Local place plans
Local Place Plans are a recent type of approach to planning in Scotland that seeks to more actively engage communities in the design, designation and development of their local areas.
Local authorities prepare Local Development Plans to inform planning application decisions, however it is thought that these may not fully express the detailed needs of a particular community. Local Place Plans allow a community to prepare a plan focused specifically on their local area based on their local knowledge.
The intention is to give people an opportunity to develop proposals for the development and use of land in the place where they live, with regard to the Local Development Plan for their area, as well as the Scottish Government’s Strategic National Planning Framework which covers the whole of Scotland. Local Place Plans will stimulate and encourage debate about the future of a place, enabling communities to focus on their aspirations as well as their needs.
In 2022 the regulations for the preparation and submission of Local Place Plans were laid before Parliament in the Planning (Scotland) Act 2019 of which Part 1, Schedule 19 states: “A local place plan is a proposal as to the development or use of land. It may also identify land and buildings that the community body considers to be of particular significance to the local area.”
In January 2022 the Planning Circular 01/2022, set out guidance for communities and planning authorities on the preparation, submission and registration of Local Place Plans, which followed a survey that had previously been carried out, for which a summary can be found here. The initial guidance for Local Place Plans was published in January 2020, entitled 'The Local Place Plan Guide; a PAS approach'.
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