Local Place Plans offer communities the opportunity to develop proposals for their local area, expressing their aspirations and ambitions for future change.

Local Place Plans were introduced by the Planning (Scotland) Act 2019, which contains a new right for communities to produce their own plans as part of the new Scottish planning system. Local Place Plans contain the community’s proposals for the development and use of land, and provide a new opportunity for communities to feed into the planning system with ideas and proposals.

However, Local Place Plans are more than just a plan: they can help communities understand what they wants to be like in the future and help to develop a positive community identity.  They can help develop local connections and collaborations and develop community capacity and improve social capital. They can support community aspirations on the big challenges for a future Scotland, such as responding to the global climate emergency and tackling inequalities.  They are an opportunity for real, community-based change.

In advance of Local Place Plan legislation, many communities and organisations have already been working in this way.  Regulations to support the preparation, submission and registration of Local Place Plans came into force on 22nd January. See Circular 1/2022: Local Place Plans which contains Scottish Government guidance.

What is a Local Place Plan?

  • Though they should ideally be prepared collaboratively, Local Place Plans are community-led. They include proposals from communities about how land is developed and used within their local area and can describe the types of changes that local people want to see and be taken into account.

  • A Local Place Plan is an expression of community's aspirations and solutions which can influence the local planning policy.  It sets out priorities for future development in an area, as well as helping communities to develop and deliver their own projects.

  • Local Place Plans are proposals from communities about how land is developed and used within their local area.  It can describe the types of changes that local people want to see and be taken into account in the local authority development plan. 

  • Local Place Plans include a spatial vision – a plan – for the community that sets out where changes should happen, and a map which shows where.  they ca also contain an action plan laying out how changes will be delivered. 

 

Local Place Plans - A How To Guide

The Scottish Community Development Centre and Nick Wright Planning developed a draft ‘How to’ Guide aimed at supporting communities to prepare Local Place Plans.

An updated version will be published shortly.

Access the draft How To Guide

Local Place Plans Research Report

A literature review and research report on community-led planning in Scotland was undertaken to help support the development of the draft 'How to'' guide.

Access the literature review report