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Official Report: search what was said in Parliament

The Official Report is a written record of public meetings of the Parliament and committees.  

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Dates of parliamentary sessions
  1. Session 1: 12 May 1999 to 31 March 2003
  2. Session 2: 7 May 2003 to 2 April 2007
  3. Session 3: 9 May 2007 to 22 March 2011
  4. Session 4: 11 May 2011 to 23 March 2016
  5. Session 5: 12 May 2016 to 5 May 2021
  6. Current session: 12 May 2021 to 11 June 2025
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Displaying 761 contributions

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Local Government, Housing and Planning Committee

National Planning Framework 4 (Annual Review)

Meeting date: 7 May 2024

Gordon MacDonald

I am looking for a bit of clarification. I can understand that there are problems with individual sites, and that that creates problems for developers. However, am I right in saying that, in the year to March 2023, there were more than 24,000 homes built in Scotland, across all tenures, which is double the rate per head of population of Wales and a third higher than what is happening south of the border in terms of completions, and that there was the highest number of affordable homes built in Scotland since 2000?

Local Government, Housing and Planning Committee

National Planning Framework 4 (Annual Review)

Meeting date: 7 May 2024

Gordon MacDonald

Communities’ concerns about second homes—of which there are about 24,000 in Scotland—and how to tackle them will be reflected in local place plans. Do you have any experience of local place plans being developed in your community? What impact have they had on planning decisions in your area?

Local Government, Housing and Planning Committee

National Planning Framework 4 (Annual Review)

Meeting date: 7 May 2024

Gordon MacDonald

Good morning, panel. I have a number of questions I want to ask.

First I want to start with local place plans. Certainly, in my constituency, a number of the communities, including Balerno, have worked on local place plans. Has NPF4 helped the development of local place plans? Is the creation of local place plans quite widespread? Are there any examples of them having an impact on planning decisions?

Local Government, Housing and Planning Committee

National Planning Framework 4 (Annual Review)

Meeting date: 7 May 2024

Gordon MacDonald

Certainly, what you have said in general terms is right, but we are sitting on 460 sites that were previously used for residential housing. Some of them have lain empty for 10 years. There has to be a mechanism to unlock those residential sites. What we are doing in Lothian—I can talk only about Lothian—is building on good arable land in a country that cannae feed its population, as is the case in the United Kingdom.

Local Government, Housing and Planning Committee

National Planning Framework 4 (Annual Review)

Meeting date: 7 May 2024

Gordon MacDonald

Before I ask my question, I would like to continue the conversation. Kevin, I am keen to understand how much the naturalisation in NPF4 is holding back reusing brownfield land. The register of derelict and vacant land shows that much of it has previously been used for housing, hotels or hostel accommodation, education facilities, recreation, retail or for office space. Much of that—there are over 3,000 sites in Scotland—could easily be used for housing. What is stopping brownfield land being used? I know that some of the land will be contaminated from industrial use, but a large proportion was used for other purposes. Does NPF4 help or hinder moving forward?

Local Government, Housing and Planning Committee

National Planning Framework 4 (Annual Review)

Meeting date: 7 May 2024

Gordon MacDonald

Tony Cain, I want to ask you about the number of council voids. You spoke about the housing emergency. A recent newspaper article said there are more than 10,000 voids in Scotland. Is that correct?

Local Government, Housing and Planning Committee

Community Wealth Building

Meeting date: 26 March 2024

Gordon MacDonald

I am Gordon MacDonald, the MSP for the Edinburgh Pentlands constituency.

Local Government, Housing and Planning Committee

Community Wealth Building

Meeting date: 26 March 2024

Gordon MacDonald

I have a quick question. You mentioned Midsteeple Quarter, which I have visited as a member of the Economy and Fair Work Committee. What it is doing is great, but I was struck by the fact that, right opposite the building that you are talking about, there was an old Burton menswear building where someone wanted to open a cafe and restaurant but, because of the council’s zoning policy, which said that the building had to be retail only, it was lying derelict. How do we tackle derelict buildings in town centres when the local council’s policies undermine what we are trying to achieve?

Local Government, Housing and Planning Committee

Community Wealth Building

Meeting date: 26 March 2024

Gordon MacDonald

It is a compulsory sales order.

Local Government, Housing and Planning Committee

Community Wealth Building

Meeting date: 26 March 2024

Gordon MacDonald

Yes; before we lose sight of the points that were raised earlier, I thought that I had better come in with my questions.

Stacey Dingwall spoke about public procurement. When the Public Contracts Scotland portal was introduced in 2008, it was cutting edge, it brought a lot of contracts together and it gave a lot of small and medium-sized enterprises the option to bid for contracts. However, my experience from being on the Economy and Fair Work Committee is that there is a lack of capacity in micro and small businesses, and there is a perception that there is too much bureaucracy, whether that is true or not. What practical steps need to change in procurement so that SMEs can help to keep money circulating in the local economy because local businesses are using local services and so on?

My second question is to Matthew Brown and Neil McInroy. What is the definition of “local”? If we are to keep money circulating in the local economy, does that mean businesses that operate in that council area, or does it mean businesses that have a registered office in that area? Does “local” mean where the invoice is paid at the end of the day, which might be hundreds of miles away from where the particular business is operating?