Masterplan Consent Areas (MCAs) are a new consenting mechanism introduced by the Planning (Scotland) Act 2019 (amending the Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act 1997, “the 1997 Act”), allowing planning authorities to take a leadership role in the planning of places by proactively granting consent for development they wish to be delivered, subject to conditions. In this regard, the Scottish Government supports the early adoption of Masterplan Consent Areas to frontload consents and support investment.
MCAs offer potential to provide a co-ordinated, holistic, and streamlined approach to consenting, with scope for four different consents to be authorised in a MCA scheme:
- planning permission
- roads construction consent
- listed building consent
- conservation area consent
The Council will be able to use MCA schemes to shape new development in Fife – enabling the type and quality of development we wish to come forward and to support delivery of development that can support local needs, priorities, and outcomes.
Unlike planning applications which are typically led by a developer, the preparation of MCA schemes will be led by the planning authority but can be taken forward in collaboration with developers. Within adopted MCA areas, development could be brought forward without the need for a full application if it is in line with the agreed scheme.
Section 54A to F and Schedule 5A of the 1997 Act together with the Town and Country Planning (Masterplan Consent Areas)(Scotland) Regulations 2024 and the Masterplan Consent Areas Scheme (Environmental Impact Assessment)(Scotland) Regulations 2024 (“the Regulations”) sets out the legal framework for preparing MCAs. The full legislative provisions relating to MCAs are not yet in force, however, it is anticipated that the relevant commencement date will be 5th December 2024. Schedule 5A in Part 2 Paragraph 5 of the 1997 Act requires that each planning authority must, at least once in each 5-year period, consider whether it would be desirable to make a scheme for a part or parts of their district, and to publish a statement as to their consideration of that.
The Town and Country Planning (Masterplan Consent Areas) (Scotland) Regulations 2024 legislation came into force on 5 December 2024. Fife Council has not yet identified or assessed potential locations for which it may be desirable to bring forward a MCA scheme. The Council intends to consider the potential for MCAs while preparing the new Local Development Plan (Fife’s Place Plan) which is expected to be adopted in 2028.
The Planning Fees regulations will allow planning authorities to recoup the cost of preparing MCA schemes.
