Holistic planning framework needed to protect Scotland’s most special places
It is with no pleasure that I report that my charity’s fears for the protection of our heritage are coming to pass.
In January 2014 we wrote to this newspaper concerning the failure of policy and legislation to protect the historic Culloden battlefield from development. Readers may recall that a council decision to refuse planning permission for luxury housing at Viewhill Farm was overturned by the Scottish Reporter.
An additional four development applications have been submitted, all located in the conservation area. These may herald even more development that, if unchecked, would eventually constrict the core site protected by our charity. Exactly what we foresaw may well come about and we are in danger of Culloden suffering the same fate as Bannockburn battlefield. At the same time, we see that councillors have approved a golf course development on the Coul Links, despite the location being of such environmental importance that it falls within the Loch Fleet site of special scientific interest (SSSI).
Four years ago we argued that we need a planning framework that considers the totality and long-term wellbeing of heritage sites rather than the current, diffuse focus on individual planning applications. That need still exists.
We are at a crossroads. Do we want to protect our outstanding historical places and natural heritage or not? Do designations to protect heritage such as conservation areas, listed building status and SSSIS still have any meaning?
Developers will always play the trump card of claiming that jobs and economics outweigh the loss of history and habitats. We would do well to remember that the economic benefit to Scotland from tourism directly attributable to our outstanding places of beauty is far larger than the entire agriculture and fisheries sectors combined. Others value our heritage even if we don’t.
In 2014, we called on the Scottish Government for dialogue on how we can properly identify and protect sites of national importance. It is now time for that dialogue. The forthcoming Planning (Scotland) Bill is a watershed that could either prove to be the saviour of some of Scotland’s most special places or the prelude to their irrecoverable loss. SIMON SKINNER
Chief Executive, The National Trust for Scotland,
Hermiston Quay, Cultins Road, Edinburgh