City planners aim to build bridges with developers

MORE work still needs to be done to stop developers seeing planning as a hurdle that needs to be overcome, city council officials have said.

The city council agreed in April 2010 that a planning officer would be seconded to Homes for Scotland on a part-time basis for six months in order to help improve communication between the two parties and help address "an uneasy and sometimes confrontational" relationship.

In a council report, director of city development Dave Anderson said: "The secondment has provided a greater understanding of the housebuilding industry and the need for a pragmatic approach to policy development, particularly in these financially difficult times.

"More work is required to break down the perception that planning is a hurdle to overcome and to enable the planning system to be seen as adding value, providing certainty, and assisting in the implementation of development."