Sutherland Local Plan

Sutherland Local Plan (As continued in force, April 2012)

Welcome to the Sutherland Local Plan web pages. The Plan is a statutory document prepared by The Highland Council which guides decisions on planning applications in the Sutherland Area.

Important notice

The Highland-wide Local Development Plan was adopted on 5 April 2012 and supersedes the General Policies and other related material of this Local Plan. A Parliamentary Order has been made to retain other elements within this Local Plan. This provides the necessary clarity about which parts of the Local Plan continues in force alongside the Highland-wide Local Development Plan until such time as the relevant Area Local Development Plans is adopted. A full schedule of the retained elements of the following plan is contained within Appendix 7 of the HwLDP. Click here to view or download the updated version of Appendix 7.

Habitats Regulation Appraisal and Strategic Environmental Assessment

For the Parliamentary Order to be passed it had to be clear that the retained elements of the adopted local plans have met the requirements of European Community Law with respect to Habitats Regulation Appraisal (HRA) and Strategic Environmental Assessment. The Habitats Regulations Appraisal (HRA) considers all the policies and proposals of the adopted local plans which are intended to be retained in force. The Plan must be read alongside the HRA, where the HRA identifies allocations that are likely to have significant effects either alone or in combination these are identified, a list of sites is contained in Appendix 7 of the HwLDP and within each area Local Plan as continued in force April 2012 version.

When using the following adopted Local Plan this must be read in conjunction with the Highland-wide Local Development Plan.

The Sutherland Local Plan was adopted at the Council meeting of 24 June 2010.  The “As continued in force, April 2012” version of the Plan is available below:

Environmental Assessment of the Plan

The Council is obliged to provide Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) and Habitats Regulations Appraisal (Appropriate Assessment) of the Plan.  The relevant reports are available by clicking the links below:

North Highland Onshore Visioning

The Highland Council has published a 10-point Action Plan which it is developing with key partners, to help plan for the growth of the marine renewable energy industry in North Highland. This work is mainly focussed on the onshore development that will be necessary in North Highland to enable and support wave, tidal and offshore wind power.

Related Material

previous Plan material, including the Examination Report, is available via the link below: