The fourth National Planning Framework (NPF4) has now come into effect, embedding the climate and nature emergencies across planning policy and placing a stronger emphasis than ever before on tangible actions to address these twin crises.
As a National Development within NPF4, the Central Scotland Green Network is a major driver in delivering these tangible actions and achieving the government’s ambitious targets to reduce decline in Scotland’s biodiversity and to reach net zero emissions.
Having been established as a National Development since the implementation of NPF2, these priorities have been central to the work of the Central Scotland Green Network for over a decade.
The CSGN is driven forward by the Green Action Trust and steered by a partnership group of over 15 eNGOs and agencies. This means that the CSGN is uniquely placed to draw on vast expertise in the development of natural climate solutions, creating liveable places, promoting health and wellbeing, and supporting a green recovery – all through the lens of environmental restoration.
Our work spans 19 of Scotland’s 32 local authority areas, covering 87% of Scotland’s most disadvantaged areas, and tackles environmental inequality where it is needed most.
NPF4 is good news for Scotland’s urban and rural environment as it builds multifunctional nature-based solutions and blue-green infrastructure into planning considerations for all developments. The Central Scotland Green Network can continue delivering these priorities with weight applied to green networks and natural infrastructure.
Just as importantly, NPF4 will enable the Central Scotland Green Network to interlink with other National Developments, and to support the delivery of the new Nature Networks framework.
To find out more about NPF4, visit the Scottish Government website.
