For years they have been maligned as pen-pushers, bureaucrats far from the front line of public service.

But since 2009 the number of planners has numbers have been cut by a third and their funding by even more, just as their workload exploded.

Local and national politicians have chosen to prioritise in other areas, but in doing so it is feared they may have, at the risk of sounding melodramatic, put at risk the planet itself.

Scotland’s creaking and underfunded planning system is now unable to process the sheer volume of clean energy schemes needed to get the country to net zero, according to those involved in the process.

This week, scientists warned that global heating was out of control and that the climate crisis had reached a “really bleak moment”.

One, Prof Johan Rockström, said the world was “very, very close to irreversible changes … time is really running out very, very fast”. Bluntly, the planet needs to halve emissions by 2030 to limit the rise in average temperatures to 1.5c.

The Scottish Government says it is committed to getting to net Zero.

Scotland has a good record in renewable electricity, only narrowly missing its targets within net zero plans. But we lag peer nations on other uses for clean energy, like heat and transport.

To make this transition, experts reckon that by 2030 we need to install 12 gigawatts of wind turbines on land and another 10 gigawatts off shore, plus solar farms with a generating capacity of four gigawatts.

And that is not enough: we will also have to put in place “batteries” to store power for when the wind is not blowing or the sun not shining or for when everybody pops the kettle on at the same time. Which means, among other infrastructure, pumped storage hydro projects in our hills.

Basically, the country has to plan, fund and build twice as much renewables capacity by the end of the decade than has been put in place in the last 30 years.

This means a lot of what it is tempting to call paperwork, or red tape, but which in reality is the sensitive and complicated decision-making of the planning system.

But nobody in the industry really thinks we have enough town and country planners to do this – bluntly, due to cuts – especially senior, specialist ones.

These are not easy calls. Big renewable schemes are decided by the government, smaller ones by councils. Insiders admit a lot of the most obvious sites for projects have been taken, or “built out”.

The Herald asked key stakeholders some simple questions. How do we boost capacity? And how do we deal with having few low planning resources while we do so?

Craig McLaren is a director at the Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI) and he said: “Large renewable schemes are often complex, major applications.

“They need the careful consideration of an effective and robust planning system to balance the needs of communities, nature and the green economy.

“But planners cannot be expected to do more with less in perpetuity. Stakeholders, including the renewables industry, have been very clear about the need to reverse the chronic underfunding of the planning system in Scotland.

“We will need to see adequate resources if we’re going to deliver the right renewables in the right places to help achieve net zero carbon targets in the places.”

There are signs of progress. Developers, for example, increasingly say they are willing to pay for planning work. As things stand, fees cover about two-thirds of costs, on average. But Highland Council now offers a fast-track service for those who pay a premium.

And Mr McLaren stressed other initiatives designed to streamline the process, including digitisation.

There are particular concerns about the age profile of planning staff: 35% are over 50, while only 9% of them are under 30. Even if more money was thrown at the system, it would take time to educate new planners. The RTPI reckons it will need 500 new people in the next 15 years. It is looking at an apprenticeship scheme and pitching planning as a climate change career.

“Councils do face resource challenges in planning, although this is an extension of wider pressure on local government’s budget,” said a very senior council source who asked not to be named.

“My understanding is that there has not been a big drop in the overall number of planners employed by councils but, like a lot of professions, it has an ageing profile, which is a concern. We will need to see new planners enter the profession in the years to come.”

The official stressed that the big energy projects are on top of all the little routine demands on the system. “It’s often the growth in smaller applications which have the biggest resources demands on councils,” he said. “There are ways that large-scale projects this can be managed locally through pre-application process and developer agreements, which set out timeframes and expectations, but this is not always possible.

“Work is ongoing with Scottish Government and planners to look at full cost recovery on planning fees, but this is, again, not straightforward.

He added: “The planning system is about balance around making places better. While the transition to a net zero economy is an important, it is just one of many considerations in the planning balance and cannot be seen as an over-riding.”

Not everybody’s views chimes with this last sentiment. Ministers will soon sign off a new national planning framework, the NPF4, a draft of which, rhetorically at least, focuses on the climate emergency.

As always, there are quibbles. But people in planning, both developers and civil servants, hope they will get guidelines that will help them make decisions faster, perhaps avoiding expensive and time-consuming public local inquiries, or PLAs.

Industry insiders are keen to stress they are not demanding that they always get their way. “If it is going to be a ‘no’, fine, just let us know quickly,” said one.

Scottish Renewables is the sector’s umbrella organisation and it has said that planning snarl-ups are the number one gripe of its members.

Senior policy manager Mark Richardson stresses there needs to be a clear message to planning authorities from the top.

He said: “To date, the planning system has moved far too slowly. Too many years can pass until a wind-farm developer, for instance, learns whether they can build their project – years in which clean energy and economic growth are being wasted.”

“This week, two Moray wind farms were consented which will deliver nearly 500MW, but only after a two-year wait following a public inquiry, meaning a total of almost four years in the planning system.

“We are in the red zone of the climate emergency, and if we are to meet our climate change targets and create a healthier, safer, cleaner environment for our children and grandchildren this must change, and planning reforms which will shortly return to the Scottish Parliament must deliver that change.

“Clear guidance and resource are needed from government to direct all planning decision-makers to radically reform their approach to the planning balance, placing climate change and nature recovery at the heart of all decisions – and at the top of their priorities when making decisions on renewable energy projects.”

Carolyn Wilson, onshore consents team manager for SSE Renewables, has encountered capacity problems across the planning system, in national and local government and in the agencies who are sounded out about developments, such as NatureScot, Historic Environment Scotland and Scottish Environment Protection (Sepa).

But she added: “The other blocker is the system itself and the inherent delays in transforming it. Obviously, the Covid pandemic over the last two years has withdrawn focus from change.”

The SSE executive also cited frustrations with delays on small applications, like weather masts at wind farms. Barry Carruthers, the managing director for onshore at ScottishPower Renewables, shared those concerns.

“It’s not just about the volume of resources in local and central government departments, it’s about the right experience and knowledge and for the system to be agile enough to keep up with changes in everything from fast moving technology through to progress in environmental considerations,” he said.

“For example, the turbine technology going through planning stages could have changed by the time you get to construction with more efficient machines.”

Mr Carruthers added that the fourth National Planning Framework (NPF4) “must clearly support our ambitions to achieve net zero and must be unequivocal in terms of its approach to doing so”. This direction, he suggested, should filter right through the system.

He added: “Scotland has benefited greatly from early investment in renewables but many of those projects will be coming to the end of their existing lifespan. Currently, that could mean starting a new planning process from scratch when you have well designed and managed sites where you could have presumption in favour of consent to maximise land use and infrastructure efficiently.”

David Bell, a veteran planner and planning consultant, is blunter still. “Planning authorities are struggling, in terms of capacity, to determine applications. There needs to be action to address this or it will constrain, and threaten, our attainment of the net zero target.”

The Scottish Government said that it "recognises the financial pressure and capacity challenge which planning authorities are experiencing.” It put up fees earlier this year "to provide much needed additional resources”. 

A spokesman added: "The Scottish Government is working with Heads of Planning Scotland, the RTPI and universities to take forward proposals in the recent Future Planners report to help increase the number of people entering the planning profession."