On the 19th May 2026, CIEEM’s Scotland Policy Group brought together stakeholders to
share experiences of implementing NPF4 Policy 3 since its introduction in 2023, exploring
both successes and challenges, as well as aspirations for its future development. After four
presentations reflecting on stakeholder experiences, participants from Local Planning
Authorities, Statutory Nature Conservation Bodies (SNCBs), developers, consultancies,
ecological practitioners, and environmental NGOs (eNGOs) took part in facilitated breakout
discussions.
In addition to links to speaker presentations (recordings and slides), this report presents a
summary of the discussion during the breakout sessions, arranged under ten common
themes across the breakout rooms.
A recording of the event can be viewed here, including the Q&A session. You can navigate to each presentation as chapters in YouTube, but please note that some of Dr Rachel Hirst’s slides have been blurred owing to presence of copyright material.
Welcome and introduction. Sarah Kydd CEcol MCIEEM, co-Chair of the Scotland Policy Group.
Navigating NPF4 in Non-EIA Projects. Dr Rachel Hirst CEcol CEnv FCIEEM, Director (Scotland), Applied Ecology
NPF4 Policy 3. Julie Dewar CEnv MCIEEM , Planning Manager, Specialists Team, City of Edinburgh Council
NPF4 Policy 3: Large-scale Energy & Infrastructure in Aberdeenshire. James Hewitt MA (Hons), MRTPI, Senior Planner – Energy Team, Aberdeenshire Council
Implementation of NPF4. Kevin Murphy, Director of Planning, Homes for Scotland