Public Access Strategy - Review & Analysis Policy Audit National Planning Policy Guidelines & the Planning System

National Planning Policy Guidelines provide statements of Government policy on nationally important land use and other planning matters.  They are designed to help the planning system contribute to Scotland achieving sustainable development.

National Planning Policy Guideline 11 (NPPG11), Sport, physical recreation and open space, says councils should:

• meet the sporting and recreational needs of residents, tourists and visitors, while safeguarding the quality of the natural and cultural heritage;
• maintain comprehensive access networks to meet the growing demand for informal recreation – a network which is appropriate to the needs of today and generations to come, and which provides for cycling and horse riding as well as walking;
• review existing access networks and consider how they could be augmented by identifying gaps in the route network as part of a wider recreation strategy.

National Planning Policy Guideline 15 (NPPG15) Rural Development, reinforces these policy messages for rural recreation and also says:

• the Government remains committed to maintaining a statutory right of access to the countryside;
• footpaths, rights of way, bridle ways, byways, tow paths and cycle routes increase opportunities to enjoy the countryside, whilst other outdoor pursuits e.g. mountain biking require careful management.

National Planning Policy Guideline 17 (NPPG 17) Transport and Planning, states that "land use planning can contribute to achieving the Government's broad policy objectives for integrated transport and land use planning through …enabling people to access local facilities over local networks by short walking or cycling trips, in turn contributing to social inclusion".  The creation of local path networks could form an important element in local transport strategies.

It also states that "In rural areas cycle networks should serve and link neighbouring villages.  As well as local needs these can in some areas provide a potentially important tourist facility.  Networks may include use of redundant railway lines or space alongside canals or rivers.  Where appropriate, routes shared with pedestrians or horse riders should be considered where space allows, but with designations clearly marked or defined to reduce risk of accidents."

Section 37 of the 1997 Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act provides planning authorities with the power to impose conditions on planning permission.  Generally, conditions are imposed by the planning authority where they would otherwise refuse planning permission.  The development control process therefore provides an important opportunity for development of the path network, particularly where development proposals would otherwise have an adverse effect on transport provision in North Lanarkshire.

Section 75 of the 1997 Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act enables a planning authority to enter into an agreement with any person interested in land, with a view to regulating how it is used in the future. Such agreements are most commonly associated with planning applications and are used by planning authorities to increase their powers of development control (beyond the scope of conditions) and, critically, to control matters of environmental concern. Recent case law has clarified the role and status of planning agreements:

• for it to influence a decision, there must be some relationship, however tenuous, between the obligation and the proposed development;
• if such a relationship exists, regard must be had to the obligation;
• the decision maker may be influenced by the extent to which the obligation is fairly and reasonably related to the development, or the extent to which it provides public benefits.

Policy advice on the scope of planning agreements is provided in SODD Circular 12/1996 which advises that agreements should be reasonably related to, and in proportion to the requirements of the proposed development.  It discourages planning authorities from the public benefits approach.

An example in the UK where planning authorities have successfully used planning agreements as a means of achieving a planning programme of access provision is the case of Nuneaton and Bedworth Borough Council. This English Borough Council has negotiated planning agreements (S.106) with housing and industrial developers to provide path links within their developments.

The Countryside (Scotland) Act 1967, section 46(1) states that "it shall be the duty of a local planning authority to assert, protect and keep open and free from obstruction or encroachment any public right of way which is wholly or partly within their area, and they may for these purposes institute and defend legal proceedings and generally take such steps as they may deem expedient."

The (former) Scottish Office document "Cycling into the Future" (1996) set the target of doubling the number of trips by cycle by the year 2002 and doubling it again by 2012.  Path networks can provide safe cycling routes away from motorised traffic and contribute to sustainable development by reducing the need to travel by car in some instances.

Local Agenda 21 (LA21) is one key initiative in the UK's commitment to trying to achieve sustainable development.  It is derived from the United Nations Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro in 1992 where many countries agreed a document to promote sustainable development for the 21^st century, calling it "Agenda 21".  A key part of Agenda 21 is the involvement of local communities in decision making processes.  Path networks and strategies meet the aims of Agenda 21 by working in partnership with local people to ensure that paths meet the needs of those people and contribute to sustainable development and transport.

The 1995 Disability Discrimination Act is an important and relevant piece of legislation.  It introduces new rights for disabled people and, amongst other requirements, places duties on suppliers of goods and services. This specifically includes local authorities and other public authorities as 'providers of services' and recreation as an example of these services. The Act makes it unlawful for a provider of services to discriminate against a disabled person in the following ways:

• if they refuse to provide goods, facilities or services which they provide or are prepared to provide to other members of the public;
• if they fail to comply with the duty to make reasonable adjustments where the effect of such a failure is to make it "impossible or unreasonably difficult for the disabled person to make use of" the service;
• if they provide a service to a disabled person to a lesser standard or in a manner which is unsatisfactory compared to how those services would be provided to a non-disabled person;
• if they offer a service on different terms to those offered to a non-disabled person.

A provider of services discriminates against a disabled person if all the following conditions are satisfied:

• the service provider treats the disabled person less favourably than they treat or would treat other members of the public;
• such less favourable treatment is for a reason which relates to the disabled person's disability;
• the service provider cannot show the treatment is justified.

Guidance from the Paths for All Partnership places considerable emphasis on the creation of path networks, which are accessible, to all. Extending the range of recreation opportunities available to disabled people is a specific aim of the initiative.  It is important, therefore that schemes brought forward during implementation of the North Lanarkshire Public Access Strategy are considered in terms of accessibility.  Further guidance for this will be provided as an integral part of the strategy. Detailed guidance is also provided by handbooks such as the BT Countryside for All document entitled A Good Practice Guide to Disabled People's Access in the Countryside.

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