Local Place Plans
The Scottish Government has introduced Local Place Plans to encourage communities to play an active role in the planning for their area.
By developing and submitting a Local Place Plan, communities can have a more direct role in the decisions that influence their local community.
Invitation to create Local Place Plans
Local Place Plans allow communities to submit ideas and proposals for their area that can be taken into consideration while the Local Development Plan for their area is being prepared.
We will soon be preparing a new Highland-wide Local Development Plan that will be shaped by the aspirations and ambitions of communities across the Highlands. We are aiming to adopt our new Local Development Plan in 2027.
We are inviting community groups to create their own community-led Local Place Plans, which set out their proposals for development or the use of land in their area.
Based on current timescales, Local Place Plans should be submitted by the end of January 2024, so we can use your community plans to feed into the earliest stages of the new Local Development Plan. However, this timescale depends on Scottish Government publishing the new National Planning Framework and subsequent guidance.
Please see below for guidance on creating Local Place Plans:
- Scottish Government guide to preparing, submitting and registering Local Place Plans
- Scottish Government and partner organisation guide to Local Place Plans
- Scottish Community Development Centre and Nick Wright Planning How to Guide to creating Local Place Plans
- Planning Aid Scotland (PAS) guide to Community-led Plans
- Parish Online mapping tools and advice to help your community build a Local Place Plan
Register of Local Place Plans
We will keep a register of Local Place Plans that have been created by communities in Highland. This register will be made available so that communities can see if there is a Local Place Plan for their area.
Once Local Place Plans have been registered, we have a legal responsibility to take them into account while preparing our Local Development Plan.
No Local Place Plans are currently registered in Highland.