A to Z Index:

Planning & Environmental Services

Planning and Environmental Services have several principal functions.

  • Planning
  • Environment
  • Community
  • Information and Research
  • Outdoor Services
  • Archaeology
  • Environmental Health and Consumer Protection

Planning

Development Planning

The Development plan consists of two parts: the Structure Plan which deals with broad strategic issues and the Local Plan which provides the necessary degree of detail to control and promote development at the local level. The preparation of more detailed studies on individual topics and areas and the preparation of Development Briefs to guide the development of individual sites is also undertaken.

Development Control

Through this function the Council seeks to influence the location and quality of development in ways that comply with its objectives, policies and plans. The Council enables the development process, safeguards the quality of the environment, and mediates between conflicting land uses or development proposals.

Building Control

The Building Control system ensures that the public can live, work and play within the built environment in safety. All Building Control responsibilities arise from the Building (Scotland) Act 1959 (as amended). The scope covers all types of buildings and deals with such matters as the health and safety of those who occupy or have occasion to be in the vicinity of a building.

Environment

Sustaining the Environment

This part of the Service surveys, protects, enhances and monitors the natural, physical and cultural resource of Aberdeenshire in the settlements and the countryside.

There are various statutory requirements and duties in relation to:

  • historic sites
  • listed buildings
  • designed landscapes
  • protected trees
  • access
  • scientific sites

These take up considerable time and require the attention and involvement of the Council.

Information and Research

The provision of this function involves the following:

  • Collection, interpretation, analysis and dissemination of data and information
  • Management of large data sets - Census of Population, Community Health Index
  • Provisions of specialist tasks for other Council services e.g. School Roll Forecasts
  • Dealing with a large number of unprogrammed requests for information

Outdoor Services

This part of the service is visible to everybody in Aberdeenshire in one way or another, be it playing sport, visiting parks and play areas or burial grounds to environmental interpretation and grounds maintenance.

The range of work covers:

Archaeology

Aberdeenshire Council's archaeologists provide a service of archaeological information and advice on the historic environment.

They locate, assess, safeguard and explain the many features of archaeological importance that survive in the landscape.

The Sites and Monuments Record (SMR) that they maintain is the most comprehensive source of information on the historic environment of North-East Scotland. It covers the whole of human history, from the flint-scatters of the hunter-gatherers of 8000 BC to the pill boxes of the last war. The Record is computer-based and continuously updated.

They also maintain an extensive photo library (25,000 colour slides/7000 black and white negatives), many of whose images derive from the Council's own programme of archaeological aerial reconnaissance.

Environmental Health and Consumer Protection

Environmental Health & Consumer Protection provides a range of services operating from 19 separate office locations, with:

  • a total staff complement of 194
  • a net revenue budget of £14.3m
  • a capital budget of £1.33m

The range of duties covered is very wide and a great deal of legislation developed by the European Community impacts upon the service.

Responsibilities cover the following functions: