With the introduction of Scotland’s new planning system in 2019, Local Development Plans (LDPs), the spatial plans and policies designed to show how each local authority will change into the future, have undergone some reforms. One of the main aims of new-style plans is to front-load community involvement by gathering opinions on how people feel about their area and how they would like to see it improved early in the plan preparation process.
To find out more in Local Development Plans see our webpage
Introduction
Following Scotland’s new Planning Act in 2019 and the gradual reform of the planning system, Local Development Plans (LDPs), the spatial plans and policies designed to show how each local authority will change into the future, have undergone some reforms. One of the main aims of new-style plans is to front-load community involvement by gathering opinions on how people feel about their area and how they would like to see it improved early in the plan preparation process.
Most local authorities, apart from those who very recently adopted a new plan prior to the new style LDPs being introduced, have completed or are in the process of their early engagement stage. This involves a range of surveys and events, and local authorities can determine how they engage their communities. Some councils ran a series of engagement events across communities in their local authority, and others had specific events and surveys for engaging young people.
A key difference between new and old-style LDPs is their timeframe. Whereas previous plans were renewed every 5 years, new plans are expected to last 10 years, but with a view to 20 years in the future. This means that they can have a longer term vision for the future of an area, but also that the information in a plan lasts longer and is more influential, therefore community input is even more important. In addition, since communities do not have the right to appeal against planning decisions (whereas developers do) this makes the importance of including community input at an early stage even more imperative.
For authorities such as Argyll and Bute and East Ayrshire, both of whom adopted their most recent plan in 2023 under the old system, they will have to have a quick turnaround in preparing their next plan – the new Planning (Scotland) Act 2019 states that all local authorities must prepare a new-style LDP by Spring 2028. It seems unlikely that all areas will have finished the whole process and have a new adopted LDP by then.
As part of new-style LDPs, local authorities must prepare an evidence report, detailing the early engagement activities undertaken and what their outcomes mean for the LDP, and submit this to Scottish Ministers for a Gatecheck.
As of July 2024, four evidence reports, from Moray, Midlothian, Fife and Glasgow City councils, were submitted to the Scottish Government. These detailed the main takeaways from the early engagement stage and the main issues and priorities that local communities highlighted. This is the first time local authorities have had to compile evidence reports and submit them to the Scottish Government. What were the main issues raised by local communities?
What were the main issues raised by local communities?
Creating sustainable places:
All evidence reports acknowledge that the nature and climate crisis will significantly impact the authority areas and must be addressed in the next LDP, and each report identified local concerns and potential for creating a more sustainable area. Fife and Moray considered how their areas are exposed to the impacts of the climate crisis – through changes to weather patterns, sea level rise, water shortages, and extreme weather events. The Fife report also recognised the importance of addressing biodiversity loss, including a lack of data on flora and fauna, while those engaging with the Glasgow and Midlothian surveys saw the potential for increasing biodiverse spaces in their areas.
Fife and Midlothian, as areas with a lot of new proposed developments, considered the challenges of decarbonising the energy grid and future developments, as well as ensuring biodiversity is protected and enhanced in new developments. Those who engaged with the Glasgow Plan saw a need for more growing and allotment spaces. The Moray report focuses more on the risks that climate change will bring to the area, and how the LDP, and other plans and strategies, can help to build resilience to these. In particular, it highlights the role of nature-based solutions and collaborative work in addressing these issues. It also mentions the importance of safeguarding high quality landscapes and avoiding the cumulative effects of multiple wind farm developments.
Creating liveable places:
Housing was a central issue in all reports, as the councils weighed up how to address various needs. Fife council spoke about the need to build more homes, and the challenges council budget cuts posed to this, while Moray considered how best to use preexistent empty homes and brownfield sites. Midlothian, with its concentration of new housing developments, recognised the scale of housing growth in the area, and the need for an ‘infrastructure-first approach’ to this growth, ensuring that local facilities and services are provided alongside new housing developments. Respondents to engagement surveys also showed a strong preference for brownfield land to be used first when building new developments.
Those engaging with the Glasgow Plan highlighted the prevalence of fuel poverty in the city and the need for more sustainable, energy-efficient homes. All four areas also considered how best to address capacity issues in areas such as education, healthcare, digital connectivity, and public transport. With regards to site allocations, Fife Council mentioned in their report that sites allocated for housing in the previous LDP that do not have planning permission will not immediately roll forward to the next LDP, but will be assessed alongside other considerations, such as housing need and updated flood risk data.
Creating productive places:
Moray and Fife focused primarily on community wealth building when considering how to deliver economic benefits to their areas. Both saw it as a key mechanism to address local economic disadvantages and inequalities and believe that it can bring huge benefits to local communities. Moray Council tied this to renewable energy developments and is seeking to maximise community wealth building opportunities arising from these. Glasgow City Council identified the high vacancy rates in some areas as being an issue that the LDP should address, while Midlothian Council similarly saw a need for town centre regeneration, as well as better public transport access to urban areas.
Other Observations
Fife, Moray and Midlothian reports also highlighted the changing demographics of each area and the challenges and opportunities they can bring. Both Fife and Moray expect to see an ageing population and a declining rural population, though this is less of an issue in Fife than it is in Moray. Midlothian, meanwhile, is seeing a huge growth in population and numbers of households and a loss of agricultural land. Each LDP must address how to adapt each area to its changing needs.
The Process
You can find evidence reports which have been submitted for a Gatecheck through the DEPA website by selecting ‘Gatecheck review’ as the case type.
Following the Gatecheck, some authorities will hold a ‘Call for Ideas’. This is another change that was brought in under the new system, and replaces the previous ‘Call for Sites’, where sites for potential development could be submitted by developers and landowners. A Call for Ideas is an optional step which is open to everyone to propose ideas for any aspect of the Plan, and is not limited specifically to suggestions for development sites. The idea behind changing this is to make the LDP preparation process more democratic and open. Not all local authorities will do this, and if they choose to do so, requirements and Government guidance around this stage allow for the authority to have lots of flexibility in how and when they do it.
After this, the next stage for public engagement is the consultation on the proposed plan. At this stage, the planning authority uses the evidence and input so far to draft the area’s LDP, and consult on it for a legal minimum of 12 weeks. For most local authorities, this will be from mid 2025 onwards.
As each local authority progresses with creating their new-style LDPs, they will have a range of issues to address, from changing population demographics to addressing the climate and biodiversity crisis. How the issues raised by the community will be represented in evidence reports, and ultimately how they are addressed in the final LDPs, remains to be seen.