This webinar will looked at what routes there are for Environmental Justice currently in Scotland, particularly related to planning issues. The Planning System is loaded against communities, who have no right to appeal decisions, where developers do have a right of appeal. This is just one of the things that we are campaigning to change and, with the Scottish General Election coming up, this webinar helped make an assessment of the current state of access to environmental justice in Scotland, and what needs to change.
We heard from Clare Symonds from Planning Democracy who gave us an insight into the changes they are campaigning for within the Planning System in their Manifesto for the 2026 General Election. And from Benji Brown of ERCS, and their Advocacy Manifesto.
More about the speakers
Clare Symonds
Clare is the founder of Planning Democracy and has been recognised in the Scottish Sustainable Development Forum’s Green List for her work to improve community engagement in Scottish planning. Clare has worked on community empowerment issues in both local government and the voluntary sector strengthening her belief that a robust, democratic planning system is crucial for shaping fairer and more sustainable places.
Benji Brown
Benji Brown is Policy & Advocacy Officer at the Environmental Rights Centre Scotland (ERCS), and leads on ERCS’s parliamentary advocacy to strengthen environmental rights and increase access to environmental justice. He has a background as a researcher and campaigner working on land and water governance, and has been involved with a number of grassroots climate justice groups.
Kat Jones
Kat is Director of APRS (Action to Protect Rural Scotland) and Kat’s role is advocating for, and supporting communities to advocate for, Scotland’s countryside and landscapes. She has spent two decades in Scottish conservation with SNH, now NatureScot, and then RSPB Scotland. She joined APRS from Stop Climate Chaos Scotland, Scotland’s civil society climate coalition.
Watch the replay