(PG) Planning Guidance : Soil Management & After Use of Soils on Development Sites
NB: This consultation is now closed.
It was agreed at a meeting of the Development and Transport Policy Development and Scrutiny Panel on 04 September 2020 to consult on new Planning Guidance (PG) Soil Management & After Use of Soils on Development Sites.
The guidance sets out matters relating to the submission of a Soil Sustainability Plan alongside planning applications, and conditions to be imposed on related planning permissions.
Planning Guidance (PG) is produced by the council in order to explain how particular development plan policies should be applied in practice. The PG explicitly supports Policy ENV 5 of the adopted West Lothian Local Development Plan (2018) which requires Soil Sustainability Plans to be submitted alongside planning applications for development on greenfield sites over 1.0ha in size.
The policy, supported by this guidance, seeks to help conserve prime quality soils as they are an irreplaceable natural resource where greenfield sites are being developed; minimise problems, like flooding, for development sites and adjacent land uses, where soil has been poorly managed during the course of construction; and prepare sites more effectively for landscaping and open space use.
When approved, the guidance will be a material consideration which the council will have regard to when it considers planning applications.
