The National Planning Framework 4 (NPF4) was approved by the Scottish Parliament on 11 January 2023. It is expected that it will be adopted on 13 February 2023 at 9am.
Once adopted, NPF4 will become part of the Council’s development plan and – unless material considerations indicate otherwise – decisions on planning applications will need to be made in accordance with both:
- NPF4
- the Local Development Plan (2016)
When NPF4 is adopted, the section of the Planning (Scotland) Act 2019 that sets out what happens when there is ‘any incompatibility’ between parts of a development plan will also come into force.
This is likely to mean that some Local Development Plan policies will no longer be used to the same extent.
A report to Planning Committee (PDF) on 18 January 2023 explains this in more detail and provides a list containing:
- NPF4 policies
- Local Development Plan policies which are compatible with NPF4
- Local Development Plan policies which are not compatible with NPF4 and will not be used to the same extent
Planning Edinburgh 