Chamber and committees

Okay. You are saying that there is precedent and something that we can point to in terms of the experience with archaeology?

Pam Gosal, do you want to pick up your next question?

Thanks for that. Having heard you talk about that, I note that we have a big push on renewable energy, certainly in the Highlands, which is my region. I come across companies that will need to house hundreds of workers on site that will be temporary housing. Have you come across that? I wonder how planners will handle the situation in which we have to build a village that lasts for a number of years. I know that the idea is to take such villages down and move the houses elsewhere. Catriona, have you come across that?

That is a slightly different situation because that is in a town and there is a need for workers’ accommodation—and not “accommodation”, but homes. I referred to a temporary situation where there will be—I do not know the number—many houses for a limited number of years, which is really more about accommodation. I guess that that is something that we will come across. Hopefully NPF4 will not hinder that but will support it.

Stephanie Callaghan is joining us online and has a number of questions.

I have a couple of supplementary questions on that. Pam Gosal has indicated that she wants to come in before Stephanie Callaghan asks her next question.

We have been talking about the fact that it takes time for applications to move through the process. The requirement for reasonable engagement has been raised with me. Concern has been expressed that, since we got used to working from home during Covid, quite a lot of planners now work from home.

One issue is this: how are inexperienced planners mentored and how do they gain understanding of how to move through the processes? Also, things are slowing down on the developer/architect applicant side, so could there be a requirement to connect a planner from a department with a plan to follow things up and be in touch with its progress? Those are two questions, or suggestions.

Craig McLaren talked about this already, in a way. I understand that NPF4 is a significant mindset change. Is there an education programme to help planners to embrace significant changes, so that rather than just bringing in ecologists, we give planners some fundamental training and the skill sets to allow them to look at things in different ways?

Great. I am glad to hear that you support that. I am talking to the Government about that because it could, for all the reasons that you have given, really help to move a lot of things forward.

We have jumped in with some supplementary questions between Stephanie Callaghan’s questions. Does she want to come back in?

There are some nodding heads. Did you catch that? Basically, what are we doing to attract people? I think that that is your job, Craig, is it not?

That is very helpful. The national performance framework is, of course, linked to the sustainable development goals, which featured at some point in the early NPF4. It crosses through all of that.

Thanks. I go back to Kevin Murphy on the planning application side.

Ailsa Raeburn, I realise that I should have asked those two questions as one, because they are the same. From your perspective, have house builders changed their approach? Do you have any sense that planning authorities have changed their approach, specifically in relation to climate change and biodiversity policies?