National Planning Framework 4 (NPF4)

The National Planning Framework 4 (NPF4) was adopted on 13 February 2023.

NPF4 is now part of the Council’s development plan and - unless material considerations say otherwise - decisions on planning applications will need to be made by both

Since the adoption of NPF4, the section of the Planning (Scotland) Act 2019 that sets out what happens when there is ‘any incompatibility’ between parts of a development plan is now in force.

This means that some Local Development Plan policies will no longer be used to the same extent.

A report to the planning committee on 18 January 2023 explains this in more detail and provides a list containing

  • NPF4 policies
  • Local Development Plan policies which are compatible with NPF4
  • Local Development Plan policies which are not compatible with NPF4 and will not be used to the same extent.

View our approved policy framework quick guide - PDF

View our policy framework - PDF