Below is an extract taken from Woodland Trust Scotland’s letter of objection.

NatureScot’s confirmation of the ancient woodland at Kingsmeadows was noted with interest by Woodland Trust Scotland, prompting WTS to

“strongly object to an application that attempts to revive permissions granted under obsolete policy regimes.”

“Any decisions taken today must reflect the reality of the climate and nature emergency, rather than the outdated assumptions of the past. SBC should ensure that proposals for this sensitive site are subjected to full, rigorous scrutiny under the current requirement NPF4 and … Local Development Plan.”

“In the decade since this development was originally considered, both the local environment and planning rules in Scotland have fundamentally shifted. It is no exaggeration to say that the way we engage with questions of environment and climate have changed fundamentally in the past decade. Most significantly Scotland has formally declared both a Climate and a Nature Emergency.”

“In law, planning applications … must be determined in accordance with the statutory Development Plan in force at the time of the decision. An historic outline planning consent does not confer a permanent legacy exemption from modern standards, nor does it create a binding baseline when national legislation and local policies have evolved.”

They go on to say, NPF4

significantly raises “the bar for protecting trees and native habitats”, with policy 6 prohibiting “the loss of, or adverse impacts on, ancient woodland, veteran trees, or woodland of high nature conservation value. NPF4 places the climate and nature crises at the heart of every planning decision, requiring proposals to demonstrate net gains for biodiversity and align with modern flood risk and environmental mitigation standards.”

“An expired or expiring outline consent from an earlier policy era, and a different world in terms of our understanding of nature and climate, cannot be used as a procedural mechanism to bypass current statutory protections.”

“We look forward to seeing Scottish Borders Council uphold these essential statutory principles to safeguard Scotland’s woodland heritage, and we will be watching closely as things develop. We would be most grateful if you could please confirm that SBC accepts that a) this site is ancient woodland, and b) that NPF4 Policy 6 must be applied at Kingsmeadows before any new development permissions are granted, the previous permissions having expired in March 2024.”at Kingsmeadows before any new development permissions are granted, the previous permissions having expired in March 2024.”

A response from SBC’s head of planning, Mr John Hayward, is awaited.

The full version of this abridged extract is available here

Dr Michael Marshall
Planning Convenor
Peebles & District Community Council

As always: support or comment to Anne Snoddy (Secretary PCC)