Acronyms And Abbreviations

 

Acronym / Abbreviation

Definition

EIA

Environmental Impact Assessment

EIA Report

Environmental Impact Assessment Report

ELC

East Lothian Council

HEPS

Historic Environment Policy for Scotland

LDP

Local Development Plan

NTS

Non-Technical Summary

NPF  

National Planning Framework

PAC

Pre-application Consultation

RSS

Regional Spatial Strategy

PAN

Planning Advice Note

SESplan

The Edinburgh and South East Scotland Plan Strategic Development Plan

Glossary

 

Term

Definition

Planning Application Boundary

The Proposed Development site boundary which will encompass the boundary of the land to be developed.

Proposed Development

The proposed Onshore Transmission Works (OnTW) required to enable the grid connection for the Berwick Bank Wind Farm 

 

 

3 Policy & Legislation

3.1 INTRODUCTION

  1. This chapter provides an overview of the planning policy and legislative context for the Proposed Development. The EIA legislative context for the Proposed Development which this EIA complies with, is outlined within Volume 1, Chapter 2. The consenting approach of the Proposed Development is outlined within Volume 1, Chapter 1. The Planning Statement which is submitted in support of the planning application includes a detailed discussion and evaluation of the relevant planning considerations including relevant policies and their application to the Proposed Development. References to legislation within this chapter are to that legislation as amended.

3.1.1      The Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act 1997 (As Amended)

  1. Section 25(1) of the Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act 1997 (as amended by the Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act 2019) (Scottish Government, 2019), states: “Where, in making any determination under the planning Acts, regard is to be had to the development plan, the determination is, unless material considerations indicate otherwise,

(a) to be made in accordance with that plan; and

(b)  if the development in question is a national development, to be made in accordance with any statement under section 3A(5) which—

(i)  relates to that national development,

(ii)  is expressed as applying for the purposes of development management, and

(iii)  is to the effect that the development in question (or a development such as the development in question) could and should occur.”

  1. In the case of the Proposed Development, the development plan, the parameters of which are defined by Section 24 of the Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act 1997 (as amended by the Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act 2019), comprises:
  • National Planning Framework (NPF) 4 (Scottish Government, 2023a); and
  • East Lothian Council Local Development Plan 2018 (East Lothian Council, 2018) (hereafter “the LDP”) and associated Supplementary Guidance.
    1. This chapter outlines the statutory development plan as stated in Paragraph 3 and other planning policy-based material considerations relevant to the Proposed Development which includes:
  • Emerging development plan policy, specifically:

–           Interim Regional Spatial Strategy.

  • Planning Advice Notes (PAN); and
  • Historic Environment Policy Statement for Scotland 2019.
    1. UK and Scottish energy policy is also a material consideration. Such policies, including those listed below, are not detailed within this Chapter, but are considered within the accompanying Planning Statement:
  • The Climate Change (Scotland) Act 2009;
  • The Climate Change (Emissions Reduction Targets) (Scotland) Act 2019;
  • Climate Emergency – National & Local;
  • 2020 Routemap for Renewable Energy in Scotland;
  • The Scottish Energy Strategy: The Future of Energy in Scotland;
  • Electricity Generation Policy Statement 2013;
  • The Offshore Wind Energy Policy Statement (OWEPS) (Scottish Government, 2020c)
  • Offshore Wind Sector Deal 2019;
  • Low Carbon Scotland: Climate Change Plan – Third Report on Proposals and Policies 2018-2032;
  • Protecting Scotland's Future: The Scottish Government's Programme for Scotland 2019-20;
  • Reducing emissions in Scotland – 2020 Progress Report to Scottish Parliament;
  • Update to the CCP – Securing a Green Recovery on a Path to Net Zero;
  • Scottish National Marine Plan (2015);
  • The Marine (Scotland) Act 2010 and the Regional Marine Plan;
  • Sectoral Marine Plan for Offshore Wind Energy;
  • The Climate Change Act 2008;
  • The Energy Act 2013;
  • UK Offshore Wind Sector Deal; and
  • UK Marine Policy Statement.

3.2 DEVELOPMENT PLAN POLICY

3.2.1      National Planning Framework 4

  1. NPF4 sets out a long-term plan for Scotland that sets out where development and infrastructure is needed, and was adopted on 13 February 2023, at which point it became part of the development plan.

NPF4’s National Development 3

  1. In terms of the scope of the designation NPF4’s national development number 3 is broadly consistent with NPF3’s national development number 4 as it relates to electricity transmission infrastructure on a Scotland-wide basis. Part (b) considers: “New and/or replacement upgraded on and offshore high voltage electricity transmission lines, cables and interconnectors of 132kv or more”; whilst part (c) considers: “New and/or upgraded Infrastructure directly supporting on and offshore high voltage electricity lines, cables and interconnectors including converter stations, switching stations and substations.”
  2. Accompanying text at page 103 states:
  • “A large and rapid increase in electricity generation from renewable sources will be essential for Scotland to meet its net zero emissions targets.”
  • “The electricity transmission grid will need substantial reinforcement including the addition of new infrastructure to connect and transmit the output from new on and offshore capacity to consumers in Scotland, the rest of the UK and beyond. Delivery of this national development will be informed by market, policy and regulatory developments and decisions.”
  • In terms of need: “Additional electricity generation from renewables and electricity transmission capacity of scale is fundamental to achieving a net zero economy and supports improved network resilience in rural and island areas.”

Policy 11

  1. Policy intent: “To encourage, promote and facilitate all forms of renewable energy development onshore and offshore. This includes energy generation, storage, new and replacement transmission and distribution infrastructure and emerging low-carbon and zero emissions technologies including hydrogen and carbon capture utilisation and storage (CCUS).”
  2. Part (a)(ii) states: “Development proposals for all forms of renewable, low-carbon and zero emissions technologies will be supported. These include… enabling works, such as grid transmission and distribution infrastructure…”
  3. Part (c) continues: “Development proposals will only be supported where they maximise net economic impact, including local and community socio-economic benefits such as employment, associated business and supply chain opportunities.”
  4. Part (e) further states: “In addition, project design and mitigation will demonstrate how the following impacts are addressed:
  • impacts on communities and individual dwellings, including, residential amenity, visual impact, noise and shadow flicker;
  • significant landscape and visual impacts, recognising that such impacts are to be expected for some forms of renewable energy. Where impacts are localised and/ or appropriate design mitigation has been applied, they will generally be considered to be acceptable;
  • public access, including impact on long distance walking and cycling routes and scenic routes;
  • impacts on aviation and defence interests including seismological recording;
  • impacts on telecommunications and broadcasting installations, particularly ensuring that transmission links are not compromised;
  • impacts on road traffic and on adjacent trunk roads, including during construction;
  • impacts on historic environment;
  • effects on hydrology, the water environment and flood risk;
  • biodiversity including impacts on birds;
  • impacts on trees, woods and forests;
  • proposals for the decommissioning of developments, including ancillary infrastructure, and site restoration;
  • the quality of site restoration plans including the measures in place to safeguard or guarantee availability of finances to effectively implement those plans; and
  • cumulative impacts.”
    1. NPF4 incorporates Scottish planning policy, relevant parts of which are summarised on a topic-by-topic basis in Table 3.1.
Table 3.1:
NPF4 Policies

Table 3.1: NPF4 Policies

3.2.2      Local Development Plan

  1. The East Lothian Local Development Plan (the  LDP) policy can be considered in three parts:
  1. site specific policies;
  2. policies relevant given the nature of the Proposed Development; and
  3. general LDP policies.
    1. Where possible (i.e. where not relating to environmental matters which are the subject of ongoing EIA) this Statement considers 1 and 2, above, while 3 will be assessed in the Planning Statement and Environmental Impact Assessment Report which will accompany the forthcoming planning application.

Site Specific Policies

  1. The Planning Application Boundary includes areas covered by the policy designations referenced within Table 3.2.
Table 3.2:
Policy Designations

Table 3.2: Policy Designations

 

  1. The Planning Application Boundary has been refined through design and site selection work. The relevant site-specific policies are considered within the Planning Statement which accompanies the planning application and form part of the detailed assessment within the relevant EIA Report technical chapter.

Policies relevant given the nature of proposed development

  1. In addition to relevant site-specific policies, the LDP policy below is specific to the  character of the Proposed Development:
  • Policy EGT4: Enhanced High Voltage Electricity Transmission Network.
    1. Policy EGT4 outlines ELC support for development within the scope of NPF4’s national development number 3, subject to acceptable impacts on:
  • landscape;
  • visual amenity;
  • communities;
  • natural heritage; and
  • cultural heritage.
    1. Policy EGT4 also references Strategy Diagram 3, which illustrates the area of co-ordinated action and identifies “potential electricity grid connection” nearby Torness, as well as the Branxton sealing end compound within the area of co-ordinated action.

Figure 31:
Strategy Diagram 3

Figure 31: Strategy Diagram 3

General LDP Policies

  1. Of the LDP policies which are theoretically relevant to all planning applications, those referenced in Table 3.2 are relevant, or potentially could be relevant, to the consideration of the Proposed Development.
Table 3.3:
Relevant LDP Policies

Table 3.3 Relevant LDP Policies

  1. Relevant policies will inform the assessment of the Proposed Development within the relevant EIA Report technical chapter.

3.3 Other Policy-Based Material Considerations

3.3.1      Planning-based material considerations

Regional Spatial Strategy

  1. Regional Spatial Strategies (RSS) are required for planning authorities acting jointly and the intention is that they will contribute to the preparation, revision or amendment of the NPF. They help inform NPF for national planning opportunities across the regions.
  2. An interim RSS relevant to the south of Scotland was considered by the SESplan Joint Committee on 21 September 2020.  Following ratification of the Joint Committee’s decision by each of the SESplan member authorities, the interim RSS was submitted to Scottish Government who are currently considering the document.
  3. The Strategy outlines that “National and regional strategy must support investments to deliver net zero emissions through…. energy generation and storage” and “Existing renewable energy across the region can be enhanced by a wide range of as yet unused opportunities including sea water along the Forth Estuary and North Sea coast, mine water across much of the region, solar, and further offshore wind energy. These should be promoted and linked in with future investment and development… The development of offshore wind energy is supported however, careful consideration needs to be given to addressing the requirements for land-based infrastructure to support offshore wind energy”.
  4. The RSS is relevant to Proposed Development and therefore appropriate weight should be applied to it as a material consideration.

LDP 2 

  1. The next LDP for East Lothian (LDP2) is in the early stages of preparation which involves information gathering, research, and engaging with stakeholders. The content of an emerging plan can be a material consideration, however given the prematurity of the proposed plan at the time of application submission it is not considered to carry significant weight. 

3.3.2      Planning Advice Notes (PAN)

  1. Relevant PAN are summarised in Table 3.3, and are documented in respect of relevant environmental topics. Technical assessment of those environmental topics which are “scoped-in” to the EIA process will include consideration of the relevant PANs.
Table 3.4:
Summary of PANs

Table 3.4: Summary of PANs

  1. In addition to the topic specific PANs referenced in Table 3.3, PAN 1/2013: Environmental Impact Assessment (Scottish Government, 2013 and updated in 2017) is relevant to the planning application.

3.3.3      Historic Environment Policy Statement

  1. The Historic Environment Policy Statement (HEPS) (2019) policy statement set out the policies for when decisions affect the historic environment and sets out how the historic environment should be managed. The Proposed Development is in an area where there are Scheduled Monuments, Listed Building and a Conservation Area. Therefore, appropriate consideration will be given to HEPS where the historic environment may be affected. Effects on cultural heritage in terms of architecture and archaeology are discussed in Volume 1, Chapter 10.

3.3.4      UK and Scottish Energy Policy

  1. UK and Scottish energy policy and legislative considerations are outlined below and will be considered fully within the Planning Statement.
  • The Climate Change (Scotland) Act 2009;
  • The Climate Change (Emissions Reduction Targets) (Scotland) Act 2019;
  • Climate Emergency – National & Local;
  • 2020 Routemap for Renewable Energy in Scotland;
  • The Scottish Energy Strategy: The Future of Energy in Scotland;
  • Electricity Generation Policy Statement 2013;
  • The Offshore Wind Energy Policy Statement (OWEPS) (Scottish Government, 2020c);
  • Offshore Wind Sector Deal 2019;
  • Low Carbon Scotland: Climate Change Plan – Third Report on Proposals and Policies 2018-2032;
  • Protecting Scotland's Future: The Scottish Government's Programme for Scotland 2019-20;
  • Reducing emissions in Scotland – 2020 Progress Report to Scottish Parliament;
  • Update to the CCP – Securing a Green Recovery on a Path to Net Zero;
  • Scottish National Marine Plan (2015);
  • The Marine (Scotland) Act 2010 and the Regional Marine Plan;
  • Sectoral Marine Plan for Offshore Wind Energy;
  • The Climate Change Act 2008;
  • The Energy Act 2013;
  • UK Offshore Wind Sector Deal; and
  • UK Marine Policy Statement.

 

3.4 References