{"id":22489,"date":"2019-04-26T18:03:02","date_gmt":"2019-04-26T17:03:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ihbconline.co.uk\/newsachive\/?p=22489"},"modified":"2019-04-26T18:03:02","modified_gmt":"2019-04-26T17:03:02","slug":"rtpi-scotland-warns-of-planning-bills-eye-watering-cost","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/?p=22489","title":{"rendered":"RTPI Scotland warns of Planning Bill\u2019s \u2018eye-watering\u2019 cost"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"website\"MSPs should think again about the massive financial implications of the Planning Bill currently making its way through the Scottish Parliament, the Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI) Scotland has warned.<\/h3>\n

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RTPI Scotland writes:<\/p>\n

The possible total cost associated with the provisions now included in the Bill – set out today in a Financial Memorandum \u2013 has risen to over a billion pounds. The figures were described as \u2018eye-watering\u2019 by RTPI Scotland, saying that they could lead to a planning service that is unable to function properly. Craig McLaren, the RTPI\u2019s Director of Scotland and Ireland, said: \u2018The new duties and responsibilities included in the current Bill will have a massive financial impact on planning authorities, developers and communities. None of them have funded attached to them and their imposition could cause the planning service to grind to a halt entirely. There is surely a need now for MSPs to look again at whether the 91 new duties and responsibilities introduced during the scrutiny of the Bill are an essential part of it or whether they could be introduced through new and existing policy provisions or secondary legislation and regulations.\u2019<\/p>\n

The Financial Memorandum sets out the following costs if all the new duties and responsibilities remain in the final version of the Bill<\/p>\n