"Many people believe there are barriers to engagement in the planning system including: lack of awareness of available opportunities; inaccessibility of documents; complex procedures and practices; lack of expertise; consultation fatigue; belief that views are not taken into account and distrust of local government. We need to change all of this. We now have a golden opportunity to create a planning system which Scotland can be proud of - modern, efficient and, above all, with communities at its heart".

Alan Livingstone, Chairman of Taynuilt Community Council has e-mailed his reaction to a sequence of events arising from the failure of a developer to meet with the Community Council, a subsequent site visit, and the traditional attitude of unitary councillors not to allow community councillors to be fully involved in discussions on the nature, content and processes of planning applications.

Attached are two doucments outlining the main areas of concern.