SMITH SPEAKS OUT AGAINST CITY REGIONS

3.45.00pm BST (GMT +0100) Mon 30th Jul 2007

Member of the Scottish Parliament for North East Fife, Iain Smith has spoken out against the recent announcement by the Scottish Executive regarding proposed city region groupings.

Commenting, Mr Smith said, "This is bad news for Fife. It undermines local democracy if those elected in Fife only have a minority say in its development and those who are not elected in the area have the majority.

"Fife has unique advantages from both its geographic cohesion and the fact that many public bodies such as Fife Council, NHS Fife, Fife Constabulary, Scottish enterprise Fife all share the same boundaries. This could be severely damaged by splitting key planning decisions for Fife between the cities of Edinburgh and Dundee," concluded Iain Smith MSP

ENDS

Notes to Editors:

1) Original Press Release from the Scottish Executive- http://www.scotland.gov.uk/News/Releases/2007/07/27095904

Strategic planning around cities

27/07/2007

Proposals for four new Strategic Development Planning Authorities in Scotland's largest city regions were announced today.

The new authorities, part of the overall modernisation of the planning system, would be established for Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh and Glasgow, working across boundaries to shape long-term strategies for growth and environmental protection. It is anticipated that planners from relevant local authorities will provide the necessary resource.

The authorities will produce four new strategic development plans that will replace existing structure plans for the city regions.

The proposed groups of authorities are as follows:

Glasgow city region - East Dunbartonshire, East Renfrewshire, Glasgow City, Inverclyde, North Lanarkshire, Renfrewshire, South Lanarkshire and West Dunbartonshire Councils

Aberdeen city region - Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire Councils

Dundee city region - Angus, Dundee City, Fife Council and Perth & Kinross Councils

Edinburgh city region - City of Edinburgh, East Lothian, Fife, Midlothian, Scottish Borders and West Lothian Councils

While the groups for the Aberdeen and Glasgow city regions mirror the existing groups of authorities that prepare structure plans, the groups for the Edinburgh and Dundee city regions include new authorities and in particular reflects Fife's interests in both Dundee and Edinburgh. This mirrors changes on the ground, for example, in relation to expanding housing market areas and travel to work areas.

Planning Minister Stewart Stevenson said:

"The creation of up-to-date and relevant development plans is critical to an effective and efficient planning system that helps to deliver the sustainable economic growth that Scotland needs.

"The new Strategic Development Planning Authorities will be at the centre of this work, leading the way in developing realistic yet ambitious strategies for the largest city regions.

"It is important that local communities, businesses, public bodies and other stakeholders realise the importance of these plans and work with the new authorities to help to prepare them."

Consultation on the proposed groups of authorities will run until the end of October.