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Planning and Building Standards Service July 2018

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Page 1: Planning and Building Standards Service · influence on my career and why is planning important. It was a privilege to be asked about my views on planning and the planning system

Planning and Building Standards Service

July 2018

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Welcome to the annual PlanningPerformance Framework which outlines ourperformance, showcases our achievementsand improvements in 2017-18 and outlinesour service improvements for 2018-19.

Last year’s Planning PerformanceFramework was peer reviewed by NorthLanarkshire Council who are part of ourSolace Benchmarking Group. Goodfeedback was received and it helpedshape the format and content of this year’sPlanning Performance Framework. Theyindicated that

“the layout and style of the report made it anice, straightforward document to read andthe inclusion of compliments receivedthroughout the text demonstratedconnections with the users of the service.”

This year we moved into our new officebuilding in the heart of Dumbarton towncentre. It is good to work in a modernpurpose built high quality and carefullyrestored office building, which reflects thehigh expectations of the Planning Serviceand the Council.

Our key regeneration sites continue tomake significant progress with workcommencing on a number of sites.

Construction work has started on thehousing on Dumbarton waterfront and thefootpath connections from this site toDumbarton Castle. The marine worksaround the basin at Queens Quay are nearcompletion and the road infrastructureworks have commenced within the last fewweeks. Of particular satisfaction, has beenthe approval of the healthcare buildingwhich was subject to 2 years of extensivepre - application discussion and will be afocal point and landmark feature onQueens Quay, setting the standard in termsof quality design and placemakingambitions. It is hoped that these high qualitydevelopments will change the perceptionsand economic fortunes of the area.

The Council continues to face increasingchallenging financial constraints and this isdifficult to balance when the area is startingto be regenerated which the Council willhope to lead to economic growth in thefuture. This year, we have set up the Placeand Design Panel which is detailed furtherin this document. This is a very importantstep for West Dunbartonshire as weacknowledge the role that qualitydevelopment can play in the regeneration ofthe area. To date, 5 Panels have takenplace and it is growing from strength to

ForewordPlanning Performance Framework

strength with each Panel under theleadership of our Place and Design Officer.This new way of addressing place-makingambitions in an area with significanteconomic challenges is innovative and isgetting a lot of interest from other PlanningAuthorities and outside organisations. Wehave received much support from IreneBeautyman at the Improvement Service andit is good to have her enthusiasm andsupport behind this important project. Ihope you enjoy reading our journey to date.

A number of new people have joined theteam. Ashley Mullen - the Place and DesignOfficer, Emma Mullen - the Antonine WallHLF Project Manager, Erin Goldie - the newTeam Leader of DevelopmentManagement, Maureen McIntyre, the newCompliance Officer and James Hall andMatthew Spurway joined the ForwardPlanning team.

All bring new ideas, enthusiasm andsubstantial experience from their previousauthorities or roles. It is good to have thempart of the team.

It is always very nice to receive recognitionfor the hard work that our teams carry outand it was good to receive two awards inthe Scottish Quality Awards in Planning

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Planning Performance Framework

2017 for the Bowling Arches project and foraffordable housing development inAlexandria town centre in the Placecategory. These important regenerationprojects have been detailed in previousPlanning Performance documents and anupdate has been provided in thisdocument. This year, we have also beenshortlisted in the 2018 Awards for theunique Clydebank Leisure Centre and forour innovative involvement of electedmembers at the pre application stage.

I was also asked to answer the Q&A PublicEnquiries in the Scottish Planner aboutwhat has been the biggest inspiration orinfluence on my career and why is planningimportant. It was a privilege to be askedabout my views on planning and theplanning system. In April 2018 I alsobecame the Manager responsible for theEnvironmental Health Service. I lookforward to this new challenge and to assistin adding value to this service.

I hope you enjoy reading about ourachievements and I would welcome anyfeedback.

Pamela Clifford

Planning, Building Standards andEnvironmental Health Manager

July 2018

[email protected]

Pamela CliffordPamela CliffordPamela CliffordPamela CliffordPamela Clifford

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ContextWest Dunbartonshire is one of the smallestlocal authorities in Scotland with just over90,000 residents and is made up of rural,urban and waterfront areas. The PlanningAuthority excludes parts of Balloch and thecountryside to the east and west of LochLomond which forms part of Loch Lomondand the Trossachs National Park Planningauthority area.

Our Vision

Introduction

“ West Dunbartonshire Council will deliver high quality services led by prioritiesidentified by the communities of West Dunbartonshire in an open and transparent way”.

The Strategic Plan 2017-2022 sets out the vision and direction for Council services overthe next 5 years. It will inform the delivery of Council Services and provide a context fordecision making at a service level. The strategic priorities will be delivered through theService Delivery Plans and those of the Strategic Partners in the Community PlanningPartners. Key strategic priorities:

Strong local economy and improved job opportunities

Supported individuals, families, carers living independently and with dignity

Meaningful engagement with active, empowered and informed citizens who feelsafe and engaged

Open, accountable and accessible local government

Efficient and effective frontline services that improve the everyday lives of residents

The Planning Service is identified as a lead service in delivering the first priority of astrong local economy and improved job opportunities through the local development plan,the Place and Design Panel and the planning application process.

The Local Development Plan Proposed Plan (2016) has remained at the proposed planstage. Presently the Proposed Plan for Local Development Plan2 is due to go toCommittee in September 2018 and then out for consultation.

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Planning Performance Framework

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Planning Performance FrameworkThe Planning Performance Framework(PPF) is seen as a measure of continuousimprovement and a way of promoting thegood work the Service is doing over theyear to meet the objectives of the ScottishGovernment and the Council. The generalformat is determined by the Template andGuidance Notes issued in April 2018. ThePPF has been designed to be flexible andto evolve as experience grows.

The Scottish Government assess thePlanning Performance Framework againsta set of performance markers. Thesemarkers give an indication of goodperformance, good practice and help toidentify priority areas for improvementaction. In order to demonstrate theimportance of meeting the 15 PerformanceMarkers, these have been identifiedagainst the evidence within the report. Inaddition a Performance markers checklistis contained in Appendix 2.

The case studies throughout the Reportgive examples of how good practice andquality development has been achievedresulting in a high performing planningservice.

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Planning Performance Framework

Part 1: Qualitative Narrative and Case Studies

Quality of OutcomesWest Dunbartonshire Place andDesign Panel

In last year’s Planning PerformanceFramework the Council had just agreed tocommit funding to the setting up of aDesign Panel for 3 years to lift thestandards of quality build in the WestDunbartonshire area. The Place andDesign Panel was launched in August 2017at an event supported by the Improvement

Service and attended by over 80delegates where the aims and objectivesof the Design Panel were presented to awider council audience and to other localauthorities, public and private sectororganisations.

The Place and Design Officer, AshleyMullen, was appointed in September 2017and Ashley has been working to set up thePanel by getting the support of keyorganisations such as the ScottishGovernment, the Improvement Service,

Architecture and Design Scotland (ADS),Homes for Scotland, Glasgow andStrathclyde Universities as well asarchitects, landscape architects andplanners. The research conducted by thePlace and Design Officer was furthersupplemented by elected member trainingdemonstrating the contribution of gooddesign and a Skills and Criteria Event heldin October 2017. At the eventrepresentatives of the wide ranging supportnetwork attended a round-table workshopto discuss the range of skills necessary forthe successful operation of the Panel andthe criteria used for the Panel workshops.

The ‘Place and Design Panel’ was namedsuch, in recognition that the activities andundertakings of the Design Panel would beuniquely derived on a project by projectbasis and specific to West Dunbartonshire.It would proceed to a workshop format thatis collaborative and in the spirit of earlyengagement, (pre-pre application advice)and co-creation. The writing of the Terms ofReference and Governance 1 andsubsequent approval at Committee(December 2017) was an important step inframing the operations and core ethos ofthe Place and Design Panel.

Place andDesign Panel

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‘The provision of objective, professionaladvice to designers, developers and othercouncil services will be the primary corepurpose of the Place and Design Panel.Driving high quality design of the builtenvironment and the urban context inwhich it sits is the critical consideration forall development projects coming before it.An enabler, not an obstacle maker. ThePanel will work collaboratively withdevelopers, architects and contractors andassist in the design process to see thatthose projects contribute to a culture ofquality and a high standard of designexcellence.’1

It was important from the outset that thePlace and Design Panel had its ownidentity to distinguish it from other Planningand Council documents. The Place andDesign Officer designed the key graphicformat and motif that will accompany allPlace and Design Panel documents,making them clearly distinguishable, easilyidentifiable and symbolising the ethos ofthe Panel together with a motto. Inspirationwas taken from an award winning WDCaffordable housing project which is a localexample of excellent design andplacemaking. (Footnotes) 1

‘Creating quality developmentinspired by people’

Terms of Reference and Governance. WestDunbartonshire Council. Committee Approval 2017

Clydebank Bandstand

Clydebank Townhall

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Planning Performance Framework

Membership of the Panel is made up ofprofessionals working in the disciplines ofarchitecture, planning, landscapearchitecture, urban design, engineering andinfrastructure. Ecologists, historians,Conservation and Heritage experts, artistsand access specialists are amongst theadditional expertise that can be offered to apanel sitting.

Allowing the alignment of specialist skills tospeak to the needs of the developmentbrought to the Panel was established as animportant factor in the review process,supplementary to the Council’s regulatoryapproval process, where a specific issuecould be identified and resolved at a veryearly stage with the right input from thePanel.

Sitting in early March for the first time, thePanel has now convened 5 times bringingproposals that are diverse in nature, scale,prominence and at different stages ofdesign - the new Clydebank Health andCare Centre, Council affordable housingprojects, the Design Policies for the nextLocal Development Plan and ConservationArea Appraisals.

Each Panel sitting is different due thenature of the proposals coming before it

and some of the proceedings have alreadybeen revised in keeping with the spirit ofthe iterative way we want the panel todevelop in time. The views of thoseattending and the panellists are activelysought following each Panel to give anevaluation of what worked well and whatdid not. The experiences and lessonsgleaned from each sitting have been usedto shape and inform the workings of futurePanels. For example; it quickly becameapparent that asking a panellist to Chair didnot lend itself well to the collaborativenature of the Panel sitting. The workingsand lessons learned to date will bereported to the Place and Design PanelMonitoring Board in September 2018.

The work of the Place and Design Officerand the Place and Design Panel is steadilyassisting the move towards a coordinatedCouncil position in terms of quality designand places. (Performance markers 3, 10,11, 12 and 13)

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‘One of the most satisfactory elements for me was theinformal nature of the meeting that allowed generaldiscussion between Presenters and Panellists.

This however can only be achieved with a relatively smallnumber of Panellists as too large a Panel would involvegoing round the table and inviting each Panellist to askone question. This happens in some of the larger Panelsand should be avoided if possible

I think the Panel meeting achieved the objective of aworkshop process’

James Spence Watson – B.Arch. Dip.LD. Dip.TP. RIBA.FRIAS. CMLI. MRTPI - Landscape Institute Scotland -panellist

‘The welcome and overall approach at the panel meetingwas very friendly, welcoming and the spirit was verycollaborative between Council officers and panelmembers. Overall excellent. The organisation prior to themeeting and during was also excellent. The informationwe received in advance of the meeting was of a highquality and gave a good overview of the detail and contextof what we were there to discuss. The format of introduction/site visit/completion of presentation and then opendiscussion was good – and allowed panel members theopportunity to develop their thoughts and questions withoutlaunching straight into discussions. Again excellent formatand clearly outlined on the day.’

Craig Jardine, BA Hons. MRTPI - panellist

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Planning Performance Framework

Titan Crane,Queens Quay

Queens QuayClydebank

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Queens Quay

Queens Quay is one of Scotland’s largestand best waterfront developmentopportunities and is seen as a key catalystfor the transformation of Clydebank. Thevision for Queens Quay is an outstandingvibrant mixed use development that willconnect the town centre to the waterfront forthe first time and change the economicfortunes of Clydebank. The Queens Quaysite has featured in previous PlanningPerformance Framework documents andthis year works around the basin and onthe road infrastructure have commenced.Key developments which have receivedplanning approval are a state of the artHealthcare centre and the new EnergyCentre. These are detailed further below.

Given the importance of the site and due tothe number of different developers involvedin its development, Queens Quaycoordination workshops have taken placeand are led by the Council’s Place andDesign Officer. The workshops have soughtto address the landscape and urban realmstrategy for the wider site to ensure thateach development takes cognisance of theother and that the quality in materials andoverall design is suitably addressed acrossthe site.

The workshops have been well attended bydevelopers and their architects. Feedbackfrom those attending have highlighted thatthe workshops are a very worthwhile andproductive exercise. After a workshop, asummary of the key points together with anyaction points that should be taken forwardare circulated to those who attended.More workshops are planned in the futureas work commences on the public realm,landscaping and construction on thevarious consented developments.

“It was useful to understand our projectin the context of the wider proposalsand was a worthwhile session. At mytable at least for discussions betweenthe project managers and landscapearchitects for both the carehome andhealth centre, as they could directlyaddress the boundary conditionsbetween the two sites and how peoplemay moved between them (one of theareas which required thought, asidentified by yourselves)”.

Shona Common Architectural AssistantADF Architects for the energy centre.

Queens Quay CoordinationWorkshop

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Health and Care Centre – Catalyst for ChangeLocated at the head of the basin at QueensQuay, the health and care centre willbecome a focal point and landmark feature,which will set the standard for Queen Quay,in terms of quality of design and placemaking ambitions. As a result, it has beensubject to substantial stakeholderengagement to ensure that the buildingdesign and its surroundings meet very highaspirations. The design of the building hasundergone a long and robust designprocess in terms of quality andplacemaking and both the building and itssurroundings have been developed toimprove the health and well-being ofClydebank. Aspirations have been setvery high to achieve an outstandingdevelopment and due to the significantpre application engagement, when theapplication was submitted, it wasprocessed in just over 8 weeks. As thefoundry once stood on the site where thenew health and care centre will sit, the mostappropriate metal for reference in thebuilding design is steel. The proposed useof Corten steel is a “nod” to the industrialpast of the site and, at the same time, willprovide an eye catching feature. Thesurrounding environment is as important as

the building with the NHS recognising thatthe creation of natural surroundings bothinside and outside improves people’shealth and well-being. An Art andEnvironment Strategy has been developedby Wide Open (an arts company) and artistJim Buchanan. This has led to theactivation of outside spaces and twocourtyards with five artworks to trace thehistory of the tracks. The Planning Servicehas also recently agreed to work inpartnership with the University of Glasgowon the Interdisciplinary Interface InnovationLeadership Fellowship titled “Therapeuticplacemaking as a pathway to improved

public health: Realising our health and carecentres of the future.”

The proposed research project bringstogether academics, planning and NHSprofessionals and architects, and seeks toexamine how NHS sites of health and careprovision, and the life-chances of thepeople that they serve, can be improvedthrough the practice of therapeuticplacemaking. It will particularly focus on thenew health and care centres proposed forClydebank and Greenock and whether theywill change the health and well being ofthese communities.

Visualisation of HealthCare Building

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Energy Centre

The largest District Heating System inScotland, which will be owned andoperated by the Council, and will help tomeet national climate change anddecarbionsation targets and assist inreducing fuel poverty. It will capture heatfrom the River Clyde and supply it tohomes, the health care centre, care homeand businesses on Queens Quay with theintention to extend it to the college, leisurecentre and the Golden Jubilee hospital inthe future. Given the prominent location of

the energy centre its design has beensubject to detailed discussions in order tocreate a high quality innovative design anda visitor attraction on the waterfront. Thebuilding has been designed not only to befunctional but to be of interest to the publicin terms of its operations. Its main designquality will be through the use of high qualitymaterials and these have been agreedduring the planning application process. Itwill be a metal clad building with a largewindow framing a view of the interior andinner workings of the energy centre. Thesame black polished brick which is a

particular feature of the leisure centre willbe used on the basecourse of the building.A particular feature of the energy centre isa chimney flue encasement of 33 metres inheight, which is slightly less in height thanthe adjacent Titan Crane. It will be clad in aproprietary skin of gold mesh panels andwill provide a very dramatic feature to thesimple design of the adjoining building anda referencing point for the future ofClydebank.

Visualtisation of Energy Centre, Queens Quay

Example materials

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Planning Performance Framework

Aligning Community and SpatialPlanning

With the Planning Bill setting out a newrequirement for development plans to betteralign with community planning objectivesand for the Local Development Plan to takeinto account the local outcomeimprovement plan (LOIP), the Council andthe Scottish Government have collaboratedin a lead practice pilot project to considerhow community and spatial planning canlink to achieve effective and coordinatedengagement focused on planning for placethat improves outcomes for residents. Thiswork has helped to test planning review

proposals in practice, share learning andinform future guidance beyond the Bill. Thework was recently presented at the nationalDevelopment Planning Forum and hasbeen published as one of a series of leadpractice case studies(ScottishGovernment: May 2018).

The Council has now moved to base itsresponsibilities around place. The LocalOutcome Improvement Plan entitled “thePlan for Place” sets the direction for howwe will take forward what we do aroundplace. The ambition is to make better livesand align budgets around a place-basedapproach to achieve more. This hasinvolved corporate governance and aligning

partner/ agency budgets.

Local Development Plan 2 will implementthe spatial planning vision of the LocalOutcome Improvement Plan and by linkingthese key documents together will help toinform the action programme and whateach plan takes forward in terms ofdelivery.

Consultations have been realigned toreduce fatigue on communities. The “YourPlace, Your Plan” brand is our approach toreducing consultation and has beendeveloped to enable a single conversationabout place. Integrating resources hasallowed for a wider range of skills to be inthe same place to engage and deliver

CommunityConsultation at

Centre 81Clydebank

Community Consultation

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around Place. The respective teams withinthe Council and Community PlanningPartners have also been trained in thePlace Standard, facilitation to enableofficers and Community Planning Partnersto have conversations about place withcommunities using the place standard,place and design panel, and designworkshops. This has enabled a more visualand integrated discussion about place andenables information to be linked into widerareas of work that our Community PlanningPartners undertake, as well as, otherCouncil Services. As part of the initialconversations with our communities aboutplace, we undertook a series of Your Place,Your Plan engagement events. Theseevents took place during the 12 week

consultation period of the Main IssuesReport. The information and consultationresponses gained from these events haveled to a better evidence base for the LocalOutcome Improvement Plan Locality Plansand the forthcoming Local DevelopmentPlan 2.

Progress is reported on a regular basis tothe Community Planning WestDunbartonshire Management Board, theCommunity Alliance Board and theFlourishing Delivery & Improvement Group.Next steps involve the production of adelivery strategy of how the approach willbe taken forward, reported through theDelivery & Improvement Group 2018/19action plan. (Performance marker 10)

The Strategic Director forRegeneration, Environment andGrowth – Richard Cairns statedthat:

“West Dunbartonshire Council isexcited to be leading thisinnovative work on aligning spatialand community planning with afocus on planning for place. Theambition of this work aligns wellwith the commitments of Counciland our aspiration to be anorganisation focused on deliveringimproved outcomes with ourresidents. The creation of singlelocal plans focused oncommunities (geographical) whichare recognised by services andresidents is a significant stepforward on this aspiration andsupports the direction of thePlanning Bill.”‘Clydebank

Can’CommunityConsultationEvent

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Planning Performance Framework

Scottish Quality Awards in Planning 2017

Both projects were subject to extensive pre-application discussions and the communityhas had a real input into both theseprojects, particularly through the BowlingBasin charrette process. The BowlingBasin project and the residentialdevelopment at Alexandria are provided infurther detail in Planning PerformanceFramework July 2017.

The project to develop Bowling Basin and adevelopment of affordable housing withinthe town centre of Alexandria won awardsat 2017 Scottish Quality Awards in Planningin the “Place “ category.

The ongoing Bowling Basin project is runby Scottish Canals in partnership with theCouncil. The SQAP judges wereimpressed with the work achieved so far,adding “ It was a delight to see what hadbeen accomplished through thecommitment of all parties involved as wellas careful application of limited, butcontinued funding. “

Of the 11 houses and 44 flats at Alexandriathe judges said they considered it to be “agood solid social housing developmentusing a sensitive palette of materials. Thescale blended in well along the High Street,as well as supporting some boldregeneration within the town centre andpositioning social housing at the heart ofthe place.”

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Bowling Harbour

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Planning Performance Framework

Potential Designation of a Conservation Area inDumbarton Town Centre

The 2014 Dumbarton Town Centre and Waterfront Revised UrbanStrategy identified the potential for a conservation area in the towncentre, based on the heritage quality of the area and theopportunities to release funding for improvement work.

Dumbarton’s history dates back to the Iron Age, with the towngrowing up around the ancient fortress on Dumbarton Rock. Thetown centre is of medieval origins and the High Street, in particular,retains much of its medieval street pattern; the curve of the streetfollowing that of the adjacent River Leven. There are 23 listedbuildings (6 ‘A’ listed), located mostly around High Street, ChurchStreet and Station Road. There are many other unlisted buildingsof significant interest and quality, however many have suffered frominsensitive changes, loss of original fabric and a general lack ofmaintenance and investment. This has accelerated in the past 15years as vacancy levels have increased with the decline of retail onthe High Street.

A Conservation Area would form the first part of restoring andregenerating the heart of Dumbarton, helping to revitalise the HighStreet and reconnect it to the riverside. Once designated, it isexpected that the Council will explore the possibility of developingbids for a CARS scheme to unlock funding to enhance, restoreand reuse key parts of the new conservation area, recognising thatthe heritage of the town centre is a superb asset to drive theregeneration of the town.

Historical Image -Dumbarton Hight Street

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Community Biodiversity Park

Following demolition of a former school siteto the north of Clydebank town centre,substantial contaminants were foundacross the site and following publicconsultation in 2016 on the future use of thesite, the concept of a community park wasderived. Working alongside consultants, theCouncil’s Regeneration team and theContaminated Land Officer, this conceptwas further developed with extensive pre-application community consultation and

into the site through the planting of nativespecies and those that attract bees andbutterflies.

This project is being part funded byScottish Natural Heritage through the GreenInfrastructure Fund and is a good exampleof collaborative working both within theCouncil and with outside organisations tofacilitate the reuse of brownfield land and toachieve a good outcome for the local area.(Performance markers 3 and 12)

engagement. Planning permission wasgranted in Spring 2018 to redevelop the 2hectare site as an area of public openspace with a community garden, a networkof footpaths, play equipment andbiodiversity landscaping with the designbeing based on the principles of inclusiveaccess and creating a safe environment.The park will also be used for forest schoolactivities by local schools and the wildlifecorridor and habitat network from theneighbouring cemetery will be extended

Former St Eunan’s primary site Visualisation of future St Eunan’s site

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Planning Performance Framework

Quality of Service andEngagementLocal Development Plan 2: MainIssues Report

Published for consultation in June 2017, theMain Issues Report focussed on three mainthemes - Delivering our Changing Places,Strengthening Our Communities, andEconomy and Climate Change andInfrastructure. Within these themes, therewere 18 main issues which were aimed atdelivering development on the ground,creating new and strengthening existingplaces and contributing to theestablishment of green and sustainableinfrastructure.

The Report was written and designed to beeasy to read and to inform residents,stakeholders and developers of theprogress that has been made on our keyregeneration sites and what the Council’spreferred options are to take development/sites forward. The Main Issues Report waspresented in a less formal way andpresented in a story-book style with the useof a high number of visuals to encourageengagement in the Main Issues Report

stage.

Prior to the preparation and publication ofthe Main Issues Report, Elected Memberswere consulted on a ward basis on whatthey viewed as the Main Issues for theirareas. Also stakeholders were alsoconsulted regarding their key issues at this

pre MIR stage.

Over the 12 week consultation period,between 30 June and 30 September 2017,a number of comments were received byindividuals and communities on how easythe Main Issues Report was to read andunderstand.

Extract of MIR

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“Silverton and Overtoun CommunityCouncil has a membership of 8. 4councillors have read the Main IssuesReport for LDP 2. All agreed that the MIRreport was an excellent example of clarity,accurate information, good graphic andphotographic presentation and design,and rational and well evidencedarguments for and against various optionssuggested for the various Main Issues.”Rose Harvie, Silverton and OvertounCommunity Council.

Seven formal engagement events werealso held during this time: in Clydebank,Dumbarton and the Vale of Leven with afinal session being held in Clydebank TownHall on a Saturday for those people whocould not attend any of the other sessions.These consultation sessions wereundertaken in conjunction with theCommunity Planning Team, as well as,partners from Community Planning. Over100 members of the public, includingschool children, gave their views on theMain Issues Report through the consultationevents.

Sixty-seven formal responses werereceived which is considered to be areasonable level of response. The majority

of the responses generally supported thepreferred option for each of the MainIssues. The responses to the Main IssuesReport were presented to PlanningCommittee on 21 March 2017 in aSchedule 4 format. This approach wasundertaken to ensure that the responsesreceived to the Main Issues Report wouldbe in the same format of those received atthe Proposed Plan stage.

Proposed Plan

Two separate Elected Members workshopswere held to discuss the contents of thenew Plan. These sessions were wellattended by the Members, including theLeader, Provost, Depute Provost andConvener and Vice-Convener of thePlanning Committee. The views of themembers have assisted the ForwardPlanning team in moving towards finalisingthe Proposed Plan. Consultation on theDraft Proposed Plan was also undertakenwith the Key Agencies and other CouncilServices over a 4 week period in May/June2018.

The Proposed Plan is scheduled to go toPlanning Committee for approval inSeptember 2018 and then out for itsrepresentation period. It is intended toadopt Local Development Plan 2 inSeptember 2019 which is in accordancewith the Development Plan Scheme(September 2017).

As part of the preparation of a LocalDevelopment Plan 2, the Council proposesto adopt current planning guidance onDumbarton Waterfront Path, ClydebankBusiness Park and Pay Day Lending andBetting Shops and the Antonine Wall WorldHeritage Guide as SupplementaryGuidance. As these documents remain up-to-date, they will be re-consulted upon asrequired by current legislation and will formpart of Local Development Plan 2 onadoption of the guidance.

New guidance on Green Infrastructure andDesign will also be produced asSupplementary Guidance, as will, therevised Renewable Energy Guidance.Other guidance such Conservation AreaAppraisals, Charrette Report and theKilpatrick Hills Local Landscape Area:Statement of Importance will remain as non-statutory guidance.

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Planning Performance Framework

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Planning Performance Framework

Antonine Wall

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Rediscovering the Antonine Wall

This is the first multi partner heritage projectwhereby five local authorities are workingtogether with Historic Environment Scotlandto increase the awareness andunderstanding of the Antonine Wall WorldHeritage Site and to better connectcommunities and visitors to the Wall. WestDunbartonshire Council is acting as leadauthority.

The Stage 1 application to the HeritageLottery Fund was approved in March 2017and the Antonine Wall Project Manager wasappointed in August 2017. This ambitiousand unique project will be delivered over 3years and will involve capital projects ineach local authority area in addition to aseries of community, education andvolunteering projects amongst differentcommunities along the length of the wall. Aseries of projects were agreed by theAntonine Wall Steering Group comprisingofficers from all of the partner authoritiesand Historic Environment Scotland.

Project elements will include:

Installation of five replica Roman distance slabs

Creation of five Roman themed playparks

A series of community led engagement projects

Reshooting of a 1960s film charting the route of the Wall

Creation of a 21st Century Legion volunteer workforce

Outreach programme taking themes and stories related to the Wall to hub museums

Creation of school resource packs.

The Stage 2 application was submitted tothe Heritage Lottery Fund in June 2018,with the decision due in September 2018.The project has been informed by anextensive process of consultation with localcommunities, schools and stakeholders ineach of the five local authorities. Ifsuccessful, the project will have a value ofapproximately £2.1m and will run from 2018to 2021. (Performance marker 12)

Consultations with PrimarySchool Students

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Planning Performance Framework

Clydebank Can

Supported by the Scottish Government’sMaking Places Initiative and in partnershipwith Scottish Canals ‘Clydebank Can’ is acommunity led design project. It is focusedon the Forth and Clyde Canal and aims totransform the Canal and its surroundingsinto a high quality multi-functional areaaimed at bringing people and activity backinto Clydebank Town Centre andreconnecting people with the Canal. It alsosits within the Council’s broader ‘YourPlace, Your Plan’ approach, which is linkedto aligning community planning and spatialplanning.

During the ‘Your Place, Your Plan’consultation events, residents from theClydebank area highlighted that there wasa lack of facilities, recreationalopportunities, affordable housing,accessibility and activity within the towncentre especially during the evening. The‘Clydebank Can’ project was developed outof these consultation responses to giveresidents, businesses and stakeholders theopportunity to influence and designactivities, projects and plans, which willmake the most of the Canal and TownCentre. The project is also building on the

work undertaken on the previousClydebank Town Centre Charrette (2015)and updating it.

The project has engaged with over 300people through a wide range of differentconsultation techniques including an activityday at the canal entitled ‘Afternoon at theBandstand’, a business breakfast, a PlaceStandard walk and 3 formal communitydesign workshops, which were led by theappointed consultants. Officers have beenable to develop their communityengagement skills through facilitatingsessions with school children, deliveringpop up events within the Clyde Shopping

Centre and at a ‘Community Funday’ aswell as supporting the consultants on theworkshop days.

The project had a particular focus ontackling inequality by giving local people avoice, especially young people and hard toreach groups. There have been majorsuccesses in engaging with young people(from nursery school age through tosecondary pupils) through drawing whattheir experience of the canal was, throughto what they would like to see in the towncentre and along the canal. Anothersuccessful engagement tool was utilisingthe bespoke model which allowed

CommunityConsultation

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participants to “build” their ideas for keysites within the town centre and along theCanal.

A group of residents from Syria were alsoempowered to take part in the communitydesign process by providing Arabicspeaking facilitators, an interpreter andcrèche facilities at one of the workshops.The Syrian residents emphasised theimportance of ensuring proposals areinclusive to the whole community during theworkshop session.

The outputs from the consultation activityare currently being brought together withresidents views informing the preparationof the emerging Locality Plan for theClydebank Canal communities. TheForward Planning, Communities andRegeneration teams are excited abouttaking the ideas and proposals forward in apartnership with stakeholders and thecommunity. The knowledge and skillslearned through “Clydebank Can” can beapplied to other joint consultation activitiesand processes throughout the Council area.

The Clydebank Can has provided the community ofClydebank and professional workers withinClydebank an opportunity to express their ideas andvision for the canal and the town itself. With amixture of ‘walkabouts’, models, discussions andworkshops. Clydebank Can has provided a range ofexercises to tease out the opinions of local people.

Alan Karas, Community Connector, ClydebankHousing Association

“The Clydebank Can project has been enlightening for us,as a major business at the heart of Clydebank it has givenus an insight into people perception and aspirations. It isno surprise that everyone is in agreement that there is a lotthat needs to be addressed to make the wholeinfrastructure of Clydebank a vibrant and flourishing town.Various Initiatives for how this can work have beeninspiring. It is evident that the team heading up the projecthave put in a lot of work, they have listened to what hasbeen said and how this can be delivered, to ensure that thekey principals are addressed.”

Sandra Carmichael, Deputy Centre Manager, ClydeShopping Centre

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Planning Performance Framework

Conservation Area Appraisals

Following on from the KirktonhillConservation Area Appraisal, which wasdetailed in last year’s PlanningPerformance Framework 2016/17, theScottish Civic Trust was commissioned bythe Council in February 2017 to undertakeappraisals of the remaining conservationareas: High Dalmuir, Knoxland Square andLusset Road/Mount Pleasant Drive. Theseconservation areas had not been reviewedsince their designation 25-40 years ago,and were often tightly drawn around a corehistoric area. In most cases there waspotential to extend their boundaries tobetter reflect and protect the character andheritage of the area.

The most significant changes to theConservation Areas was the inclusion of theremainder of the original historic suburb ofKnoxland into the Knoxland SquareConservation Area. It also proposed theinclusion of tenements on the northern sideof Glasgow Road and Dumbarton EastRailway Station. Lusset Road, OldKilpatrick Conservation Area proposed theinclusion of Kilpatrick Railway Station whichis of similar age to earlier properties in theconservation area and an opportunity for

future restoration.

The appraisals were published for a 12week consultation period. A series of dropin information sessions were held at eachlocation in November and December 2017.These sessions were widely advertisedthrough the Council’s website, social mediaand leaflets were posted to all affectedresidents. The exhibitions were attended byapproximately 38 local residents. Mostcomments received strongly supported the

proposed extensions and there was ageneral interest in how being part of aconservation area could help to improve thearea and reconnect people with their localheritage. The Conservation AreaAppraisals will be material consideration inthe determination of future planningapplications affecting these ConservationAreas and will be reflected In LocalDevelopment Plan 2.(Performancemarker 11)

Conservation area, Knoxland Square, Dumbarton

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New Dumbarton Football Stadium

The vision of Dumbarton Football Club is tobe successful at the highest level of footballin Scotland at which it can be bothfinancially viable and sustainable.The Club also wished to play a widerrole in the community and contributeto health, social well-being and theeconomy. The Football Clubconsidered it necessary to relocateto a new site which would allow anew and larger stadium to be built.

Through the site search process overthe last 5 years, the Football Clubhave engaged extensively with thePlanning Service with varioussubmissions to the last LocalDevelopment Plan review processwhich resulted in the Proposed Planbeing supportive of investigating anew stadium at Young’s Farm. Duringthe discussions, a processingagreement was drafted, however itwas not taken forward by theapplicant. At the time, the newstadium was to be funded by the saleof their existing site together withlimited enabling development on the

new site including a hotel, and events/conferencing facilities and sports relateduses such as a gym, and sports pitches.Following further detailed analysis on howmuch the stadium would cost and how the

relocation could be financed, it was foundthat the value associated with the existingsite was significantly below what wasneeded to fund the build of a new stadiumin its entirety. The outcome of this process

was that the new stadium developmentincluded residential development at theYoung’s Farm site.

A planning application was submitted inJune 2017 which sought permission forthe new stadium, training and sportsfacilities and enabling development ofup to 300 houses. Whilst the Councilwas supportive of a new communitysports hub for Dumbarton, the enablingdevelopment was contrary to green beltand housing policies of Clydeplan, theadopted local plan and Proposed Plan.The application was refused by Councilin March 2018. Throughout theextensive pre application consultationand during the processing of theapplication information requests fromconsultees or the Planning Serviceregarding transport, flooding, naturalheritage, and policy issues were alwaysclear and proportionate to the applicant.(Performance markers 2 and 3)Plan of

Dumbarton

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Planning Performance Framework

GovernanceCouncil Governance:

Planning Committee – continues to meeton a monthly basis with the exception ofJuly. In 2017/18, 20 applications weredetermined by Planning Committee. A totalof 13 site visits took place for applicationssubject to objection or if the application isof local significance. The Committeeconsidered 18 reports on matters such as

the response to the written call for evidenceon the Planning Bill, responses to the MainIssues Report, the Antonine Wall HLFproject, Place and Design Panel Terms ofReference, consultation on retail expansionto Braehead and Renfrew bridge call-inupdate. One application for a newstadium for Dumbarton Football Club waspresented and determined by the fullCouncil. The Planning Manager alsoattends, on a regular basis, the

Infrastructure and Regeneration Committeeto provide input into regeneration initiativesand development proposals.

Corporate working across services–Regular meetings continue to take placewith the Community Planning team,Housing Services, Roads Service,Regeneration and Asset Managementcolleagues along with more frequent catch-ups on specific matters. The PlanningManager has a monthly catch up with theStrategic Lead for Regeneration to ensurethat both planning and regenerationpriorities are taken forward in acoordinated way.

Major Application Meetings – Thefortnightly meetings between the PlanningManager and senior Planning Policy andDevelopment Management staff continuesto be a very valuable way to discuss theprogress of major planning applications orlocally significant applications. Ourregeneration colleagues have alsoattended a number of meetings either to beupdated or to provide information regardingspecific applications or developments.

New Council Chambers, Church Street, Dumbarton

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These meetings allow issues to bediscussed in an open matter whichfacilitates the early determination ofplanning applications with Committeedates being programmed in at thesemeetings.

Exxon Project Board - Planningcontinues to be represented on the ProjectBoard and gives advice and support interms of the City Deal project and is amember of the Glasgow City Region: Landuse Portfolio Group which meets everyquarter and it inputs into its work.

Annual Review of Quarries and Landfillsites - This report is presented to thePlanning Committee on annual basis andwas presented to September PlanningCommittee following the annual monitoringof the 2 quarries and 2 landfill sites withinthe Council area. It provides an update ofthe progress of works on site and highlightsany issues which require to be addressedand the future operations on site.

Dumbuck Hill Quarry, Dumbarton

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Planning Performance Framework

Elected Member Pre ApplicationMeetings

The elected member briefing has becomestrongly embedded in the process and itworks alongside the pre-application serviceoffered by planning officers and the recentlyformed Place and Design Panel.

Developers have welcomed this contactwith elected members as it highlightsissues at an early stage of the processwhich has facilitated improvements to thequality of the development and earlydecisions.

The new Clydebank health and care centresited on the Queens Quay was presentedto the elected member pre applicationmeeting in early 2018. A number of designand operational issues were highlighted atthis early stage which allowed officers andthe applicant to hear the issues first hand.The issues raised at the elected memberbriefing were also presented to the Placeand Design Panel for their views.

Feedback from the health and care team:

“It is refreshing to be invited to present a scheme in the form of a briefing to theplanning authority and elected members. The process provides a fantasticopportunity to hear first hand of the local issues as designs are being developed.This process provides developers with an early understanding of the key issues to beaddressed which in turn supports effective and efficient overall project planning.”

Gary Smithson Senior Project Development Manager Hubwest Scotland

“The briefing process was extremely useful for such a politically sensitive location. Itallowed the design team insight into the issues that may have otherwise remainedunclear until the planning committee meeting was held. It also afforded electedmembers the opportunity to ask questions directly of the design team, hencestreamlining the process.

The design team have been able to respond to all of the comments raised by theelected members prior to the committee date. In some instances this has involvedaugmenting design proposals to better address some of the items raised. This willhopefully result in a building proposal that fully meets the needs of the people whomthe elected members represent.”

Jonathan McQuillan Associate Anderson Bell Christie

Other developments presented to elected members at the pre application stage areConnecting Clydebank and the community park for the former St Eunans school sitewhich is detailed in this document. The Connecting Clydebank project is a direct actionfrom the Clydebank Town Centre Charrette Action Plan developed in 2015 and aims tocreate an improved connection and public realm across the A814 Glasgow Road. Thisproposal was of particular interest to all elected members which encouraged gooddiscussion on the main issues and allowed the future application to address thesematters. (Performance marker 3)

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Enforcement Charter andCompliance Officer

The Council has recognised the importanceof enforcement, by the appointment of apart-time Compliance Officer in November2017. Since then, a new approach toprioritise enforcement inquires has beenintroduced. How an inquiry is prioritiseddepends on the nature of the allegedbreach, the potential significance of itseffects and the relative sensitivity of thesite. Category ‘A’ has been defined as highpriority, ‘B’ is medium priority and ‘C’ is lowpriority. Time periods for the ComplianceOfficer to visit the site and follow up with aninvestigation are dependent on the prioritystatus with high priority being turned aroundwithin 5 working days or sooner, ifnecessary. The priority approach hasensured inquiries are properly recordedand managed and is further explained inour Enforcement Charter, that has recentlybeen updated and approved by PlanningCommittee.

As well as the introduction and explanationof the priority approach, a new section onHigh Hedges has been included in ourupdated Enforcement Charter providing

action being resolved prior to the deadlinein the notice.

Having a dedicated Compliance Officerhas made efficiencies within the teamallowing officers to focus more onpre-application enquiries and applicationwork. Officers do, however, provide somesupport to the Compliance Officer given thepart time arrangement of this post and toensure they are kept up to speed and haveskills in this area of work which results in amore resilient service.

brief guidance on what steps are requiredbefore making application, as well as, theprovision of a link to the full guidance.

Since coming into post, the ComplianceOfficer has recorded 74 inquires, all ofwhich required follow up investigation. OneBreach of Conditions Notice was issuedand a Listed Building Enforcement Noticewas prepared but not issued as the worksrectified prior to the service of the notice.Two High Hedge Notices were issuedwhich resulted in one instance of direct

WDC Enforcement Charter 2018

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Planning Performance Framework

Digital Presence

Review of Development ManagementProcesses

E-planning was implemented nearly 10years ago and at that time, processes wereput in place to deal with the receipt,registration and processing of planningapplications. Although the originalprocesses have been slightly changedovertime to meet new requirements andissues, they have not been significantlybeen reviewed. A comprehensive reviewof the existing procedures was instigated inlate 2017.

A working group consisting of a leadplanning officer, system officer andtechnical support officers was set up toreview the existing processes and identifywhere improvements could be made.Some of the issues that were identifiedincluded duplication of work, unnecessarydelays, use of more paper than isnecessary and lack of staff training in orderto fully utilise electronic ways of workingand processes.

New processes have been implementedand the first step of this process was for

additional training on planning legislation tobe given to technical support staff toincrease their understanding of thePlanning process. Technical SupportOfficers have been given furtherresponsibly during the registration andvalidation process reducing the need forPlanning Officers involvement at the initialstage.

The implementation of new processes hasresulted in a more streamlined and efficientservice for customers providing more timefor Planning Officers to focus on planningapplications.

eDevelopment

We continue to work collaboratively with theScottish Government and other Councils interms of developing our digital services.81% of applications received in 2017 havebeen submitted via the eDevelopment.scotportal. We continue to attend, input andsupport the regular Scottish Government’sDigital Task Force meetings and input toimprovements to eDevelopment in terms ofa new case handling system.

The Technical Support team continues tomeet regularly with the ICT BusinessPartner to resolve issues relating to

processes, GIS and the development ofnew technology and new ways of working.

Social Media Presence

This year our social media presence hasbeen developed in order to communicatekey projects and to raise the profile of theservice. Twitter has provided a platform toreach out to prospective customers, ourcommunities, local businesses andinvestors to share information on planningconsultation events, the work of the Placeand Design Panel, progress being madeon key developments and decisions madeby the Planning Committee. Twitter hasalso been used as a networking tool todevelop our relationship and connectionswith other planning authorities,

stakeholders, local businesses, communitygroups and young people. A number of ourElected Members and Senior Managersclosely follow us on Twitter so it has provento be an effective way of communicating thehighlights of our service journey.

In less than four months, our following onTwitter has increased from circa 150 toover 300 followers. ‘Clydebank Can’ publicconsultation was widely shared acrossTwitter with tweets being viewed over 2500

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times. These events were subsequently wellattended. Similarly we have tweeted aboutthe work of the Place and Design Panel inraising the quality of development acrossWest Dunbartonshire which reached anaudience of over 5000 people. The Placeand Design Panel now has their own Twitteraccount.

Our work on social media is part of a widerinitiative within the Planning Service toembrace the Scottish Government’s digitalagenda in reforming public services. InMarch this year, a digital working groupwas set up that has generated ideas for theyear ahead such as blogging on good newsstories, planning decisions and progressbeing made on key regeneration sites. Theinformation and links on our webpage willbe reviewed to make it more user friendlyand to assist in reducing telephoneenquiries thereby making efficiencies. It isproposed that the Place and Design Panelwill have its own webpage in order thatdevelopers are aware of the role of thePlace and Design Panel, dates of thepanel meetings and includes Panel reports.

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Planning Performance Framework

Corporate Geographic Information System (GIS)

also taken place with the Council’sCustomer Transformation team who aregiving residents/customers greater accessto wider Council services such as schoolcatchment areas, Council tax accounts,street lighting faults.

A new digital data and mapping system willplay a critical role in not only how the LocalDevelopment Plan and other policydocuments are presented in terms of layoutand the final production of documents, butalso on how data is shared, collated andanalysed.

The Corporate Address Gazetteer (CAG) isadministered and managed by Planningand Building Standards which is linked intothe One Scotland Gazetteer (OSG) andcontinues to be promoted across theCouncil with close liaison with theImprovement Service. (Performancemarker 12)

Widely used by Planning and BuildingStandards as well as other CouncilServices for storing, analysing andmapping data.

A business case to justify the replacementto a more efficient and robust GIS systemwas developed this year in order to takeadvantage of rapidly evolving GIStechnology and to give better servicedelivery. This included a swot analysis ofexisting and alternative systems and abenchmarking exercise with neighbouringCouncils which included a visit to EastDunbartonshire Council to view their GISsystem.

Approval is now in place and the finalspecification for procurement is presentlybeing prepared. It is essential that any newsystem supports ease of data sharing,integrates with other systems and supportsmobile/flexible working. Discussions have

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Dumbarton

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Planning Performance Framework

Financial Governance

Financial ManagementThe service budget continues to bemonitored on a monthly basis by theManager and Service accountant. This yearwork has been undertaken around planningapplication income and the costs of theservice with the Service accountant.

A more robust system has beenimplemented for developer contributionsreceived through the “Our Green Network”Guidance and it was approved by thePlanning Committee in September 2017

Planning fee income for 2017/18 was£268,000. There is still increased pressureon the revenue budget which is heavilyweighted towards employee costs. A LeadPlanning Officer who works exclusively onregeneration applications is financedthrough regeneration budget and assists inmeeting the regeneration and developmentpressures. The main payments are toClydeplan, West of ScotlandArchaeological Service, Ordnance Surveyand the Green Network Partnership.

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Developer ContributionsDeveloper Contributions from planningapplications have been taken for a numberof years within West Dunbartonshire, forgreen network enhancements and parkingimprovements. All of the paymentsreceived relate to residentialdevelopments, with the majority ofdeveloper contributions being sought inrelation to the provision or upgrading ofopen space or green networkenhancements, usually where onsite

provision was not possible or appropriate.A small number of contributions have beenmade to address shortfall in parkingprovision in town centre locations.

The developer contribution fund ismanaged by the Forward Planning Teamand in September 2017, in conjunction withour Service Accountant, a new system ofcollecting, distributing and monitoringdeveloper contributions was introduced tomake the system simpler, more transparentand more robust. This new system involved

more streamline collection and enhancedevaluation and appraisal of the specificproject, which requires to be funded fromdeveloper contributions and an annualreport to the Planning Committee detailingthe amount of developer contributionsreceived and how it has been spent. Thisyear, developer contributions were taken forsingle houses to large scale residentialdevelopments in line with Our GreenNetwork Planning Guidance.(Performance marker 11)

Pavillion atLevengrove parkunder construction

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Planning Performance Framework

Culture of Continuous ImprovementThe study visit provided an opportunity tolearn from good practice that includedgetting more by way of design quality fromnational housebuilders, working withheritage assets, long term legacy planning,integrating mixed use and activatingspaces (Performance marker 13sharing good practice )

Kings Cross Collaborative StudyTrip

In February 2018 Officers and Electedmembers from West DunbartonshireCouncil and the Improvement Serviceembarked on a collaborative study visitfacilitated by the Scottish GovernmentPlanning and Architecture Directorate.

The focus of the visit from the perspectiveof the Council was to learn from thesuccessful delivery of a regenerationproject with striking similarities to Queens’Quay.

The Kings’ Cross development sharescommon characteristics; it covers 67 Acresand Queens Quay is 80 acres, each is anindustrial heartland with a rich colourfulpast; the history is a big part of what makesthe place special and the use of a DesignReview Panel to deliver a qualitydevelopment and to assist developmentproposals in achieving and demonstratingthe very highest levels of designconsideration. These have been achievedat Kings Cross and are objectives that wewish to achieve on the Queens Quay site.

On visits to the offices of Camden Counciland the developer Argent, the officersdiscussed in detail the importance ofplacing an emphasis on qualitydevelopment, of strong leadership and longterm stewardship that are the key elementsin achieving the best outcomes in qualitydesign and places.

Kings Cross scale model

Kings Crossaffordablehousing

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“We are about quality’”

Ed Jarvis - Head of UrbanDesign Team, LondonBorough of Camden

Our whole party had the opportunity to takelessons from those learned by Camden andArgent in terms of the management oflarge scale masterplans over a long periodof time.

Kings Cross collaborativestudy visit

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Planning Performance Framework

Meeting the Place Making Agenda

Planning Services has agreed with theProfessor in Urban Studies at GlasgowUniversity to collaborate on a PhD researchproject examining how the Council isequipped to meet the ScottishGovernment’s key priorities for place-making in recognition that the Council areinvesting in the Place and Design Paneland elevating the importance of designquality in the built environment. InSeptember of this year the Researchstudent will start the initial research year inadvance of the full 3 year PhD course. Thestudent will work in our office one day perweek and support the activities of thePlace and Design Officer whilstundertaking the collaborative Doctorateunder the supervision of the Planning andBuilding Standards Manager and Professorin Urban Studies.

Innovative place making examples

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Collaborative working

ClydeplanThe Council continues to workcollaboratively with the Clydeplan team bycontributing to the Housing Need andDemand Survey; providing information forthe Housing Supply Target; providinginformation on business and industrial andretail figures and other data andinformation. Work has started on HNDA3.This year, the ex Convenor of the PlanningCommittee, Councillor Lawrence O’Neill,became the new chair of Clydeplan.Officers continue to participate in theSteering Group, Heads of Policy Group andTopics groups. Recent discussions haveinvolved the implications of the PlanningBill and how regional planning and theproposed regional partnerships could betaken forward within the City Region and inline with the Economic Strategy.

Glasgow and Clyde Valley Green NetworkPartnershipThe Council continues to be a partner withthe other 7 Glasgow and Clyde Valleyauthorities, the Forestry Commission,SNH, SEPA, Scottish Enterprise and theGlasgow Centre for Population Health. TheGlasgow and Green Network Partnership

are managing the demonstration projectsfor the Building with Nature pilots inScotland of which this Council is one.Within the Clydebank Strategic DeliveryArea, three Forestry Commission fundedwoodland management plans forAuchentoshan, Auchnacraig and FaifleyKnowes woodlands and an Access Studyfor a route from the Clyde to the Kilpatricks,have now been delivered. Therecommendations from each are beingreviewed to identify actions which will betaken forward by this Council or by otherstakeholders.

West of Scotland Archaeology ServiceThe Council continues to be a partner of theWest of Scotland Archaeological Service.This shared service maintains the HistoricEnvironment Record and offers qualityDevelopment Management advice inrespect of archaeological resources. TheCouncil has been very supportive of thework to remodel the service to make itmore cost effective and to meet the needsof the partner Councils.

Auchnacraig Woodland Park

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Planning Performance Framework

Scottish Canals Liaison MeetingsThe Planning and Building Standards andRegeneration Services continue to have 6weekly liaison meeting with Scottish Canalsto discuss progress on projects at BowlingBasin and on other related items focussedon the Forth and Clyde Canal. Thesemeetings are extremely useful and are anexample of a strong working relationshipwith a key regeneration partner.

ClydebankCanal

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Our Benchmarking PartnersThe West of Scotland PlanningBenchmarking Group comprising of EastDunbartonshire, East Renfrewshire,Inverclyde, North Ayrshire, Renfrewshireand West Dunbartonshire continues tomeet every 3-4 months with highattendance levels. The meetings allow forthe sharing of experiences and of bestpractice in a cost effective way. This doesnot necessarily lead to standardisation ofpractice, but allows for legislativeinterpretation and practice of practicalissues to be shared. The meetings areminuted and chaired by the host Counciland this year a wide range of topics werediscussed including the authorities’Planning Performance Framework, thePlanning Bill, the validation process, HealthImpact Assessments, District HeatingSystems and Section 75 obligations.Appendix 1 includes the full list of topicsdiscussed at the meetings in 2017/18. Inaddition to the formal meetings, theparticipants also use the email list as a‘forum’ for quickly asking questions andobtaining advice on areas of uncertainty.

Collaborative officer training has beenprogressed this year with two well attended

training days held by the BenchmarkingPartners at Clydebank Town Hall on designand at the award winning Saltcoats TownHall on the natural and built environment.Both events were supported by theImprovement Service and it is intended thatevents will take place in Greenock and EastDumbartonshire this year.

The Council also participates in the national(SOLACE) benchmarking group (includingGlasgow City, Edinburgh, Dundee,Aberdeen, Falkirk, North Lanarkshire andEast and West Dunbartonshire Councils)which is held twice a year to discuss thePlanning Performance Frameworks.

Joint working also occurred with StirlingCouncil and Loch Lomond and TrossachsNational Planning Authority this yearwhereby a workshop was held to shareexperience and knowledge of majordevelopments. It was good to hear abouthow other authorities were dealing withmajor developments and to shareexperience and ideas. All who attendedfound it was worthwhile and it was agreedto do a similar workshop in the nearfuture.(Performance marker 13)

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Planning Performance Framework

Investing in People16 Church Street Dumbarton – New Council Office

back to the individual Services, teams andregular Manager meetings. With themajority of Council services located in thisbuilding it will allow greater cross serviceworking as well as providing easy accessto the Council Chamber and key Councilservices.

The Council is also encouraging staff to usemore sustainable means of travel, with 10spaces for electric vehicles and 10accessible car parking spaces providedwithin the 195 space car park. Storage for80 bikes has been provided and theCouncil has developed a Green Travel Planto promote healthier and cost effectiveways of commuting, which included free railtravel for all employees for the first monthwhen working out of 16 Church StreetDumbarton.

The new Council office at 16 Church Streetprovides modern fit for purpose officespace for a forward-thinking andprogressive Council for many years tocome. The new accommodation is alsoseen as a key component in theregeneration of Dumbarton Town Centre.

This year we have been preparing for themove to 16 Church Street Dumbarton.Since the move to Aurora House in March2015 the service has been more electronicand has worked within a hot-deskenvironment with more flexible working.The new office at 16 Church Street ispurpose built flexible office space andreuses the grade A listed building façade.Its transformation from a derelict buildinginto a modern, efficient and effective newstate of the art workplace of the future isoutstanding and welcomes residents,visitors and 500 employees. The newbuilding includes a multi-use civic space,training and meeting rooms to the front anda new office building to the rear as well as anew Council chamber. The Planning andBuilding Standards team have been heavilyinvolved in the design of this new building inorder to ensure it meets very highstandards of design and expectations.

During the run up to the move the staff werefully involved. This took the form ofworkshops looking at ServiceRequirements, questionnaire with thenominated Change Champion reporting

Council Office Building, ChurchStreet, Dumbarton

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It has been amazing to watch the progress at 16 Church Street over the lastyear or so and it’s exciting to know that we are so close to welcoming ourresidents to the new building. I know that our staff and members of thepublic will enjoy the facility as it is on a completely different level to the oldoffice at Garshake Road. Even driving through the town centre, it’s clear thatthis building has already changed the landscape and I know it will be ahugely positive addition to Dumbarton.

Councilor Iain McLaren, Convener of Infrastructure, Regeneration andEconomic Development

Central Atrium,Church Street,Dumbarton

Church Street, Dumbarton

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Planning Performance Framework

People ManagementThis year the Council replaced thePerformance and Development Plan (PDP)with the more flexible “Be the BestConversations “ whereby aims andobjectives are reviewed throughout the yearwith regular one to ones. External trainingevents attended by Planning and supportstaff include training on the Place Standard,Design Training, Community Planning,Facilitation training, One ScotlandMapping Agreement Annual Conference,IDOX Template training, eDevelopmentannual meeting. One of our support officersalso achieved an HNC qualification inConstruction Management this year.

HOPS events were frequently supportedincluding the annual conference,Development Management andDevelopment Plan Sub–groups as well assupporting the annual Chief Planner’s eventand workshops held by the ScottishGovernment on the Planning Bill.

The Planning Manager is a member of thePerformance and Practice Sub-Committeeand will be Vice Chair of thisSub–Committee from June 2018 and willbe a member of the Executive of HOPS.

New elected members were trained on the

planning system and the Councillors Codeof Conduct in late May. The Councilapplied and received an elected membertraining award from the ScottishGovernment. This was used to trainelected members on the Place Standardand design standards. The Convenor andVice Convenor of Planning and formerConvenor were taken to Kings Cross toview quality development and design on theground. Bite-size training for electedmembers has been introduced after thePlanning Committee which is animprovement that we picked up from ourpeer review with North Lanarkshire Council.

A strong collaborative relationship hasbeen developed with the ImprovementService who have supported the Council insetting up the Design Panel, being part ofthe interview panel for the appointment ofthe Place and Design Officer and acting asa mentor and providing training for electedmembers on the Place Standard.

A newsletter organised by the TechnicalSupport Co-ordinator and TechnicalSupport Officer was circulated inDecember to all the team membersproviding a more informal update about thenew members of staff and interesting

events that were taking place within theService and Council.

Service Development DayThe Service Development day was heldthis year in the new Clydebank LeisureCentre with stunning views over the Clyde,attended by all Planning and BuildingStandard’s officers A number of newofficers have joined the team and theservice day was an opportunity to provide amore detail introduction and to inform thewider team of their work. The day beganwith an inspiring talk from the Place &Design Officer Ashley Mullen who detailedthe aspirations of the Design Panel andshe explained the role that the DesignPanel will play in the Queens Quay site andother development sites. Emma McMullen,Project Manager of the Antonine HLF WallProject, outlined the aims of the project andthe intention to build Roman inspired playparks in the 5 local authority partner area.A workshop on the delivery plan andservice improvements for 2018/2019 tookplace which has informed this PerformanceFramework document and the delivery plan.Team building also occurred when we wereable to experience the sensory activityroom in the Leisure Centre.

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The day was also attended by the StrategicLead for Regulatory Services Peter Hessettand Martin Keeley the new EnvironmentalHealth Manager who will be responsible tothe Planning and Building StandardsManager.

Our guest speaker was Susan Fulton,Inclusive Design Officer from East AyrshireCouncil who provided a great insight intohow design can have a huge impact onpeople with disability and special needs.Susan also brought along adaptions so wecould experience the limitations that visuallyimpaired people face on a daily basis. Itspurred conversation among the tablesregarding the importance of design andhow these specific needs are not always atthe fore front of architects/ designer minds.

Erin Goldie, the new Team Leader inDevelopment Management, did a shortsession on how we could increase ourdigital presence and the benefits andoutreach of social media. The dayconcluded with the officers who had visitedKings Cross sharing their experience. Adisplay board showed examples of some ofthe outstanding buildings and public space/realm from the Kings Cross and Stratfordvisit.

“I just wanted to say how much I enjoyed yesterday.Because I do quite a unique job I don’t often getinvolved in the work of others in the department so itwas great to hear about other projects. It was alsoreally good to do some teambuilding exercises andgenerally have some downtime with colleagues.Nothing like this has been organised in the otherauthorities I have worked for in the past.”

Emma McMullen Project Manager of the Antonine HLFWall Project

Planning and Building Standards Service Day

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Part 2: Supporting evidence

Quality of outcome

Terms of Reference of Place and Design Panel

https://www.west-dunbarton.gov.uk/media/4314971/x-planning-building-standards-place-and-design-officer-design-panel-place-and-design-panel-terms-of-reference-and-governance.pdf

Protocol on pre application advice (Protocol 1)

https://www.west-dunbarton.gov.uk/media/4313073/facilitating_appropriate_development_inc_protocols_3-4.pdf

Protocol on Liaison meetings (Protocol 2)

https://www.west-dunbarton.gov.uk/media/4313073/facilitating_appropriate_development_inc_protocols_3-4.pdf

Committee reports

https://www.west-dunbarton.gov.uk/council/councillors-and-committees/minutes-agendas-and-reports/

Spatial /Community Planning links

http://www.west-dunbarton.gov.uk/planning-building-standards/your-place-your-plan/

Quality of service and engagement

Protocol on Processing Agreement (Protocol 4)

https://www.west-dunbarton.gov.uk/media/4313073/facilitating_appropriate_development_inc_protocols_3-4.pdf Conservation Area Appraisals

https://www.west-dunbarton.gov.uk/planning-building-standards/

conservation-areas/

Main Issues Report

https://www.west-dunbarton.gov.uk/media/4312826/main-issues-

report.pdf

Proposed Plan

https://www.west-dunbarton.gov.uk/council/strategies-plans-and-

policies/local-development-planning/local-plan/

Development Plan Scheme

http://www.west-dunbarton.gov.uk/media/4313519/development-

plan-scheme-and-participation-statement-2017-with-appendix.pdf Committee reports

www.west-dunbarton.gov.uk/council/councillors-and-committees/

minutes-agendas-and-reports/

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Governance

Elected members pre application procedures (Protocol 3) https://www.west-dunbarton.gov.uk/media/4313073/facilitating_appropriate_development_inc_protocols_3-4.pdf Planning Enforcement Charter

https://www.west-dunbarton.gov.uk/media/4314867/planning-

enforcement-charter2018-web.pdf

Committee reports

www.west-dunbarton.gov.uk/council/councillors-and-

committees/minutes-agendas-and-reports/

Culture of continuous improvement

West of Scotland Archaeology Service

www.wosas.net

Committee reportswww.west-dunbarton.gov.uk/council/councillors-and-committees/minutes-agendas-and-reports/

Appendix 1 Topics discussed at Benchmarking Group 2016/17

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Part 3: Service Improvements 2018-19

In the coming year we will:

Review and streamline eDevelopment workflow/ systemsand provide training if necessary;

Procure and implement a new GIS/mapping system;

Publish the next edition of the Planning and BuildingStandards newsletter;

Consider designating Dumbarton Town Centre as aConservation Area;

Set up a Monitoring Board to assess the progress andactions of the Place and Design Panel and report toPlanning Committee;

Review the Planning website and implement changes;

Encourage further and wider use of social media throughblogging;

Implement new Committee report format;

Set up a webpage for the Place and Design Panel andplace all reports on it;

Speak to other Planning Authorities about the Place andDesign Panel;

Review Environmental Health Protocol;

Review enforcement processes and procedures;

Hold annual Service Day;

Hold “Be the Best “ conversations;

Formulate and implement an elected member training plan;

Prepare and publish locality plans in conjunction with thePerformance and Strategy and Communities Teams basedaround place;

Review, prepare and publish new Design Guidance in linewith the new design policies in Local Development Plan 2:Proposed Plan;

Take forward the implementation of projects associatedwith the outcomes of the Clydebank Can Community LedDesign Workshops and work in conjunction with ScottishCanals and other Council Services to take forward thecommunity projects;

Prepare new Supplementary Guidance based on theClydebank Can Community Led Workshops and theClydebank Town Centre Charrette (2015);

Form an Internal Urban Design (or Place) Steering Group tomonitor capital and other projects for the Place and DesignPanel.

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Place and Design Panel assessmentof the potential for a ConservationArea within Dumbarton Town Centre

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Delivery of our Service Improvement Actions in 2017-18

continued on next page

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Part 4: National Headline Indicators (NHIs)

A:NHI Key outcomes - Development Planning:

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Contextual Statement

for the publication of the Proposed Plan, as over the course of2017/18, three experienced team members have left the Council;one was due to retirement. The time taken to replace thesemembers of staff has had an impact on the progress of theProposed Plan.

Housing figures are based on the finalised 2017 Housing LandAudit (base dated 31/3/2017). Comparison figures are from thefinalised 2016 Housing Land Audit (base date 31/3/2016).Housingapprovals are for the year ending 31 March 2018 and include allhousing approvals on sites of 4 or more units, including changes ofhouse types, permissions in principle and in detail. Housingcompletions are for the 5 year period ending 31 March 2018.Employment land figures are based on the 2018 industrial andbusiness land monitoring (base date 31/3/ 2018).

As detailed in the 2016/17 Planning Performance Framework, thePlanning Committee took a final decision in April 2016 to decline arecommendation of the Examination Report and therefore theLocal Development Plan remains unadopted and remains atProposed Plan stage. Work commenced shortly after on thepreparation of the next Local Development Plan.

The preparation of Local Development Plan 2 has been movingforward, the Main Issues Report stage has been completed after a12 week consultation period between 30 June and 30 September2017. The Proposed Plan is scheduled to be submitted forapproval to Planning Committee in September 2018, whichrepresents a 4 month delay from the timeframe publicised in theSeptember 2017 Development Plan Scheme. This is primarily dueto a number of factors. The Open Space audit required for the Planhas been delayed due to detailed discussions with Greenspaceand the timeframe for the Glasgow and Clyde Valley GreenNetwork Partnership to take this forward and complete the GreenInfrastructure Supplementary Guidance. The Business andIndustrial Review, undertaken by consultants, which informs theProposed Plan, was also subject to delay due to the initial poorresponse rate to the business survey that was issued as part of thereview. This resulted in the survey having to be re-issued toachieve a better response. It is intended to submit the ProposedPlan to the Scottish Government for an examination before the endof the year with the intention to adopt the Plan in September 2019,as detailed in the Development Plan Scheme which has notchanged. Staffing resources have also impacted on the timeframe

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B: NHI Key outcomes – Development Management: C: Enforcement activity

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Contextual Statement

This year there was a reduction in the processing time for majordevelopment by 5 weeks with major applications being processedin just over 18 weeks which compares very favourable to theScottish average of 33.4 weeks. This is due to extensivediscussions at the pre-application stage and highlighting issues atthis early stage so they can be addressed before the application issubmitted. Major applications include two applications forQueens Quay, a new stadium for Dumbarton Football Club, whichis included within other constraints, and the Waterfront path atDumbarton Waterfront. All these applications had complex issuesto resolve. The average local development application processtime has increased by just under 2 weeks. This has been due to anumber of more complex local developments which requiredamendments or due to requiring a legal agreement for financialcontributions to the open space/green network. Localdevelopments without a legal agreement were processed within anaverage time of 8.9 weeks which is under the Scottish average.Householder developments remain largely consistent with lastyear with applications being processed within 7 weeks and lowerthan the Scottish average of 7.3 weeks.

There is a slight decrease in both the approval and delegationrates but both remain above 90%. Legacy cases were reduced by7 cases and remain at 8 legacy cases outstanding.

The Enforcement Charter has been updated and greater priorityhas been given to enforcement now that there is a ComplianceOfficer.

The number of local reviews and appeals continues to remain lowcompared to overall numbers of applications determined.

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Part 5: Official Statistics

A: Decision-making timescales (based on ‘all applications’ timescales)

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B: Decision-making: local reviews and appeals

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Part 6: Workforce Information

The Planning and Building Standards Service sits under theStrategic Lead for Regulatory within the Directorate forTransformation and Public Service Reform. Regulatory Servicesinclude Legal, Committee and Environmental Health Services.From April 2018 the Planning and Building Standards Manager isnow responsible for the Environmental Health Service. A servicestructure is provided at the front of this Performance Framework .The Planning Service is divided into three team –DevelopmentManagement, Forward Planning and Technical Support. This yearthere has been a new Team Leader for Developmentmanagement, and this team has now a part-time ComplianceOfficer and an additional 3 days per week Lead Planning Officerpost which is financed from the Regeneration budget toconcentrate on regeneration projects. The Forward Planning teamlost three experienced team members; one was due to retirement.The time taken to replace these members of staff has had animpact on the work of this team. The Technical Support team whoalso support Building Standards have remained largely consistentfrom last year in terms of staffing numbers.

Development Management team comprises 6 staff of which 1 is part-time.4 members out of 6 the RPTI qualified. The Forward Planning team comprises4 staff of which 1 post is part-time. All members of the team are RTPIqualified. The Planning and Building Standards Manager is also RTPIqualified.

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Part 7: Planning Committee Information

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BenchmarkingAppendix 1 – West of Scotland Benchmarking Group 2017-18

The Benchmarking Group consists of participants from the following Councils: East Dunbartonshire, East Renfrewshire, Inverclyde,North Ayrshire, Renfrewshire & West Dunbartonshire. The Group normally meets every 3 – 4 months and met three times in 2017-18 asfollows: 10th May 2017 (at East Dunbartonshire); 10th August 2017 (at East Renfrewshire); and 17th November 2017 (at Inverclyde). Themeeting due to be held in Spring 2018 at North Ayrshire was postponed due to adverse weather. The meetings are minuted, with thehost council, chairperson and minute-secretary rotating around the councils.

A wide range of topics were discussed at these meetings, including:

15.The handling of AMSC applications

16.The controls on biomass boilers

17.The district heating objections from SEPA

18.The fees for stopping up orders

19.The issues arising from cross boundaryapplications

20.Staffing levels within each authorities’planning service

21.Enforcement resources that are available

22.The use of shared service, including how theCouncils obtain archaeological advice

23.How the Councils undertake elected member training

24.High hedges procedures including direct action

25.How the Councils review their Tree Preservation Orders

26.The form and content of reports of handling and decisionnotices

1.The authorities’ Planning Performance Frameworks

2.The Planning Bill

3.The use of an increase in planning fees

4.The High Hedges legislation and a solicitor interpretation

5.The adoption of SuDS

6.The Forestry Commission and felling licences

7.The new EIA regulations and cumulative impact,

8.The part approval/part refusal of an application

9.The validation process

10.The Health Impact Assessments

11.The Schemes of Delegation

12.The Officer training programme

13.The LFR returns

14.The S75 obligations

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DRIVING IMPROVED PERFORMANCEAppendix 2 - Performance Markers

Performance Marker Evidence

1 Decision making: authorities demonstrating continuous evidence of reducing average timescales for all development types

2 Project management: offer of processing agreements or other agreed project plan) made to prospective applicants in advance of all major applications and availability publicised on planning authority website

The average timescale for major development is 18.3 weeks (Scottish average of 33.4 weeks); local (non householder) development is 11.8 weeks (Scottish average of 10.7 weeks) and householder development is 7 weeks (Scottish average of 7.3 weeks). Source https://www.gov.scot/Topics/Statistics/Browse/Planning/Publications/PlanningApplicationStatistics1718 Protocol on Processing Agreement https://www.west-dunbarton.gov.uk/media/4313073/facilitating_appropriate_development_inc_protocols_3-4.pdf Processing agreements offered to all applicants of major development and important local development. A processing agreement drafted for one application but never signed by the applicant –Case Study on Dumbarton Football Club

3 Early collaboration with applicants and consultees on planning applications: - availability and promotion of pre-application discussions for all prospective applications - clear and proportionate requests for supporting information

Protocol on Pre application advice https://www.west-dunbarton.gov.uk/media/4313073/facilitating_appropriate_development_inc_protocols_3-4.pdfCase Studies: Place and Design Panel, Queens Quay, Health and care centre, Energy Centre, Community Biodiversity Park, Connecting Clydebank, Dumbarton Football Club –clear and proportional requests Planning Guidance, Elected Members Pre-Application Meetings.

4 Legal agreements: conclude (or reconsider) applications within 6 months of ‘resolving to grant’ * * this will require production of supporting guidance,

Four legal agreements were associated with applications for residential development where a developer contribution towards local open space provision or associated green infrastructure was provided. See planning guidance below. https://www.west-dunbarton.gov.uk/media/4309581/our-green-network-supplementary-guidance.pdf

following wider stakeholder input 5 Enforcement charter updated / re-published Case Study : Enforcement Charter and Compliance Officer Enforcement Charter updated April 2018 approved by June

Planning Committee and published July 2018. 6 Continuous improvements:

- show progress/improvement in relation to PPF National Headline Indicators

- progress ambitious and relevant service improvement commitments identified through PPF report

Case Study : Local Development Plan 2 : Main Issues Report and Proposed Plan Development land statistics broadly stable. See Housing Land Supply 2017: http://www.west-dunbarton.gov.uk/media/4313352/housing-land-audit_2017.pdf Decision making timescales reduced for major development by 5 weeks, slight increase for local, however, this was due to 4 applicants requiring legal agreements. Without legal agreements applications were processed within an average time of 8.9 weeks, which is under the Scottish average. Householder developments were processed within 7 weeks and lower than the Scottish average of 7.3 weeks. https://www.gov.scot/Topics/Statistics/Browse/Planning/Publications/PlanningApplicationStatistics1718 Enforcement Charter is up to date- see case study Good feedback from developers/service users. See elected member pre-application briefings and Queens Quay case studies. Good progress was made on last years service commitments – see delivery of our service improvement actions 2017-18 and also our service improvements 2018-19 detailing our commitments for the coming year.

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PROMOTING THE PLAN-LED SYSTEM

Performance Marker Evidence

7 LDP (or LP) less than 5 years since adoption Eight years since Local Plan adoption. See Proposed Plan case study for further information - making good progress on Local Development Plan 2.

8 Development plan scheme demonstrates next LDP: - on course for adoption within 5-year cycle - project planned and expected to be

Most recent Development Plan Scheme, http://www.west-dunbarton.gov.uk/media/4311226/development-plan-schemeand-participation-statement-2017.pdf, relates to Development Plan Scheme for Local Development Plan taken to September 2017 Planning Committee. New Development Plan Scheme to September 2018 Planning committee.

delivered to planned timescale 9 Elected members engaged early (pre-MIR) in Pre-MIR Elected Member Ward meetings and workshops into the Main Issues Report. See case study: Local

Development Plan 2 : Main Issues Report development plan preparation 10 Cross-sector stakeholders, including industry,

agencies and Scottish government, engaged early (pre-MIR) in development plan preparation

Wide range of stakeholder engagement pre-MIR (Scottish Water, SEPA, SNH etc) See case study: Local Development Plan 2 : Main Issues Report

11 Production of regular and proportionate policy advice, for example through supplementary guidance, on information required to support applications

Guidance for three Conservation Areas is currently in preparation. See case study on High Dalmuir, Knoxland Square (Dumbarton) and Lusset Road and Mount Pleasant Drive (Old Kilpatrick) Conservation Areas. Preparation of the new Green Infrastructure Guidance and review of existing Guidance has also commenced. See case study on Local Development Plan 2. Planning guidance on renewable energy, payday lending and betting shops, residential design guidance, Dumbarton Waterfront path and Clydebank Business Park remain in force and will be adopted as Statutory Supplementary Guidance as part of LDP2. http://www.west-dunbarton.gov.uk/council/strategies-plans-and-policies/local-development-planning/other-guidance-and-information/

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SIMPLIFYING AND STREAMLINING

Performance Marker Evidence

12 Corporate working across services to improve outputs and services for customer benefit (e.g. protocols; joined-up services; single contact; joint pre-application advice)

See case study: Protocols on pre-application advice, processing agreements, liaison meetings and elected member involvement in pre-application discussions: https://www.west-dunbarton.gov.uk/media/4313073/facilitating_appropriate_development_inc_protocols_3-4.pdf

Place and Design Panel Terms of Reference and Governance 2017 Case studies :Place and Design Panel, Queens Quay workshops, Community Biodiversity Park, corporate Geographic Information System (GIS), Aligning Community and Spatial Planning, Antonine Wall HLF Project, eDevelopment.scotland, Major Application meetings, corporate working across services, West of Scotland Archaeology Service, Exxon Project Board, Financial Management, Elected Member Training, Clydeplan, Glasgow City Region: City Deal, Glasgow and Clyde Valley Green Network Partnership and Scottish Canal meetings.

13 Sharing good practice, skills and knowledge between authorities

Case Study evidence – West of Scotland Benchmarking Group, Solace Benchmarking Group, Joint working with Stirling Council &Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park, Antonine Wall HLF Project, Kings Cross collaborative study trip, Lead proactive work with Scottish Government. Aligning spatial and community planning. http://www.west-dunbarton.gov.uk/planning-building-standards/your-place-your-plan/

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DELIVERING DEVELOPMENT

Performance Marker

14 Stalled sites/legacy cases: conclusion/withdrawal of planning applications more than one-year-old

Evidence

Progress being made to clear legacy cases. All applicants have been contacted with 7 legacy cases cleared during the year.

15 Developer contributions: clear expectations - set out in development plan (and/or emerging plan,) and - in pre-application discussions

Main contributions expected are towards the green network. See case study: Developer Contributions and https://www.west-dunbarton.gov.uk/media/4309581/our-green-networksupplementary-guidance.pdf

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CONTACT DETAILSPlanning and Building StandardsCouncil Offices16 Church StreetDumbartonG82 1QL Telephone: 0141 951 7948Email: [email protected]

OTHER FORMATSThis document can be made available on request in alternative formats such as large print, Braille, audio tape or computer disc as well as in five community languages.