chartered Member of the Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI) and is the head of the profession within the Council. The Chief Planning Officer provides advice throughout the Council to other departments and services, other Senior Managers, Elected Members, and members of the public in relation to planning matters. Guidance on the role of the Chief Planning Officer advises that the position should strengthen leadership on planning and corporate recognition of the importance and positive influence of planning within a Council. The duties and responsibilities of the Chief Planning Officer are positioned around 5 main attributes: Professional Advisor Delivering National Planning Priorities ATTRIBUTE 5: THE PLANNING AUTHORITY HAS EFFECTIVE LEADERSHIP 36
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__________________________________________________________________________________ National Planning Improvement | Improvement Service Champion of place Head of Profession Performance Improvement The role of the Chief Planning Officer as a Professional Advisor is to direct on the vision and implementation of the National Planning framework (NPF4) and Local Development plan for North Ayrshire spatial and associated development priorities. The Chief Planning Officer is a member of the Council’s Senior Management Team (SLT) and advises the Council’s Executive Leadership Team (ELT) and elected members in the development and delivery of corporate objectives to promote and achieve the Strategic Plan priorities in a spatial and place-based approach. The role of the Chief Planning Officer includes Delivering National Planning Priorities in the alignment and delivery of national planning objectives within North Ayrshire. As a Champion of Place, the Chief Planning Officer directs and delivers place making ambitions within the Council, is the Council’s placemaking champion and ensures a collaborative approach to place making with other Council officers, elected members and developers. The Chief Planning Officer is the Head of the Planning Profession in North Ayrshire and the most senior responsible qualified officer for the Council’s Planning Service. The Chief Planning Officer is the main contact for key stakeholders on planning and place and represents the Council internally and externally on several groups requiring or benefitting from input from the planning function. The Chief Planning Officer is ultimately responsible for the Performance and Improvement of the planning service in North Ayrshire and the embedding of an ethos of continuous improvement. The Chief Planning Officer in North Ayrshire participates and advises a number of internal and external bodies to provide spatial and development planning advice. These include. Ayrshire Economic Partnership Board Ayrshire Economic Joint Committee Arran Housing Taskforce B714 Project Delivery Board Clyde Marine Planning Partnership North Ayrshire Inward Investment Group Irvine Town Board (Long Term Plan for Towns) Islands Group Board 37
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__________________________________________________________________________________ National Planning Improvement | Improvement Service Ayrshire Planning Regional discussion group Reporting to the Chief Planning Officer are two Senior Planning Officers responsible for the Council’s Development Management regulatory service and the Strategic Planning Manager responsible for the Council’s Development Planning regulatory service. The Planning service benefits from a direct relationship to and strong support from the Council’s Chief Executive, Executive Director of Communities and Housing and Head of Housing and Public Protection. A culture of continuous improvement is expected, supported, and delivered in North Ayrshire Council generally and specifically within the Planning service. The Chief Planning Officer, Strategic Planning Manager and Senior Planning Officers all engage nationally to keep involved and informed in national Planning practice. This takes the form of national engagement with Heads of Planning Scotland with participation in both the Development Plan and Development Management groups. Involvement with the Improvement Service is undertaken by Planning management and all staff in participation with the Planning Skills programme. The Chief Planning Officer also presented to an Improvement Service seminar on Customer Service, this being informed by North Ayrshire Council and the Planning service commitment to community engagement and removing barriers to customer service. All of this has informed preparation of the NPIF. 38
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__________________________________________________________________________________ National Planning Improvement | Improvement Service Improvement Action Plan (Culture theme) Attribute Score (1=Making excellent progress, 5= No progress) 3. This Planning Authority has embedded continuous improvement 1 4. This Planning Authority has sound governance 1 5. This Planning Authority has effective leadership 1 Based on the grading above, outline any areas of improvement that are required and by whom and their level of importance (High/ Medium/ Low) and by when (short/ medium/ long term). Improvement Action What action will you take? What will the outcome be? Owner Importance High Medium Low Timescale Short term – 1 year Medium term – 3 years Long term – 3+ years Resources Renfrewshire/Inverclyde regional discussions. Further develop and undertake meetings with neighbouring Councils to understand and develop competing/co- operative regional challenges/opportunities. Allan Finlayson Medium Short Chief Planning Officer and Strategic Planning manager Enforcement Charter review Allan Finlayson/Iain Davies High Short 39
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__________________________________________________________________________________ National Planning Improvement | Improvement Service A high performing planning authority needs to have an effective local development plan and other strategies in place to provide a vision for the future of the area. It needs to be able to set and deliver on policy ambitions and priorities by clearly informing decision making and providing certainty and predictability for communities, developers and investment. The authority’s development management systems need to be effective in making the right decisions about development and be efficient as possible in doing this. The planning authority makes best use of digital technology and how it manages and uses data. Please consider the following when thinking about this attribute and how you have performed over the last year: Does the planning authority have an up to date Local Development Plan in place and/ or is on track to adoption? YES – the extant LDP2 is up to date and the emerging LDP3 on track to adoption Does the planning authority have an up-to-date Regional Spatial Strategy in place/ or on track to adoption? YES – a RSS is not yet a legislative requirement however North Ayrshire is progressing towards preparation of a combined RSS and Regional Economic Strategy in partnership with South and East Ayrshire Councils Has the planning authority’s Local Development Plan Evidence Report been approved by the Department of Planning and Environmental Appeals and/ or on track for approval? NO – however the Evidence Report has been submitted to DPEA in advance of many authorities and is currently receiving attention at Gate Check Has the application of the Local Development Plan’s policies been found to be deficient at appeal or judicial review? NO – policies of the extant LDP2 (2019) are widely considered to be almost entirely aligned with the subsequent adoption of the National Planning Framework (NPF4) in 2023. ATTRIBUTE 6: THE PLANNING AUTHORITY HAS A ROBUST POLICY AND EVIDENCE BASE 40
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__________________________________________________________________________________ National Planning Improvement | Improvement Service Narrative North Ayrshire Council’s development plan consists of Local Development Plan (LDP2), which was adopted in November 2019 Adopted Local Development Plan and the Fourth National Planning Framework (NPF4), adopted in February 2023 National Planning Framework 4 - gov.scot. Together these provide an up-to-date development plan covering North Ayrshire. The local development plan is supplemented by non-statutory planning guidance documents Non-statutory planning guidance. Preparation of a new local development plan (LDP3) is well underway and on track for adoption in 2027 in advance of Scottish Governments May 2028 deadline. The emerging LDP’s Evidence Report was submitted to the Directorate of Planning and Environmental Appeals (DPEA) for Gate Check assessment in January 2026 and a decision is expected in April. Following approval by the appropriate committees of North, South and East Ayrshire Councils, an indicative Regional Spatial Strategy for Ayrshire was submitted to the Scottish Government in 2020. Guidance from the Scottish Government remains to be progressed significantly. Notwithstanding this position, the Chief Planning Officers of all Ayrshire Councils and Regeneration peers in all Councils are progressing a combined Regional Spatial Strategy and Regional Economic Strategy for Ayrshire Ayrshire regional economic strategy. The above work will further develop regional understanding of Planning, Regeneration and related matters and inform collaborative working, for example, in respect of regional economic and spatial strategy, housing, climate and nature crises and infrastructure delivery. Further developing regional discussion with neighbouring authorities in Inverclyde and Renfrewshire Councils will be progressed in late 2026 to further develop this work and is a committed action. 41
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__________________________________________________________________________________ National Planning Improvement | Improvement Service Please consider the following when thinking about this attribute and how you have performed over the last year: Has the planning authority encouraged and promoted planning applications to be submitted through the e-development portal? YES – North Ayrshire receives almost entirely all planning applications through the e- development portal. Notwithstanding this, the receipt of paper applications is accommodated to assist with customer needs although this rarely occurs. Does the planning authority have a data governance strategy in place for the management of planning data? YES – both corporately and in service. Does the planning authority have the ability to use interactive web-mapping, GIS, and spatial data? YES – the service use of interactive and digital data is provided at a level significantly beyond reasonable expectations of the small Planning team. This is considered a testament to the professionalism of officers and their commitment to customer and community engagement Does the planning authority have the ability to use digital approaches to engagement, including website, social media, and other platforms? YES – and, again, the use of these approaches is provided at a level significantly beyond reasonable expectations of the small Planning team. Narrative The North Ayrshire Council website has a number of pages dedicated to various aspects of planning. The Council website has recently been updated to a new, clearer, and more interactive platform, and officers of the Planning service have contributed to this process to take the opportunity to update information and links as appropriate. In addition, updating of the Planning pages is undertaken “in house” as and when required. Planning and Building Standards In respect of Development Management, during 2025-26 96% of planning applications received were submitted through the Planning Portal, accounting for almost all of the 600 applications received. Use of the Portal is actively encouraged and clear advice with links is provided on the Planning pages of the Council’s website Make a planning application ATTRIBUTE 7: THE PLANNING AUTHORITY MAKES BEST USE OF DATA AND DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY 42
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__________________________________________________________________________________ National Planning Improvement | Improvement Service This approach minimises our handling of documents and ensures greater efficiency in application receipt, validation, and assessment. Our processes are now fully electronic, with any hard copy information quickly digitised and we have operated in this manner for many years. The Planning service has developed an interactive Local Development Plan interactive version of the LDP for the benefit of customer service to aid customer engagement in the LDP process and also to provide direct digital access to detailed policies and additional related information that provides more detail about how we will consider proposals for specific uses or developments. A storymap presentation of the LDP is also available online. The Strategic Planning Team also utilises interactive web-mapping and GIS – specifically ArcGIS’s StoryMaps – to present a wide range of spatial data. This includes housing and employment land audits. StoryMaps have been used to create Profiles for North Ayrshire’s six localities. These have been produced to inform the preparation of our third Local Development Plan LDP3 and support other placemaking activity. The profiles summarise key social, cultural, environmental, and economic features of the areas. The Service has invested in a three-year Commonplace licence to support engagement on the Local Development Plan through the creation of an online hub: Have Your Say Today - North Ayrshire’s Third Local Development Plan - Commonplace. ArcSurvey GIS has been deployed for the current ‘Call for Ideas’ exercise, allowing submitted information in support of promoted sites, including mapped boundaries, to be digitised more easily: Call for Ideas The Planning Services makes spatial data available via the Corporate Open Data Portal under the Open Government Licence for public sector information and in accordance with North Ayrshire’s Open Data Strategy and Publication Plan. 43
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__________________________________________________________________________________ National Planning Improvement | Improvement Service Please consider the following when thinking about this attribute and how you have performed over the last year: Does the planning authority planning have the ability to make decisions on planning applications within the required timeframes? YES – planning application decisions in North Ayrshire are in the top three nationally which is considered a significant achievement for a small Planning team which is proportionally one of the smallest in Scotland Are less than x% of planning decisions overturned at appeal or judicial review? YES Does the planning authority have an up-to-date Enforcement Charter in place? YES – however the Enforcement Charter is due for updating and this is committed as an improvement action Does the planning authority have the ability to resolve enforcement cases? YES – however the investigation of enforcement cases as quickly as would be preferred remains challenging as there is no dedicated enforcement officer and cases are investigated by Planning Officers Narrative North Ayrshire Council’s Development Management performance has historically demonstrated nationally leading excellence in decision making timescales notwithstanding a small team size and limited resources. Over the past 10 years, the service has regularly been the highest performing Planning Authority across all planning application determination categories (householder, local, major and national) measured by Scottish Government Supporting documents - Planning Application Statistics 2024/25 (April 2024 to September 2024) - gov.scot Development management performance reduced slightly in the last year as a result of staff resourcing issues. However, performance remains in the top three Planning Authorities in all measured categories and the top performing in more categories than any other Authority. Development Management performance in North Ayrshire is significantly above national average performance levels monitored by Scottish Government Planning statistics - gov.scot. ATTRIBUTE 8: THE PLANNING AUTHORITY HAS EFFECTIVE AND EFFICIENT DECSION MAKING PROCESSES 44
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__________________________________________________________________________________ National Planning Improvement | Improvement Service The exceptional performance of the Planning service in North Ayrshire is a cornerstone in serving the individual, community, and business needs of all our customers. Commendably, this is achieved whilst providing a free of charge pre-application enquiry service with no discretionary charging beyond statutory requirements. In the last year, the Local Review Body (LRB) determined only four applications for review. This is considered to demonstrate both general satisfaction with the decision making of the Chief Planning Officer under the Scheme of Delegation and the appropriateness of decisions made. The Local Review Body overturned only one officer decision in this period. In the last year only two appeals to Scottish Ministers for planning decisions have been made. One further planning appeal was submitted but was rejected as being out with the remit of the DPEA. As noted previously, the low level of appeals to Scottish Ministers is considered to demonstrate general satisfaction with and the appropriateness of decisions made. Further evidence demonstrating general satisfaction with decision making is the very low number of complaints received by the Planning service. Only three complaints have been received in the last year and none have been upheld. Furthermore, no complaints investigated were referred to SPSO. No applications for Judicial Review have been received. The Planning service has also received a level of communication expressing thanks for good service received significantly above the number of complaints received. The extremely low level of complaints received, absence of escalation and decision making challenge are considered to be a testament to decision making within the Planning service in North Ayrshire. The Planning service Enforcement charter was last updated in March 2024 and is therefore due for further updating. This is action for progression in the short term. Action A more pressing concern, however, is the limited staff resource that can be dedicated to the investigation into and enforcement of planning breaches. This is an ongoing difficulty in meeting the expectations of customers concerned with enforcement matters. The Planning service has no dedicated enforcement officer, and this obligation is shared between Development Management Officers who already have a higher than any national workload in respect of application caseload. Therefore, the investigation of additional staff resource for the service is also an action. An additional resource concern is the absence of a managerial position in the Development Management team to reflect the existence of such in the Strategic Planning team. This is a staffing resourcing issue that will also be investigated as an action. 45
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__________________________________________________________________________________ National Planning Improvement | Improvement Service Improvement Action Plan (Tools theme) Attribute Score (1=Making excellent progress, 5= No progress) 6. The planning authority has a robust policy and evidence base 1 7. The planning authority makes best use of data and digital technology 1 8. The planning authority has effective and efficient decision making processes 2 Based on the grading above, outline any areas of improvement that are required and by whom and their level of importance (High/ Medium/ Low) and by when (short/ medium/ long term). Improvement Action What action will you take? What will the outcome be? Owner Importance High Medium Low Timescale Short term – 1 year Medium term – 3 years Long term – 3+ years Resources Enforcement charter review Allan Finlayson/ Iain Davies High Short Enforcement resourcing improvement Allan Finlayson High Short Development Manager resourcing improvement Allan Finlayson Medium Medium 46
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__________________________________________________________________________________ National Planning Improvement | Improvement Service A high performing planning authority should ensure a wide range of people are involved in shaping their future places. Engagement should be fair and inclusive, early, collaborative, meaningful and proportionate and should include difficult to reach groups. The authority should engage with a wide range of partners at a national, regional and local level to ensure a joined-up approach and that links are made across policies and programmes. The planning authority should demonstrate good customer care, transparency and effective communication. Please consider the following when thinking about this attribute and how you have performed over the last year: Does the planning authority have the ability to offer pre-application advice where it is requested? YES – North Ayrshire Council is one of a decreasing number of Planning Authorities to offer free pre-application guidance. There are no plans to introduce charges as this service is considered important in providing development guidance to customers, communities and developers to the benefit of all. Has the planning authority held regular engagement events with developers and communities? YES – the Planning service regularly attends community events and meetings and engages with the development industry nationally and locally Do the results from the customer and stakeholder survey show that customers are satisfied with the service offer by the planning authority? YES – consultation on this survey was widely circulated and the limited number of responses and comments received should be taken as confirmation of satisfaction with the Planning service in North Ayrshire. This position is corroborated by the exceptionally low number of complaints received and the outweighing of these by positive comments submitted by customers ATTRIBUTE 9: THE PLANNING AUTHORITY HAS GOOD CUSTOMER CARE 47
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__________________________________________________________________________________ National Planning Improvement | Improvement Service Narrative The ethos of the Planning service is to be directly contactable with customers, wherever possible, by all forms of communication. The service maintains a direct telephone service and excellent links with the Council’s general Contact Centre telephone service. Telephone calls are invariably either answered directly or returned the same day. Officers at all levels can be contacted directly by telephone or email. Email responses are invariably returned within 1-2 working days. This customer service ethos was noted by the Improvement Service and the Chief Planning Officer was invited to present to a recent customer service workshop and training session. In respect of Development Management, the Planning service welcomes early engagement with all applicants and developers prior to the submission of any application. The service is strongly of the view that submission of informed, detailed, and comprehensive applications results in quicker decision making and better quality of developments. The Council offers a free of charge pre-application advice service intended to guide and inform the formulation of all development proposals. Maintaining a free of charge service for pre-application advice is becoming less common in Planning Authorities nationally however North Ayrshire is committed to the continuation of this given the customer care and development quality benefits that result. The Planning service also offers Processing Agreements for all National or Major applications and for complex local developments. Details of the Processing Agreements process is available on the Planning Website Make a planning application. A Processing Agreement is used to set out the key processes in determining the application, identifying what information is required and from whom and sets the timescales for the delivery of various stages of the process. It is recognised that there are several benefits of Processing Agreements including greater transparency in decision making, increased predictability and certainty over the timing of key stages. The Strategic Planning Team has developed a positive working relationship with Homes for Scotland, going back to the preparation of the adopted Local Development Plan, the annual Housing Land Audit, and the early stages of preparing LDP3. The Service has engaged proactively with the majority of active Community Councils in North Ayrshire over the past two-years, providing advice on how they can best engage with the Planning system. 48
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__________________________________________________________________________________ National Planning Improvement | Improvement Service Please consider the following when thinking about this attribute and how you have performed over the last year: Does the planning authority have a community engagement strategy and infrastructure in place to ensure engagement is early, collaborative, meaningful and proportionate? YES - the Planning service in North Ayrshire is small, agile and with a demonstrable track record of community engagement in fulfilment of a wider Council commitment. There is not considered a need to formalise this in a community engagement strategy which could be at the expense of the agility and directness of existing community contact and engagement Has the planning authority undertaken community engagement, for example consistent and effective use of the Place Standard Tool, to inform decision-making processes? Has the planning authority encouraged and promoted planning applications to be submitted through the e-development portal? YES – the Place Standard Tool is regularly utilized and the e-development portal is promoted for the submission of all planning applications however applicants who demonstrate that they cannot use the portal can be accommodated by alternative submission eg. email or paper receipt. Has the planning authority engaged with a good representation of the community including young people, gypsies and travellers, people with protected characteristics, including disability, race, age, sex and sexual orientation, and including people from a range of socio-economic backgrounds? YES – the Planning service engages with all customers and communities in North Ayrshire Has the planning authority supported the production of Local Place Plans when requested? YES Do the results from the customer and stakeholder survey show that stakeholders are satisfied with their collaboration with the planning authority? YES Narrative The Planning service is strongly committed to collaboration with local communities, public bodies, and other stakeholders at all relevant stages of the planning process. ATTRIBUTE 10: THE PLANNING AUTHORITY HAS EFFECTIVE ENGAGEMENT AND COLLABORATION WITH STAKEHOLDERS AND COMMUNITIES 49
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__________________________________________________________________________________ National Planning Improvement | Improvement Service In respect of Development Management, engagement is undertaken daily in often challenging circumstances of polarized opinions. Notwithstanding this, the service is committed to a “listen first” approach to development assessment and to the clear demonstration of appropriate assessment in reports of handling and decision-making accountability. The Strategic Planning Team has ensured that the current Development Plan Scheme includes a Participation Statement setting out when consultation is likely to take place, with whom and its likely form, including the steps to be taken to involve the public in the preparation of the local development plan. Early engagement to inform the Evidence Report/LDP3 was focused around the use of the Place Standard Tool, to gather information on what local people think about the places they live, work and visit in North Ayrshire: Have Your Say Today - Your Place Survey - North Ayrshire’s Third Local Development Plan. This builds upon previous use of the Tool to identify Community Planning locality priorities and evidences the strong links between community planning and spatial planning in North Ayrshire. Specific engagement has been undertaken with children, young people and gypsy/travellers. A commitment has been made via the Council’s emerging equality outcomes to ensure new places, spaces and buildings will be inclusive and designed to take account of the needs of people with disabilities and other protected characteristics, including through their engagement in the preparation of LDP3. The Planning service has recently engaged with North Ayrshire schools STEAM week which enables children to apply their science, technology, engineering, and mathematics knowledge in contexts that make connections between the classroom and the world around them. This work involves facilitating and participating in workshops in partnership with the Council’s Education service. The Strategic Planning Team has supported six community bodies to prepare a Local Place Plan (LPP) with all plans now registered and a further plan expected soon. We have prepared a ‘Handbook’ to guide community bodies preparing Local Place Plans and engaged positively to support the preparation of these plans, providing advice and technical support where required. This has been welcomed by a number of the community bodies we have supported. Local Place Plans are now registered for approximately 70% of the communities of North Ayrshire. This is understood to be unmatched nationally and a testament to the commitment to the Planning system by communities in North Ayrshire and the support that they have received from the Planning service working with wider Council services and specifically community development staff. 50
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__________________________________________________________________________________ National Planning Improvement | Improvement Service Improvement Action Plan (Engage theme) Attribute Score (1=Making excellent progress, 5= No progress) 9. This planning authority has good customer care 1 10. The planning authority has effective engagement and collaboration with stakeholders and communities. 1 Based on the grading above, outline any areas of improvement that are required and by whom and their level of importance (High/ Medium/ Low) and by when (short/ medium/ long term). Improvement Action What action will you take? What will the outcome be? Owner Importance High Medium Low Timescale Short term – 1 year Medium term – 3 years Long term – 3+ years Resources 51
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__________________________________________________________________________________ National Planning Improvement | Improvement Service A high performing planning authority should demonstrate place leadership by taking a collaborative place-based approach in line with the Place Principle. It should use the Place and Wellbeing Outcomes in decision-making processes, to achieve the three spatial principles outlined in NPF4: Sustainable places, where we reduce emissions, restore and better connect biodiversity; Liveable places, where we can all live better, healthier lives; and Productive places, where we have a greener, fairer and more inclusive wellbeing economy. The planning authority should seek to ensure that there are no impediments to delivering agreed development. Please consider the following when thinking about this attribute and how you have performed over the last year: Is the planning authority aware of the Place and Wellbeing Outcomes, the evidence that sits behind them and is it using them in decision-making processes? YES Has the planning authority identified tools and approaches to delivering sustainable, liveable, and productive places and is implementing them? YES Narrative In 2024 North Ayrshire Council established a new Communities, Housing and Public Protection Directorate to provide greater focus on community delivery outcomes. This has ensured a wider understanding of Place and Wellbeing Outcomes in the Directorate composition. ATTRIBUTE 11: THE PLANNING AUTHORITY SUPPORTS THE DELIVERY OF SUSTAINABLE, LIVEABLE AND PRODUCTIVE PLACES 52
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__________________________________________________________________________________ National Planning Improvement | Improvement Service Within the Planning service there is a high awareness of Place and Wellbeing Outcomes by officers and how these should be used in decision-making processes. A cornerstone policy in the extant LDP2 is SP1 (Placemaking) and this is an important foundation on which all decisions are made and the criteria of policy SP1 are consistent with both NPF4 and Place and Wellbeing Outcomes. LDP, NPF4 (combined being the Council’s statutory Development Plan) policies and non- statutory Supplementary Guidance Place and Wellbeing Outcomes are all used to deliver sustainable, liveable, and productive places in North Ayrshire. The Strategic Planning Team represents North Ayrshire Council as one of three authorities working in partnership with Public Health Scotland (PHS), the Institute of Health Equity (IHE) and local NHS health board to form the ‘Collaboration for Health Equity in Scotland’ (CHES). This partnership aims to help local areas and community planning partners to strengthen local plans – including LDPs – to reduce health inequalities and improve wellbeing in their communities. It intends to support local partners to bridge the gap between national policies and local implementation and understand the actions which will have the greatest impact on health inequalities locally and help to overcome the barriers to implementing these. The ultimate goal is to enable people to live longer, healthier lives by addressing the root causes of health inequalities and preventing illness before it starts. Working alongside colleagues in South Lanarkshire and Aberdeen City, supported by the Place & Wellbeing Partnership Lead at the Improvement Service & Public Health Scotland, we are exploring how the associated ‘Marmot 8’ principles along with the Place and Wellbeing Outcomes can be embedded into both the evidence report and then LDP3. 53
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__________________________________________________________________________________ National Planning Improvement | Improvement Service Please consider the following when thinking about this attribute and how you have performed over the last year: Has the planning authority provided clear and proportionate expectations of Section 75 agreements and set these out in the LDP and pre-application discussions and they are concluded within 6 months of resolution to grant? YES Does the planning authority take a proportionate approach to imposing conditions? YES - In North Ayrshire, conditions are proportionally applied for every decision made and no discretionary charging for condition discharge is levied or proposed as it is considered it would be to the detriment of customer service, post decision development implementation and therefore community and economic development. Does the planning authority have an ambitious local housing land requirement that exceeds the Minimum All Tenure Housing land requirements in NPF4 and is it on track to support delivery? YES Are the number of processing agreements the planning authority has agreed with applicants increasing? NO Does the planning authority have an effective delivery programme in place that supports the delivery of development on the ground? YES Narrative To support development and regeneration in North Ayrshire the Planning service does not routinely require developer contributions. The Local Development Plan expects the majority of new development to be directed towards sites that have infrastructure or services in place. Where further provision is required, the Supporting Development Objective: Infrastructure and Services policy within the Adopted Local Development Plan (p.16) sets out clear and proportionate expectations and the need for relevant assessments is highlighted alongside each development site where potential infrastructure deficiencies are known. ATTRIBUTE 12: THE PLANNING AUTHORITY SUPPORTS THE DELIVERY OF CONSENTED DEVELOPMENT 54
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__________________________________________________________________________________ National Planning Improvement | Improvement Service The Planning service has completed its Evidence Report and this is with DPEA at Gate Check for consideration with a decision expected in April. In preparing the Evidence Report, a draft Housing Evidence Paper was shared with Homes for Scotland; Registered Social Landlords operating in North Ayrshire; developers and agents included on the LDP mailing list; and parties who have approached the Strategic Planning team with an interest in having housing sites allocated in LDP3. The Housing Evidence Paper was reissued (without substantive changes) more widely for comment via the LDP Online Hub and emails to community councils and the remainder of the LDP mailing list. The Paper proposes an indicative Local Housing Land Requirement figure of 4,500 homes, which exceeds the MATHLR by 52.5%. A ‘Call for Ideas’ has been launched which will assist in the allocation of deliverable land by LDP3 to meet the 10-year Local Housing Land Requirement. A Draft Delivery Programme was submitted to Scottish Government on 8 April 2025, which takes account of the views of the key agencies and other stakeholders. At this point, we do not intend to publish the Delivery Programme rather we will seek approval alongside the Evidence Report later in the year, following the finalisation of the 2024/25 Housing Land Audit. In respect of Development Management, the free pre-application service supports the submission of planning applications with necessary information provided to aid decision making outcomes. A general presumption against the use of legal agreements minimises decision making complication and delay The number of processing agreements being used is not increasing but continue to be promoted on the Council’s website and offered where appropriate during the assessment of planning applications. Limited uptake from applicants is considered to be another indication of general satisfaction with decision making and the timescales for this as evidence by demonstrated excellence in decision making performance. Processing agreements are automatically entered into for all major applications and some complex local applications. The number is small annually (generally less than 10) and dependent on the number of applications received but consistently applied. In addition, processing agreements will always reasonably be entered into at an applicant’s request for any application. 55
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__________________________________________________________________________________ National Planning Improvement | Improvement Service Improvement Action Plan (People theme) Attribute Score (1=Making excellent progress, 5= No progress) 11. The planning authority supports the delivery of sustainable, liveable and productive places 1 12. This planning authority supports the delivery of appropriate development 1 Based on the grading above, outline any areas of improvement that are required and by whom and their level of importance (High/ Medium/ Low) and by when (short/ medium/ long term). Improvement Action What action will you take? What will the outcome be? Owner Importance High Medium Low Timescale Short term – 1 year Medium term – 3 years Long term – 3+ years Resources 57
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__________________________________________________________________________________ National Planning Improvement | Improvement Service National Planning Improvement Framework (NPIF) North Ayrshire Council Performance Assessment 2025/26 March 2026 Cohort 3 58
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__________________________________________________________________________________ National Planning Improvement | Improvement Service Planning Authority: North Ayrshire Council Lead officer: Allan Finlayson Email: allaninlayson@north-ayrshire.gov.uk Phone number: 07500 226257 North Ayrshire Planning Service The Planning Service in North Ayrshire, from January 2024, sits within the Housing and Public Protection Service within the Communities and Housing Directorate. The Chief Planning Officer heads a team of ten professional planners and four support staff split between two teams: Development Management and Strategic Planning. Our Development Management team continue to deliver sector-leading determination timescales for planning applications while handling a high number of cases per officer. The Strategic Planning Team is at a progressed stage and on track in the preparation of North Ayrshire’s third Local Development Plan, undertaking early engagement with communities and stakeholders. Introduction The Planning (Scotland) Act 2019 introduced a new approach to measuring the performance of planning authorities and made it mandatory for authorities to prepare a report on their performance after the end of each financial year. The National Planning Improvement Framework (NPIF) has been developed by the National Planning Improvement Champion and aims to support a planning authority to assess their performance, identify areas of improvement and ascertain how best to action these to maximise their effectiveness and efficiency. The National Planning Improvement Framework aims to support the purpose of planning to manage the development and use of land in the long-term public interest through ensuring that: ▪ The planning system enables the delivery of sustainable, liveable, and productive places. ▪ Planning services are equipped to work effectively and efficiently, embedding continuous improvement. ▪ Users are able to engage constructively with the planning system and planning service. A self-assessment tool has been development and focuses on the attributes of a high performing planning authority. The attributes are grouped into five themes as detailed below. 60
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__________________________________________________________________________________ National Planning Improvement | Improvement Service NPIF Scoring Matrix Engagement on the National Planning Improvement Framework (NPIF) On completion of a draft NPIF the Planning service fulfilled a required peer review meeting with the National Planning Improvement Champion, the Improvement Service, Elected Members and internal and external stakeholders. An intention to include the attendance of external peer review partner (Angus Council) was not possible as a result of matters out with North Ayrshire’s control. The peer review meeting examined the NPIF, discussed its content and the Planning service in North Ayrshire with all attending parties. A decision was made not to invite a community council to the peer review meeting for the reason that this would not be fully representative of all communities of North Ayrshire. To fulfil the importance of engaging with all North Ayrshire’s communities it was determined to update the NPIF with feedback received from the peer review meeting attendees, the National Improvement Champion and the Improvement Service and, thereafter, to consult on a revised NPIF with all community councils in North Ayrshire. The revised draft NPIF was subsequently issued to all community councils in North Ayrshire seeking comments. In addition, the Chief Planning Officer offered to present a summary of the draft NPIF to all community councils at one of their meetings to inform on the NPIF and assist in the submission of community views. Presentation of the NPIF was subsequently made to all responding community councils and all feedback has been incorporated into the finalised NPIF. In summary, comments 62
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__________________________________________________________________________________ National Planning Improvement | Improvement Service on the NPIF were positive as was feedback on community engagement with the Planning service and North Ayrshire Council more widely. Attendance at community council meetings also provided opportunity to discuss contentious planning applications, future engagement opportunities in relation to the emerging Local Development Plan and North Ayrshire Council more widely in respect of many matters such as community wealth building, community wellbeing and community infrastructure delivery. Notwithstanding good experience of past engagement being noted, discussion on lesson learning took place on how community engagement and planning decision making could be improved in the future. The approach taken in respect of community consultation on the NPIF was welcomed by all community councils and acknowledged as good practice to be built on in the future. The only concerns raised by community councils in relation to the NPIF were made in respect of identified staff resourcing which was seen as a potential impediment to the success of future engagement with communities and the addressing of identified community needs. The best examples of this related to impact on investigation and enforcement of unauthorised development and the ability of the Planning service to fully develop community engagement in respect of aspirations and concerns contained in registered Local Place Plans (LPPs). 63
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__________________________________________________________________________________ National Planning Improvement | Improvement Service A high performing planning authority needs to have the right number of people to do the work expected of it with the rights skills set. It also needs to have a strategy to ensure that it retains and recruits the right staff in the future. It supports staff to upskill and to be prepared for changes in policy, legislation, and new circumstances. Please consider the following when thinking about this attribute and how you have performed over the last year: Does the planning authority have the sufficient level of staff to carry out all activities within the required timeframes? YES – although staff resource issues exist Does the planning authority have the ability to carry out all activities within the required timeframes with its current budget? YES Does the planning authority have the ability to carry out all activities within the required timeframes with its current income? YES Does the planning authority received responses from consultees within the prescribed timescale when assessing planning applications? YES Does the planning authority have the ability to access the appropriate advice, expertise, evidence, and data it requires? YES Narrative The Development Management Team is one of the smallest pro-rata of all Scottish Planning Authorities at only 5.75 FTE posts comprising of 1.75 FTE Senior Planning Officers, 2 Planning Officers and 2 Assistant Planning Officers. The team has 2 FTE support staff with no enforcement or specialist officers. The team has experienced significant resource issues in the last year with business case justification required for the recruitment of a Planning Officer vacancy and difficulties thereafter in recruiting an Assistant Planning Officer position following internal promotion. The Planning Officer position was vacant, for 4 months and the Assistant planning officer post was vacant for one year but has recently been filled. ATTRIBUTE 1: THIS PLANNING AUTHORITY HAS SUFFICIENT RESOURCES AND SKILLS TO MAXIMISE PRODUCTIVITY 64
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__________________________________________________________________________________ National Planning Improvement | Improvement Service Informal peer review of comparable Planning service resourcing has confirmed that the team is as little as one third of the size of comparable authorities and with as much as twice the caseload per officer. Consultees play a significant role in the processing of planning applications. Internal consultation responses are generally received within the requested timescale. However, there are regulatory pressures on our internal consultees and therefore limited resources available to direct planning application consultations. External consultation responses have been noticeably delayed as a result of pressure by additional demands arising from the implementation of National Planning Framework (NPF4), enhanced Local Development Plan (LDP) requirements and resourcing pressures generally. Delay in the consultation process impacts on planning application determination timescales and is outwith the control of the Planning service. The Strategic Planning Team is comprised of a Strategic Planning Manager, 2 Planning Officers, 1 Assistant Planning Officer and a Technician. The team is currently operating at a reduce resource following the loss of the Assistant Planning Officer to a promoted post in a neighbouring authority As with the Development Management team the Strategic Planning team is small when compared to comparable Planning Authorities and has no specialist officer resource in areas such as historic buildings or landscape. The team is responsible primarily for all aspects of the preparation of the Council's Local Development Plan and providing support to community bodies in the preparation of Local Place Plans. The team consists of a manager, two planning officers, an assistant planning officer and technician. The Strategic Planning Team has recently finalised an Evidence Report and submitted this to Scottish Government as part of the “Gatecheck” process. The breadth of topics to be covered and the data collection, analysis and engagement that is necessary to pass the Gate Check stage provided a significant workload challenge for the team. Identified risks related to the capacity for engagement with Key Agencies and the impact of an Evidence Report being returned following Gate Check would have on the planning authority being able to meet the Scottish Government expectation of having a new style LDP in place within around 5 years of the Regulations coming into force i.e. by May 2028. To date these risks have been managed and the LDP is on track for adoption by May 2028. Budget provision has been made to support the preparation of the LDP, including the procurement of specialists to provide appropriate advice, expertise, evidence and data, specifically in relation to Transport Appraisal; Play Sufficiency Assessment and landscape assessment. Informal review of the Planning service over the past year has identified the following issues. 65
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__________________________________________________________________________________ National Planning Improvement | Improvement Service Difficulties in recruitment Career progression only possible where a vacancy becomes available Ageing workforce in senior positions Succession planning limitations Increasing legislative complexity without additional resource Pressure of maintaining service excellence in the face of additional pressures A formal review of the Planning service to examine these issues in more detail is planned in the coming year. Action Formal reviews of the Planning service will examine existing resource suitability for current and future workload, identify potential gaps in service provision, provide risk management and a pathway to ensure appropriate future service provision. 66
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__________________________________________________________________________________ National Planning Improvement | Improvement Service Professional and Financial Resources The establishment resource of the Planning service is; Head Count: Chief Planning Officer 1 Development Management 5.75 Development Planning 4 (currently 3 as a result of vacancy) Technical Support 4 Total 14.75 (currently 13.75 as a result of vacancy RTPI Chartered Staff: 6 Age Profile: Under 30 2 30-39 5 40-49 5 50 and over 3 The Chief Planning Officer monitors the service budget on a monthly basis with the respective service Accountant. Planning fee income for 25/26 was similar to that of previous years at approximately £750,000. With outgoings of considerably less than this, the Planning service has historically “over recovered” in respect of income against expenditure without a resulting increase in resources. 67
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__________________________________________________________________________________ National Planning Improvement | Improvement Service Please consider the following when thinking about this attribute and how you have performed over the last year: Does the planning authority have a workforce planning strategy in place? NO – this is an action Does the planning authority have the ability to support staff development and upskilling and send staff on relevant courses? YES – training budget exists Does the planning authority have a deliverable commitment to support staff health and wellbeing? YES – both corporately and within service Narrative North Ayrshire Council’s Performance Management Strategy and fair-work-first- statement aim to aims to create a flexible, skilled, and motivated workforce that supports the council's vision of a "Fair for All" North Ayrshire. The Council also has a Wellbeing at Work policy Corporate Health, Safety & Wellbeing and is committed to excellence in health, safety and wellbeing by preventing or minimising any adverse impact of our activities and services, and by ensuring that its employees and communities are safe and protected. Beyond the identified Council policies there is no Planning workforce strategy however, as previously noted, a review of the Planning service is programmed for the next year which will establish service capacities, needs, and strategy for delivery. This work will build on the informal review previously noted and inform in areas such as workforce direction, recruitment strategy and financial opportunities/constraints. Action The recruitment of Town Planners and associated staff is a national challenge as recognised in work such as the Royal Town Planning Institute /Heads of Planning Scotland and Scottish Government Future Planners Project. A historic reduction in the number of undergraduate Town Planning courses has been addressed with potential geographic significance to North Ayrshire with the initiation of an accredited course at the University of West of Scotland bolstering the only other undergraduate course at Dundee University and the postgraduate course at Glasgow University. The North Ayrshire Planning service does not currently have budget for intern or graduate placements however this will be considered in the programmed Planning service review. A more pressing concern, however, is the limited staff resource that can be dedicated to the investigation into and enforcement of planning breaches. This is an ongoing difficulty in meeting the expectations of customers concerned with enforcement matters. The Planning service has no dedicated enforcement officer, and this obligation ATTRIBUTE 2: THE PLANNING AUTHORITY HAS A VALUED AND SUPPORTED WORKFORCE 69
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__________________________________________________________________________________ National Planning Improvement | Improvement Service is shared between Development Management Officers who already have a higher than nationally averaged workload in respect of application caseload. Therefore, the investigation of additional staff resource for the service is an action. An additional resource concern is the absence of a managerial position in the Development Management team to reflect the existence of such in the Strategic Planning team. This is a staffing resourcing issue that will also be investigated as an action. Opportunities to support Planning staff by means of training and upskilling are constantly reviewed and a limited training budget exists for this. The Planning service is also committed to enhancing the skills, talents, and confidence of staff through attendance at relevant and suitable training and development courses which include those hosted by the RTPI, relevant chapter events, HOPS and the Improvement Service and other providers. 70
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__________________________________________________________________________________ National Planning Improvement | Improvement Service Improvement Action Plan (People theme) Attribute Score (1=Making excellent progress, 5= No progress) 1. The planning authority has sufficient resources and skills to maximise productivity 4 2. The planning authority has a value and supported workforce 2 Based on the grading above, outline any areas of improvement that are required and by whom and their level of importance (High/ Medium/ Low) and by when (short/ medium/ long term). Improvement Action What action will you take? What will the outcome be? Owner Importance High Medium Low Timescale Short term – 1 year Medium term – 3 years Long term – 3+ years Resources Service review Allan Finlayson High Short Internal Workforce Planning strategy Allan Finlayson High Short Internal/peer review Enforcement resourcing improvement Allan Finlayson High Short Development Manager resourcing improvement Allan Finlayson Medium Medium 71
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__________________________________________________________________________________ National Planning Improvement | Improvement Service A high performing planning authority has a positive culture through ensuring it has sound governance, effective leadership and a commitment to continuous improvement. The authority has an identified chief planner, who is supported by a strong leadership group to advise on decision-making, policy and operational management. Please consider the following when thinking about this attribute and how you have performed over the last year: Has the planning authority undertaken an annual assessment of its performance and acted upon areas previously identified as in need of improvement? YES – annual informal assessment undertaken with committed action to formalise Has the planning authority achieved recognition at relevant awards or through performance accreditation frameworks? YES – previous award recognition however current resourcing issues preclude seeking this at this time Has the planning authority engaged in peer review, good practice exchange or improvement activities? YES – informal peer review and lesson learning regularly undertaken Has the planning authority addressed any complaints upheld by the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman and have evidence of this and that it has learned from valid cases? YES – previously however no SPSO cases within the reporting period Narrative Continuous improvement of the Planning service is always the subject of ongoing review and focusses on Development Management and Local Development Planning obligations. Development Management performance has decreased slightly as a result of resourcing difficulties but remains nationally leading and significantly higher than national averages. The Local Development Plan (LDP) is currently on track for adoption before the 2028 Scottish Government target however programme slippage has been noted recently, again as a result of resourcing issues and the delay experienced in Scottish Government’s ATTRIBUTE 3: THIS PLANNING AUTHORITY HAS EMBEDDED CONTINOUS IMPROVEMENT. 72
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__________________________________________________________________________________ National Planning Improvement | Improvement Service consideration of the LDP Evidence Report at Gate Check stage. The LDP Development Plan scheme is as up to date as possible in these circumstances. National award recognition of the high standards of performance and achievements of the Planning service has been achieved previously. Most notably awards have been given in the Scottish Awards for Planning (2019) and Royal Town Planning Institute’s Awards for Planning Excellence (2016 and 2017). Regrettably, given resourcing pressures, the focus of the Planning service is now on maintaining performance and has not recently been in a position to seek award recognition to promote the service excellence being maintained. Development Management Performance Our decision-making demonstrates continuous evidence of nationally leading timescales in the determination of all type of planning applications to assist the development and meet customer expectations. Development management performance has decreased slightly in the last year as a result of long-term vacancies and recruitment difficulties however the performance of the Planning service remains the highest in Scotland in most measurable indices and in the top three of all. The offer of processing agreements or other agreed project plan is made to prospective applicants in advance of all major applications and availability publicised on planning authority website. Early collaboration with applicants and consultees on planning applications providing clear and proportionate development advice is usually available in the promotion of free of charge pre-application discussions for all prospective applications. This service is currently suspended for less significant proposed developments on the basis of vacancy and recruitment impacts but will be re-introduced as soon as possible following successful recruitment. Legal agreements are avoided where possible or invariably concluded within 6 months of ‘resolving to grant’ planning permission. The Planning service Enforcement charter was last updated in March 2023 and is therefore due for further updating. This is action for progression in the short term. Action Development Plan Progress North Ayrshire’s Local development plan is currently on track for adoption in late 2027 in advance of the Scottish Government 2028 target for all Planning Authorities. The Development plan scheme was last adopted in November 2024 Development Plan Scheme as required annually. Updating is currently postponed until confirmation of a decision by Scottish Government at Gate Check. Engagement with stakeholders including Elected Members, industry, agencies, the public and Scottish Government are engaged appropriately through all key stages of development plan preparation. 73
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__________________________________________________________________________________ National Planning Improvement | Improvement Service Continuous improvement: progress relevant service improvement commitments identified through NPIF report. Delivery of 2025/26 Service Improvement Actions Repositioning the Planning Service to promote Placemaking: Ayrshire Growth Deal: Contribute to the implementation of the Ayrshire Growth Deal in North Ayrshire and the wider growth and investment opportunities. In addition to supporting the delivery of major investment planned for Hunterston, the Planning Service has supported the preparation of masterplans for Ayrshire Growth Deal projects at i3 and the Great Harbour, both in Irvine. Support economic recovery and renewal by contributing to a cross service/Council approach to economic development, centred on placemaking and Community Wealth Building. Exploring the alignment of planning and community wealth building, including in context of NPF4. The Planning Service continues to collaborate with Economic Development and Community Wealth Building to input into the preparation of a Regional Economic Strategy for Ayrshire and the Council’s Community Wealth Building initiatives to support sustainable economic development within the Ayrshire region and North Ayrshire communities. Driving Improved Performance: Development Management: Continue to provide an efficient and effective Development Management Service. The Planning service continues to maintain sector-leading performance in comparison with nationwide peers despite recent resourcing difficulties. Service Delivery: review service delivery to identify potential opportunities to improve. The Planning service was operating under an extended period of resource constraint since 2024 as a result of the filling of three vacancies out of a team of fifteen therefore there has been limited opportunity to review potential service improvements. Notwithstanding the above position, the Local Development team has continued to develop community engagement. The team has significantly supported the preparation of Local Plan Plans (LPPs) by local communities to engage, inform and support the 74
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__________________________________________________________________________________ National Planning Improvement | Improvement Service preparation of the emerging Local Development Plan (LDP3). Collaboration with Community Wellbeing colleagues in community engagement has been further developed to deliver “one-stop” community consultation involving the Planning service and the preparation of interdependent information resources such as Place Profiles North Ayrshire Place Profiles that collate information from cross Council services. Modifications to the Development Management processes continue to be made to ensure planning applications can be determined as efficiently as possible. Limited staff resource requires that case officers have responsibility for enforcement, the validation process, sending acknowledgement letters, consultations, posting site notices and ensuring the Uniform database is maintained to support service standards being upheld. Recent changes have been made to remove some information publicly displayed on the Council’s Online Planning Information System (OPIS) such as objection comments and consultation responses. The reason for this is that resource does not exist to redact information and also that OPIS appears to be being used by some of the public as an extension to social media platforms e.g. referring to and cross-referencing comments to seek to direct application assessment. Promoting the plan-led system: Development Planning: Following the timetable set out in the Development Plan Scheme, develop Evidence Base to inform LDP3. The Development Plan Scheme was last adopted in November 2024, and we are on track and nearing the end of the Evidence Reporting stage of LDP3 preparation. A strong emphasis is placed within the Strategic Planning Team service on sharing good practice, skills, and knowledge, including via HOPS sub-forums, the Knowledge Hub resource, and informal groups, including the Fife LDP Peer Review Group and regular meetings with South and East Ayrshire. In 2025, the Chief Planning Officer “reached out” to peers in East and South Ayrshire to further develop regional understanding of Planning and related matters and inform collaborative working, for example, in respect of regional economic and spatial strategy, and housing, climate and nature crises. This has progressed significantly in the subsequent period to develop regional spatial and economic understanding and initiatives. 2025/26 Service Improvement Actions As a result of the Planning service operating under an extended period of resource constraint no new improvement actions for the Planning Service have been set at this time. The Service is continuing to focus on the early stages of preparing Local Development Plan 3 and is on track for adoption in accordance with Scottish Government targets. 75
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__________________________________________________________________________________ National Planning Improvement | Improvement Service Delivering an efficient and effective Development Management service is being maintained with the highest level of performance being demonstrated in national comparison. Notwithstanding the above, the Chief Planning Officer intends to continue to develop regional collaboration in further discussion with neighbouring authorities in Inverclyde and Renfrewshire Councils. Action 76
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__________________________________________________________________________________ National Planning Improvement | Improvement Service Please consider the following when thinking about this attribute and how you have performed over the last year: Does the planning authority have an effective scheme of delegation in place? YES – reviewed annually and up to date Have all councillors who exercise a planning function undergone statutory training and is there is evidence of ongoing training for members? YES – historically undertaken in advance of and beyond legislative requirement Have more than x % of officer recommendations have been overturned by councillors at committee or Local Review Body. NO – historically low numbers of overturned recommendations Narrative The Planning service is incorporated within North Ayrshire Council’s Communities, Housing and Public Protection directorate. This directorate was newly formed in 2024 to respond to the Council’s commitments in these service areas. The decision-making ability of the Planning service is established in the Council’s adopted Scheme of Delegation, and this details the circumstances whereby planning applications are required to be considered and determined by the Planning Committee. The scheme of delegation provides decision making powers to the Chief Planning Officer on an extended basis in the interests of efficiency in dealing with local planning applications however major and sensitive applications are commonly determined by the Council’s Planning Committee. The Scheme of Delegation was most recently adopted in October 2025 and is regularly reviewed. The Local Review Body is the method of appealing decisions made by the Chief Planning Officer under the Scheme of Delegation. The Local Review Body conducts reviews in respect of the refusal of planning permission, failure to determine applications and the imposition of conditions. In the last year, the Local Review Body (LRB) determined only four applications for review. This is considered to demonstrate both general satisfaction with the decision making of the Chief Planning Officer under the Scheme of Delegation and the appropriateness of decisions made. The Local Review Body overturned only one officer decision in this period. ATTRIBUTE 4: THE PLANNING AUTHORITY HAS SOUND GOVERNANCE 77
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__________________________________________________________________________________ National Planning Improvement | Improvement Service The Council’s Planning Committee is the decision-making board which determines planning applications where delegation authority is not provided to officers. The Planning Committee meets monthly to consider recommendations on planning applications and Local Development matters as appropriate. In the past 12 months, 96% of applications considered by the Planning Committee were decided in accordance with officer recommendation. This equates to only one officer recommendation being overturned in that period. The Planning (Scotland) Act 2019 requires that mandatory training is implemented for all elected members who are involved in any decisions involving planning matters. It should be noted that, as a commitment to effective decision making, North Ayrshire Council has historically undertaken elected member training significantly in advance of this legislative requirement. Training is undertaken on a six-monthly basis most recently in December 2024, June 2025 and December 2025. Interim and individual training can be provided at any time e.g. for new Committee members as and when required. In the last year only two appeals to Scottish Ministers for planning decisions have been made and both remain under consideration. One further planning appeal was submitted but was rejected as being out with the remit of the DPEA. As noted above in respect of delegated decisions, the low level of appeals to Scottish Ministers is considered to demonstrate general satisfaction with and the appropriateness of decisions made. Guidance to applicants on how to appeal either to Scottish Ministers or the Local Review Body is available on the Council’s website Planning reviews and appeals. 78
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__________________________________________________________________________________ National Planning Improvement | Improvement Service Please consider the following when thinking about this attribute and how you have performed over the last year: Does the planning authority have an identified Chief Planning Officer in place? YES – since 2021, well in advance of regulatory requirement Does the Chief Planning Officer advise on corporate decision making and policy within the broader organisation? YES Is the planning authority's Chief Planning Officer a member of the Royal Town Planning Institute? YES Does the Chief Planning Officer advise and support external bodies through engagement in organisations’ committees, advisory groups or working groups? YES Does the planning authority have a strong leadership team that supports a culture of continuous improvement? YES - both corporately and within service Narrative A Chief Planning Officer was appointed in 2021, in advance of the statutory requirement being put in place by the Scottish Government in 2024. The officer in question is a Chartered Member of the Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI) and is the head of the profession within the Council. The Chief Planning Officer provides advice throughout the Council to other departments and services, other Senior Managers, Elected Members, and members of the public in relation to planning matters. Guidance on the role of the Chief Planning Officer advises that the position should strengthen leadership on planning and corporate recognition of the importance and positive influence of planning within a Council. The duties and responsibilities of the Chief Planning Officer are positioned around 5 main attributes: Professional Advisor Delivering National Planning Priorities ATTRIBUTE 5: THE PLANNING AUTHORITY HAS EFFECTIVE LEADERSHIP 79
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__________________________________________________________________________________ National Planning Improvement | Improvement Service Champion of place Head of Profession Performance Improvement The role of the Chief Planning Officer as a Professional Advisor is to direct on the vision and implementation of the National Planning framework (NPF4) and Local Development plan for North Ayrshire spatial and associated development priorities. The Chief Planning Officer is a member of the Council’s Senior Management Team (SLT) and advises the Council’s Executive Leadership Team (ELT) and elected members in the development and delivery of corporate objectives to promote and achieve the Strategic Plan priorities in a spatial and place-based approach. The role of the Chief Planning Officer includes Delivering National Planning Priorities in the alignment and delivery of national planning objectives within North Ayrshire. As a Champion of Place, the Chief Planning Officer directs and delivers place making ambitions within the Council, is the Council’s placemaking champion and ensures a collaborative approach to place making with other Council officers, elected members and developers. The Chief Planning Officer is the Head of the Planning Profession in North Ayrshire and the most senior responsible qualified officer for the Council’s Planning Service. The Chief Planning Officer is the main contact for key stakeholders on planning and place and represents the Council internally and externally on several groups requiring or benefitting from input from the planning function. The Chief Planning Officer is ultimately responsible for the Performance and Improvement of the planning service in North Ayrshire and the embedding of an ethos of continuous improvement. The Chief Planning Officer in North Ayrshire participates and advises a number of internal and external bodies to provide spatial and development planning advice. These include. Ayrshire Economic Partnership Board Ayrshire Economic Joint Committee Arran Housing Taskforce B714 Project Delivery Board Clyde Marine Planning Partnership North Ayrshire Inward Investment Group Irvine Town Board (Long Term Plan for Towns) Islands Group Board 80
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__________________________________________________________________________________ National Planning Improvement | Improvement Service Ayrshire Planning Regional discussion group Reporting to the Chief Planning Officer are two Senior Planning Officers responsible for the Council’s Development Management regulatory service and the Strategic Planning Manager responsible for the Council’s Development Planning regulatory service. The Planning service benefits from a direct relationship to and strong support from the Council’s Chief Executive, Executive Director of Communities and Housing and Head of Housing and Public Protection. A culture of continuous improvement is expected, supported, and delivered in North Ayrshire Council generally and specifically within the Planning service. The Chief Planning Officer, Strategic Planning Manager and Senior Planning Officers all engage nationally to keep involved and informed in national Planning practice. This takes the form of national engagement with Heads of Planning Scotland with participation in both the Development Plan and Development Management groups. Involvement with the Improvement Service is undertaken by Planning management and all staff in participation with the Planning Skills programme. The Chief Planning Officer also presented to an Improvement Service seminar on Customer Service, this being informed by North Ayrshire Council and the Planning service commitment to community engagement and removing barriers to customer service. All of this has informed preparation of the NPIF. 81
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__________________________________________________________________________________ National Planning Improvement | Improvement Service Improvement Action Plan (Culture theme) Attribute Score (1=Making excellent progress, 5= No progress) 3. This Planning Authority has embedded continuous improvement 1 4. This Planning Authority has sound governance 1 5. This Planning Authority has effective leadership 1 Based on the grading above, outline any areas of improvement that are required and by whom and their level of importance (High/ Medium/ Low) and by when (short/ medium/ long term). Improvement Action What action will you take? What will the outcome be? Owner Importance High Medium Low Timescale Short term – 1 year Medium term – 3 years Long term – 3+ years Resources Renfrewshire/Inverclyde regional discussions. Further develop and undertake meetings with neighbouring Councils to understand and develop competing/co- operative regional challenges/opportunities. Allan Finlayson Medium Short Chief Planning Officer and Strategic Planning manager Enforcement Charter review Allan Finlayson/Iain Davies High Short 82
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__________________________________________________________________________________ National Planning Improvement | Improvement Service A high performing planning authority needs to have an effective local development plan and other strategies in place to provide a vision for the future of the area. It needs to be able to set and deliver on policy ambitions and priorities by clearly informing decision making and providing certainty and predictability for communities, developers and investment. The authority’s development management systems need to be effective in making the right decisions about development and be efficient as possible in doing this. The planning authority makes best use of digital technology and how it manages and uses data. Please consider the following when thinking about this attribute and how you have performed over the last year: Does the planning authority have an up to date Local Development Plan in place and/ or is on track to adoption? YES – the extant LDP2 is up to date and the emerging LDP3 on track to adoption Does the planning authority have an up-to-date Regional Spatial Strategy in place/ or on track to adoption? YES – a RSS is not yet a legislative requirement however North Ayrshire is progressing towards preparation of a combined RSS and Regional Economic Strategy in partnership with South and East Ayrshire Councils Has the planning authority’s Local Development Plan Evidence Report been approved by the Department of Planning and Environmental Appeals and/ or on track for approval? NO – however the Evidence Report has been submitted to DPEA in advance of many authorities and is currently receiving attention at Gate Check Has the application of the Local Development Plan’s policies been found to be deficient at appeal or judicial review? NO – policies of the extant LDP2 (2019) are widely considered to be almost entirely aligned with the subsequent adoption of the National Planning Framework (NPF4) in 2023. ATTRIBUTE 6: THE PLANNING AUTHORITY HAS A ROBUST POLICY AND EVIDENCE BASE 83
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__________________________________________________________________________________ National Planning Improvement | Improvement Service Narrative North Ayrshire Council’s development plan consists of Local Development Plan (LDP2), which was adopted in November 2019 Adopted Local Development Plan and the Fourth National Planning Framework (NPF4), adopted in February 2023 National Planning Framework 4 - gov.scot. Together these provide an up-to-date development plan covering North Ayrshire. The local development plan is supplemented by non-statutory planning guidance documents Non-statutory planning guidance. Preparation of a new local development plan (LDP3) is well underway and on track for adoption in 2027 in advance of Scottish Governments May 2028 deadline. The emerging LDP’s Evidence Report was submitted to the Directorate of Planning and Environmental Appeals (DPEA) for Gate Check assessment in January 2026 and a decision is expected in April. Following approval by the appropriate committees of North, South and East Ayrshire Councils, an indicative Regional Spatial Strategy for Ayrshire was submitted to the Scottish Government in 2020. Guidance from the Scottish Government remains to be progressed significantly. Notwithstanding this position, the Chief Planning Officers of all Ayrshire Councils and Regeneration peers in all Councils are progressing a combined Regional Spatial Strategy and Regional Economic Strategy for Ayrshire Ayrshire regional economic strategy. The above work will further develop regional understanding of Planning, Regeneration and related matters and inform collaborative working, for example, in respect of regional economic and spatial strategy, housing, climate and nature crises and infrastructure delivery. Further developing regional discussion with neighbouring authorities in Inverclyde and Renfrewshire Councils will be progressed in late 2026 to further develop this work and is a committed action. 84
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__________________________________________________________________________________ National Planning Improvement | Improvement Service Please consider the following when thinking about this attribute and how you have performed over the last year: Has the planning authority encouraged and promoted planning applications to be submitted through the e-development portal? YES – North Ayrshire receives almost entirely all planning applications through the e- development portal. Notwithstanding this, the receipt of paper applications is accommodated to assist with customer needs although this rarely occurs. Does the planning authority have a data governance strategy in place for the management of planning data? YES – both corporately and in service. Does the planning authority have the ability to use interactive web-mapping, GIS, and spatial data? YES – the service use of interactive and digital data is provided at a level significantly beyond reasonable expectations of the small Planning team. This is considered a testament to the professionalism of officers and their commitment to customer and community engagement Does the planning authority have the ability to use digital approaches to engagement, including website, social media, and other platforms? YES – and, again, the use of these approaches is provided at a level significantly beyond reasonable expectations of the small Planning team. Narrative The North Ayrshire Council website has a number of pages dedicated to various aspects of planning. The Council website has recently been updated to a new, clearer, and more interactive platform, and officers of the Planning service have contributed to this process to take the opportunity to update information and links as appropriate. In addition, updating of the Planning pages is undertaken “in house” as and when required. Planning and Building Standards In respect of Development Management, during 2025-26 96% of planning applications received were submitted through the Planning Portal, accounting for almost all of the 600 applications received. Use of the Portal is actively encouraged and clear advice with links is provided on the Planning pages of the Council’s website Make a planning application ATTRIBUTE 7: THE PLANNING AUTHORITY MAKES BEST USE OF DATA AND DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY 85
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__________________________________________________________________________________ National Planning Improvement | Improvement Service This approach minimises our handling of documents and ensures greater efficiency in application receipt, validation, and assessment. Our processes are now fully electronic, with any hard copy information quickly digitised and we have operated in this manner for many years. The Planning service has developed an interactive Local Development Plan interactive version of the LDP for the benefit of customer service to aid customer engagement in the LDP process and also to provide direct digital access to detailed policies and additional related information that provides more detail about how we will consider proposals for specific uses or developments. A storymap presentation of the LDP is also available online. The Strategic Planning Team also utilises interactive web-mapping and GIS – specifically ArcGIS’s StoryMaps – to present a wide range of spatial data. This includes housing and employment land audits. StoryMaps have been used to create Profiles for North Ayrshire’s six localities. These have been produced to inform the preparation of our third Local Development Plan LDP3 and support other placemaking activity. The profiles summarise key social, cultural, environmental, and economic features of the areas. The Service has invested in a three-year Commonplace licence to support engagement on the Local Development Plan through the creation of an online hub: Have Your Say Today - North Ayrshire’s Third Local Development Plan - Commonplace. ArcSurvey GIS has been deployed for the current ‘Call for Ideas’ exercise, allowing submitted information in support of promoted sites, including mapped boundaries, to be digitised more easily: Call for Ideas The Planning Services makes spatial data available via the Corporate Open Data Portal under the Open Government Licence for public sector information and in accordance with North Ayrshire’s Open Data Strategy and Publication Plan. 86
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__________________________________________________________________________________ National Planning Improvement | Improvement Service Please consider the following when thinking about this attribute and how you have performed over the last year: Does the planning authority planning have the ability to make decisions on planning applications within the required timeframes? YES – planning application decisions in North Ayrshire are in the top three nationally which is considered a significant achievement for a small Planning team which is proportionally one of the smallest in Scotland Are less than x% of planning decisions overturned at appeal or judicial review? YES Does the planning authority have an up-to-date Enforcement Charter in place? YES – however the Enforcement Charter is due for updating and this is committed as an improvement action Does the planning authority have the ability to resolve enforcement cases? YES – however the investigation of enforcement cases as quickly as would be preferred remains challenging as there is no dedicated enforcement officer and cases are investigated by Planning Officers Narrative North Ayrshire Council’s Development Management performance has historically demonstrated nationally leading excellence in decision making timescales notwithstanding a small team size and limited resources. Over the past 10 years, the service has regularly been the highest performing Planning Authority across all planning application determination categories (householder, local, major and national) measured by Scottish Government Supporting documents - Planning Application Statistics 2024/25 (April 2024 to September 2024) - gov.scot Development management performance reduced slightly in the last year as a result of staff resourcing issues. However, performance remains in the top three Planning Authorities in all measured categories and the top performing in more categories than any other Authority. Development Management performance in North Ayrshire is significantly above national average performance levels monitored by Scottish Government Planning statistics - gov.scot. ATTRIBUTE 8: THE PLANNING AUTHORITY HAS EFFECTIVE AND EFFICIENT DECSION MAKING PROCESSES 87
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__________________________________________________________________________________ National Planning Improvement | Improvement Service The exceptional performance of the Planning service in North Ayrshire is a cornerstone in serving the individual, community, and business needs of all our customers. Commendably, this is achieved whilst providing a free of charge pre-application enquiry service with no discretionary charging beyond statutory requirements. In the last year, the Local Review Body (LRB) determined only four applications for review. This is considered to demonstrate both general satisfaction with the decision making of the Chief Planning Officer under the Scheme of Delegation and the appropriateness of decisions made. The Local Review Body overturned only one officer decision in this period. In the last year only two appeals to Scottish Ministers for planning decisions have been made. One further planning appeal was submitted but was rejected as being out with the remit of the DPEA. As noted previously, the low level of appeals to Scottish Ministers is considered to demonstrate general satisfaction with and the appropriateness of decisions made. Further evidence demonstrating general satisfaction with decision making is the very low number of complaints received by the Planning service. Only three complaints have been received in the last year and none have been upheld. Furthermore, no complaints investigated were referred to SPSO. No applications for Judicial Review have been received. The Planning service has also received a level of communication expressing thanks for good service received significantly above the number of complaints received. The extremely low level of complaints received, absence of escalation and decision making challenge are considered to be a testament to decision making within the Planning service in North Ayrshire. The Planning service Enforcement charter was last updated in March 2024 and is therefore due for further updating. This is action for progression in the short term. Action A more pressing concern, however, is the limited staff resource that can be dedicated to the investigation into and enforcement of planning breaches. This is an ongoing difficulty in meeting the expectations of customers concerned with enforcement matters. The Planning service has no dedicated enforcement officer, and this obligation is shared between Development Management Officers who already have a higher than any national workload in respect of application caseload. Therefore, the investigation of additional staff resource for the service is also an action. An additional resource concern is the absence of a managerial position in the Development Management team to reflect the existence of such in the Strategic Planning team. This is a staffing resourcing issue that will also be investigated as an action. 88
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__________________________________________________________________________________ National Planning Improvement | Improvement Service Improvement Action Plan (Tools theme) Attribute Score (1=Making excellent progress, 5= No progress) 6. The planning authority has a robust policy and evidence base 1 7. The planning authority makes best use of data and digital technology 1 8. The planning authority has effective and efficient decision making processes 2 Based on the grading above, outline any areas of improvement that are required and by whom and their level of importance (High/ Medium/ Low) and by when (short/ medium/ long term). Improvement Action What action will you take? What will the outcome be? Owner Importance High Medium Low Timescale Short term – 1 year Medium term – 3 years Long term – 3+ years Resources Enforcement charter review Allan Finlayson/ Iain Davies High Short Enforcement resourcing improvement Allan Finlayson High Short Development Manager resourcing improvement Allan Finlayson Medium Medium 89
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__________________________________________________________________________________ National Planning Improvement | Improvement Service A high performing planning authority should ensure a wide range of people are involved in shaping their future places. Engagement should be fair and inclusive, early, collaborative, meaningful and proportionate and should include difficult to reach groups. The authority should engage with a wide range of partners at a national, regional and local level to ensure a joined-up approach and that links are made across policies and programmes. The planning authority should demonstrate good customer care, transparency and effective communication. Please consider the following when thinking about this attribute and how you have performed over the last year: Does the planning authority have the ability to offer pre-application advice where it is requested? YES – North Ayrshire Council is one of a decreasing number of Planning Authorities to offer free pre-application guidance. There are no plans to introduce charges as this service is considered important in providing development guidance to customers, communities and developers to the benefit of all. Has the planning authority held regular engagement events with developers and communities? YES – the Planning service regularly attends community events and meetings and engages with the development industry nationally and locally Do the results from the customer and stakeholder survey show that customers are satisfied with the service offer by the planning authority? YES – consultation on this survey was widely circulated and the limited number of responses and comments received should be taken as confirmation of satisfaction with the Planning service in North Ayrshire. This position is corroborated by the exceptionally low number of complaints received and the outweighing of these by positive comments submitted by customers ATTRIBUTE 9: THE PLANNING AUTHORITY HAS GOOD CUSTOMER CARE 90
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__________________________________________________________________________________ National Planning Improvement | Improvement Service Narrative The ethos of the Planning service is to be directly contactable with customers, wherever possible, by all forms of communication. The service maintains a direct telephone service and excellent links with the Council’s general Contact Centre telephone service. Telephone calls are invariably either answered directly or returned the same day. Officers at all levels can be contacted directly by telephone or email. Email responses are invariably returned within 1-2 working days. This customer service ethos was noted by the Improvement Service and the Chief Planning Officer was invited to present to a recent customer service workshop and training session. In respect of Development Management, the Planning service welcomes early engagement with all applicants and developers prior to the submission of any application. The service is strongly of the view that submission of informed, detailed, and comprehensive applications results in quicker decision making and better quality of developments. The Council offers a free of charge pre-application advice service intended to guide and inform the formulation of all development proposals. Maintaining a free of charge service for pre-application advice is becoming less common in Planning Authorities nationally however North Ayrshire is committed to the continuation of this given the customer care and development quality benefits that result. The Planning service also offers Processing Agreements for all National or Major applications and for complex local developments. Details of the Processing Agreements process is available on the Planning Website Make a planning application. A Processing Agreement is used to set out the key processes in determining the application, identifying what information is required and from whom and sets the timescales for the delivery of various stages of the process. It is recognised that there are several benefits of Processing Agreements including greater transparency in decision making, increased predictability and certainty over the timing of key stages. The Strategic Planning Team has developed a positive working relationship with Homes for Scotland, going back to the preparation of the adopted Local Development Plan, the annual Housing Land Audit, and the early stages of preparing LDP3. The Service has engaged proactively with the majority of active Community Councils in North Ayrshire over the past two-years, providing advice on how they can best engage with the Planning system. 91
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__________________________________________________________________________________ National Planning Improvement | Improvement Service Please consider the following when thinking about this attribute and how you have performed over the last year: Does the planning authority have a community engagement strategy and infrastructure in place to ensure engagement is early, collaborative, meaningful and proportionate? YES - the Planning service in North Ayrshire is small, agile and with a demonstrable track record of community engagement in fulfilment of a wider Council commitment. There is not considered a need to formalise this in a community engagement strategy which could be at the expense of the agility and directness of existing community contact and engagement Has the planning authority undertaken community engagement, for example consistent and effective use of the Place Standard Tool, to inform decision-making processes? Has the planning authority encouraged and promoted planning applications to be submitted through the e-development portal? YES – the Place Standard Tool is regularly utilized and the e-development portal is promoted for the submission of all planning applications however applicants who demonstrate that they cannot use the portal can be accommodated by alternative submission eg. email or paper receipt. Has the planning authority engaged with a good representation of the community including young people, gypsies and travellers, people with protected characteristics, including disability, race, age, sex and sexual orientation, and including people from a range of socio-economic backgrounds? YES – the Planning service engages with all customers and communities in North Ayrshire Has the planning authority supported the production of Local Place Plans when requested? YES Do the results from the customer and stakeholder survey show that stakeholders are satisfied with their collaboration with the planning authority? YES Narrative The Planning service is strongly committed to collaboration with local communities, public bodies, and other stakeholders at all relevant stages of the planning process. ATTRIBUTE 10: THE PLANNING AUTHORITY HAS EFFECTIVE ENGAGEMENT AND COLLABORATION WITH STAKEHOLDERS AND COMMUNITIES 92
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__________________________________________________________________________________ National Planning Improvement | Improvement Service In respect of Development Management, engagement is undertaken daily in often challenging circumstances of polarized opinions. Notwithstanding this, the service is committed to a “listen first” approach to development assessment and to the clear demonstration of appropriate assessment in reports of handling and decision-making accountability. The Strategic Planning Team has ensured that the current Development Plan Scheme includes a Participation Statement setting out when consultation is likely to take place, with whom and its likely form, including the steps to be taken to involve the public in the preparation of the local development plan. Early engagement to inform the Evidence Report/LDP3 was focused around the use of the Place Standard Tool, to gather information on what local people think about the places they live, work and visit in North Ayrshire: Have Your Say Today - Your Place Survey - North Ayrshire’s Third Local Development Plan. This builds upon previous use of the Tool to identify Community Planning locality priorities and evidences the strong links between community planning and spatial planning in North Ayrshire. Specific engagement has been undertaken with children, young people and gypsy/travellers. A commitment has been made via the Council’s emerging equality outcomes to ensure new places, spaces and buildings will be inclusive and designed to take account of the needs of people with disabilities and other protected characteristics, including through their engagement in the preparation of LDP3. The Planning service has recently engaged with North Ayrshire schools STEAM week which enables children to apply their science, technology, engineering, and mathematics knowledge in contexts that make connections between the classroom and the world around them. This work involves facilitating and participating in workshops in partnership with the Council’s Education service. The Strategic Planning Team has supported six community bodies to prepare a Local Place Plan (LPP) with all plans now registered and a further plan expected soon. We have prepared a ‘Handbook’ to guide community bodies preparing Local Place Plans and engaged positively to support the preparation of these plans, providing advice and technical support where required. This has been welcomed by a number of the community bodies we have supported. Local Place Plans are now registered for approximately 70% of the communities of North Ayrshire. This is understood to be unmatched nationally and a testament to the commitment to the Planning system by communities in North Ayrshire and the support that they have received from the Planning service working with wider Council services and specifically community development staff. 93
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__________________________________________________________________________________ National Planning Improvement | Improvement Service Improvement Action Plan (Engage theme) Attribute Score (1=Making excellent progress, 5= No progress) 9. This planning authority has good customer care 1 10. The planning authority has effective engagement and collaboration with stakeholders and communities. 1 Based on the grading above, outline any areas of improvement that are required and by whom and their level of importance (High/ Medium/ Low) and by when (short/ medium/ long term). Improvement Action What action will you take? What will the outcome be? Owner Importance High Medium Low Timescale Short term – 1 year Medium term – 3 years Long term – 3+ years Resources 94
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__________________________________________________________________________________ National Planning Improvement | Improvement Service A high performing planning authority should demonstrate place leadership by taking a collaborative place-based approach in line with the Place Principle. It should use the Place and Wellbeing Outcomes in decision-making processes, to achieve the three spatial principles outlined in NPF4: Sustainable places, where we reduce emissions, restore and better connect biodiversity; Liveable places, where we can all live better, healthier lives; and Productive places, where we have a greener, fairer and more inclusive wellbeing economy. The planning authority should seek to ensure that there are no impediments to delivering agreed development. Please consider the following when thinking about this attribute and how you have performed over the last year: Is the planning authority aware of the Place and Wellbeing Outcomes, the evidence that sits behind them and is it using them in decision-making processes? YES Has the planning authority identified tools and approaches to delivering sustainable, liveable, and productive places and is implementing them? YES Narrative In 2024 North Ayrshire Council established a new Communities, Housing and Public Protection Directorate to provide greater focus on community delivery outcomes. This has ensured a wider understanding of Place and Wellbeing Outcomes in the Directorate composition. ATTRIBUTE 11: THE PLANNING AUTHORITY SUPPORTS THE DELIVERY OF SUSTAINABLE, LIVEABLE AND PRODUCTIVE PLACES 95
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__________________________________________________________________________________ National Planning Improvement | Improvement Service Within the Planning service there is a high awareness of Place and Wellbeing Outcomes by officers and how these should be used in decision-making processes. A cornerstone policy in the extant LDP2 is SP1 (Placemaking) and this is an important foundation on which all decisions are made and the criteria of policy SP1 are consistent with both NPF4 and Place and Wellbeing Outcomes. LDP, NPF4 (combined being the Council’s statutory Development Plan) policies and non- statutory Supplementary Guidance Place and Wellbeing Outcomes are all used to deliver sustainable, liveable, and productive places in North Ayrshire. The Strategic Planning Team represents North Ayrshire Council as one of three authorities working in partnership with Public Health Scotland (PHS), the Institute of Health Equity (IHE) and local NHS health board to form the ‘Collaboration for Health Equity in Scotland’ (CHES). This partnership aims to help local areas and community planning partners to strengthen local plans – including LDPs – to reduce health inequalities and improve wellbeing in their communities. It intends to support local partners to bridge the gap between national policies and local implementation and understand the actions which will have the greatest impact on health inequalities locally and help to overcome the barriers to implementing these. The ultimate goal is to enable people to live longer, healthier lives by addressing the root causes of health inequalities and preventing illness before it starts. Working alongside colleagues in South Lanarkshire and Aberdeen City, supported by the Place & Wellbeing Partnership Lead at the Improvement Service & Public Health Scotland, we are exploring how the associated ‘Marmot 8’ principles along with the Place and Wellbeing Outcomes can be embedded into both the evidence report and then LDP3. 96
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__________________________________________________________________________________ National Planning Improvement | Improvement Service Please consider the following when thinking about this attribute and how you have performed over the last year: Has the planning authority provided clear and proportionate expectations of Section 75 agreements and set these out in the LDP and pre-application discussions and they are concluded within 6 months of resolution to grant? YES Does the planning authority take a proportionate approach to imposing conditions? YES - In North Ayrshire, conditions are proportionally applied for every decision made and no discretionary charging for condition discharge is levied or proposed as it is considered it would be to the detriment of customer service, post decision development implementation and therefore community and economic development. Does the planning authority have an ambitious local housing land requirement that exceeds the Minimum All Tenure Housing land requirements in NPF4 and is it on track to support delivery? YES Are the number of processing agreements the planning authority has agreed with applicants increasing? NO Does the planning authority have an effective delivery programme in place that supports the delivery of development on the ground? YES Narrative To support development and regeneration in North Ayrshire the Planning service does not routinely require developer contributions. The Local Development Plan expects the majority of new development to be directed towards sites that have infrastructure or services in place. Where further provision is required, the Supporting Development Objective: Infrastructure and Services policy within the Adopted Local Development Plan (p.16) sets out clear and proportionate expectations and the need for relevant assessments is highlighted alongside each development site where potential infrastructure deficiencies are known. ATTRIBUTE 12: THE PLANNING AUTHORITY SUPPORTS THE DELIVERY OF CONSENTED DEVELOPMENT 97
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__________________________________________________________________________________ National Planning Improvement | Improvement Service The Planning service has completed its Evidence Report and this is with DPEA at Gate Check for consideration with a decision expected in April. In preparing the Evidence Report, a draft Housing Evidence Paper was shared with Homes for Scotland; Registered Social Landlords operating in North Ayrshire; developers and agents included on the LDP mailing list; and parties who have approached the Strategic Planning team with an interest in having housing sites allocated in LDP3. The Housing Evidence Paper was reissued (without substantive changes) more widely for comment via the LDP Online Hub and emails to community councils and the remainder of the LDP mailing list. The Paper proposes an indicative Local Housing Land Requirement figure of 4,500 homes, which exceeds the MATHLR by 52.5%. A ‘Call for Ideas’ has been launched which will assist in the allocation of deliverable land by LDP3 to meet the 10-year Local Housing Land Requirement. A Draft Delivery Programme was submitted to Scottish Government on 8 April 2025, which takes account of the views of the key agencies and other stakeholders. At this point, we do not intend to publish the Delivery Programme rather we will seek approval alongside the Evidence Report later in the year, following the finalisation of the 2024/25 Housing Land Audit. In respect of Development Management, the free pre-application service supports the submission of planning applications with necessary information provided to aid decision making outcomes. A general presumption against the use of legal agreements minimises decision making complication and delay The number of processing agreements being used is not increasing but continue to be promoted on the Council’s website and offered where appropriate during the assessment of planning applications. Limited uptake from applicants is considered to be another indication of general satisfaction with decision making and the timescales for this as evidence by demonstrated excellence in decision making performance. Processing agreements are automatically entered into for all major applications and some complex local applications. The number is small annually (generally less than 10) and dependent on the number of applications received but consistently applied. In addition, processing agreements will always reasonably be entered into at an applicant’s request for any application. 98
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__________________________________________________________________________________ National Planning Improvement | Improvement Service Improvement Action Plan (People theme) Attribute Score (1=Making excellent progress, 5= No progress) 11. The planning authority supports the delivery of sustainable, liveable and productive places 1 12. This planning authority supports the delivery of appropriate development 1 Based on the grading above, outline any areas of improvement that are required and by whom and their level of importance (High/ Medium/ Low) and by when (short/ medium/ long term). Improvement Action What action will you take? What will the outcome be? Owner Importance High Medium Low Timescale Short term – 1 year Medium term – 3 years Long term – 3+ years Resources 100