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Scottish Government submission of 25 June 2021

PE1874/C - Introduce legislation to create artillery and firearms exclusion zones around places of spiritual importance and religious worship

Thank you for the opportunity to contribute views to the Public Petitions Committee’s consideration of this petition.

This reply covers Scottish Government’s interests insofar as the Planning System and to the operations of Police Scotland.

The Planning System in Scotland

Scottish planning legislation provides that planning permission is required to carry out development. For the purposes of planning, “development” is broadly defined as meaning the carrying out of building, engineering, mining or other operations in, on, over or under land, or the making of any material change in the use of any buildings or other land.

Where there is a requirement to seek planning permission, applications are – by law – determined in accordance with the development plan for the area unless material considerations indicate otherwise. This is the case whether an application is decided by the local authority or, where an application is called-in or in the event of an appeal, by the Scottish Ministers.

In determining a planning application, the decision-maker must have regard to all relevant considerations. Noise associated with a proposed development, and its effect on sensitive land uses such as residential buildings, schools, natural habitats or places of worship, is capable of being a material consideration. The weight given to any particular consideration is a matter of judgement for the decision-taker, however.

Where noise associated with a proposed development is considered likely to cause unacceptable disturbance to existing land uses and/or receptors, planning authorities can refuse planning permission on this basis. Alternatively, planning conditions or planning obligations can be used to secure mitigation that is considered necessary to make a proposed development acceptable in planning terms.

The preparation and consideration of planning applications that raise significant noise issues can be assisted by a noise impact assessment (NIA). Planning authorities can require that an application is to be accompanied by an NIA, the purpose of which is to demonstrate whether any significant adverse noise impacts are likely to occur. The design of a development and the conditions which may be attached to a planning permission can all help to prevent, control and mitigate the effects of noise.

Development plans also have an important role to play in helping to limit the overall number of people exposed to the potential adverse effects of noise. Development plans can, where relevant, indicate the range of uses which are likely to be permitted in an area affected by existing or potentially high levels of noise, as well as the noise mitigation measures the planning authority will expect to be applied to new development.

The current legal and policy framework therefore provides planning decision-takers with the ability to consider and control noise in a way that reflects the particular circumstances and sensitivity of specific locations, and the actual impacts of individual developments. The suggestion of a 5-mile exclusion around existing places of worship (or other land uses that are sensitive to noise disturbance) would be a comparatively blunt approach to controlling noise-generating developments. It would not take account of local differences or site-specific circumstances: this is important because what may be an acceptable form of development in an urban environment may be entirely inappropriate in rural or remote setting, for example. Indeed, it may be that in certain locations the degree of sensitivity is such that developments generating significant levels of noise would be unacceptable beyond a 5-mile radius. We are not minded to legislate for exclusion zones around places of worship at this time.

As you will appreciate, the Scottish Government cannot comment on the merits of individual planning proposals so as not to prejudice the outcome of the statutory decision-making process.

Police Scotland

Firearms legislation, with the exception of air weapons, is reserved to the UK Government. Under UK law Police Scotland must be satisfied that any shooting in Scotland takes place on land that is safe, and that shooting presents no danger to public safety. Anyone entrusted to possess a firearm will have been subject to robust checks under the licensing regime operated by the Chief Constable. Any concerns about shooting anywhere in Scotland should be reported to Police Scotland in the first instance.

In line with the UK Guidance on Firearms Law published by the Home Office, police are not expected to act as experts on range construction, or to provide a range inspection service. In addition to planning permission, shooting ranges should normally be inspected and approved by an independent expert such as the National Rifle Association or National Smallbore Rifle Association, and the range operator must also have adequate insurance in place. Shooting may also take place over private land that is not a designated ‘shooting range’, with the land owner’s permission and provided it can be done safely and on a non-commercial basis.

Conclusion

Scottish Government’s view is that the legal and policy frameworks governing the development and operation of potentially noisy developments, including firing ranges, are proportionate, robust and effective. There are no current plans to review or amend them.