Local Place Plans – Frequently Asked Questions FAQ

What is a Local Place Plan?

Local Place Plans (LPPs) were introduced by the Planning (Scotland) Act 2019 with the aim of enhancing engagement in development planning, and empowering communities to play a proactive role in defining the future of their places. They are community-led plans setting out proposals for the development and use of land. Once registered by the planning authority, they are to be taken into account in the preparation of the local development plan.

The Planning Act defines Local Place Plans as a ‘proposal as to the development or use of land’. Development may refer to new buildings, changes to the use/appearance of existing buildings, and other changes in the way land is used.

Examples of the types of issues that a Local Place Plan should normally focus on are:

• sites and land which support climate change adaptation/renewable energy/flood mitigation
• local initiatives for the promotion of active travel and community food growing
• sites for housing (including affordable), local employment or tourism/community facilities
• retaining and improving/expanding open space, play facilities and other green/blue infrastructure
• conservation of the natural and built environment
• improvements to town, village and neighbourhood centres
• support for national development (as featured in the National Planning Framework)

What’s the difference between a Community Action Plan and a Local Place Plan?

Community Action Plans and Local Place Plans share many of the same defining characteristics. Local Place Plans will continue to have a similar role to Community Action Plans.Most National Park communities will have prepared Community Action Plans with support from the Community Partnership. However the Planning (Scotland) Act 2019 introduced new powers for communities to prepare Local Place Plans, which meant a change in approach and type of support was required.

There is no legal obligation for a community to prepare a Local Place Plan, so any community can still prepare a Community Action Plan if they wish. However, community priorities and services are often intertwined with and interdependent on the development and use of land, so Local Place Plans offer a valuable additional role by informing the Local Development Plan.

Over the years, Community Action Plans have helped to deliver a multitude of community projects within the National Park, so it’s important to continue to prioritise community needs and identify projects the community can deliver. Community Action Plans and Local Place Plans share many of the same defining characteristics.

• They set out a vision of what’s important to enable people to live, work and visit sustainable, quality places
• They are independent documents created by your community for your community
• They can help your community come together to make positive changes to all aspects of community life – the process can encourage volunteering, develop skills or improve confidence
• When community engagement is proven to be broad and inclusive, they provide a representative view of your community’s opinions, so can be used as evidence by communities, public agencies, or others to understand local priorities, attract funding and deliver services and spatial developments

The Act now requires the Local Development Plan to “take account” of Local Place Plans – giving community views more weight. It also requires Local Place Plans to align with national planning priorities and reflect Scotland’s National Outcomes. Local Place Plans must also include maps and meet certain standards of engagement.

The Act requires a Planning Authority to provide some support but does not define how much or what type – it is left up to each Planning Authority to provide support depending on resources available. Further information on what support the Park Authority can offer can be found on our Helpful Links webpage.

Why might a community want to create a Local Place Plan?

Local Place Plans provide communities with the ability to shape the appearance, form and function of the places in which they live. These plans can raise awareness and bring attention to issues that are experienced in a community and explore what actions can be taken to improve them.

They have a statutory role in shaping the planning process as an important input to the preparation of Local Development Plans. They can also help the National Park Authority, Council and Community Planning Partners and funding organisations to better understand local issues and where to target investment and services.

The process of preparing a Local Place Plan provides an opportunity for communities to come together, and to engage with other organisations that can help to shape their future. The process can also inspire community action and provide a framework for actions to be delivered by the community itself.

What boundaries should Local Place Plans use?

Local Place Plans should relate to a recognisable area or community, but this can take many shapes and forms. For example, this could include:

• Community Council Boundaries
• Towns or villages
• Individual neighbourhoods within settlements
• Any other geography a community self-defines itself by

A map of the area covered will be needed when preparing a Local Place Plan

Who prepares Local Place Plans?

Local Place Plans must be prepared by a Community Council or a ‘community-controlled body’ (as defined by the Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act 2015). If you are unsure, we can help to advise what qualifies under these definitions.

What weight will Local Place Plans have in planning decisions?

Local Place Plans registered through the Park Authority will not be part of the ‘development plan’ as defined by the Planning Act but will feed into the preparation of the National Park Local Development Plan.

Communities can participate in all parts of the planning system, including consultation and development on the National Park’s Local Development Plan and on planning applications. Local Place Plans are not intended to replace these opportunities, but to complement them. Please get in touch with us if you’d like to discuss this issue further.

What other plans must a Local Place Plan have regard to?

The list of plans a Community Body must have regard too when preparing a Local Place Plan is set out in legislation. These are the Local Development Plan, the National Planning Framework, and any Locality Plan published for the area to which the Place Plan relates. These plans are readily available online and our Checklist for Local Place Plan (LPP) Submission for Validation and Registration provides you some further information on these plans and where they are available. You do not need to refer to these plans in your Local Place Plan but you must explain in your validation statement how you gave regard to them.

Though there is no legal requirement, you may want to refer to a range of other documents that can provide context and evidence for the Local Place Plan. We recommend that you use or refer to other National Park plans and strategies, such as:

• The National Park Partnership Plan 2018-23. This Plan is being reviewed and discussed informally with stakeholders during 2022-23. A new strategic vision for the National Park will be outlined in a Draft Plan 2024-45 and will be published and consulted upon in early 2023.
• A number of other strategic plans for the National Park, such as the Trees and Woodland Strategy, Future Nature, and Litter Prevention Strategy. Please see the National Park Website for more information.

In addition to the statutory plans detailed above, many communities in the National Park have prepared Community Action Plans. They can be found on our Community Planning webpages.

Have a look at the Local Place Plan webpages on the Our Place Scotland website and the Themes set out at the bottom of this webpage, as they discuss the Challenges, opportunities, and priorities that Scotland and the National Park are facing.

We understand that for communities looking to engage in improving their local area, there may be confusion about which plans they need to refer to and the relationship between plans. Please get in touch with Park Authority staff to discuss this.

What level of consultation will be expected for Local Place Plans?

The regulations have been written to avoid being overly prescriptive on requirements for consultation, but there are specific requirements for consultation with community councils and local councillors. These are set out in paragraphs 49-58 of the Circular.

On submission of Local Place Plans, community bodies will need to provide a statement setting out the level and nature of support for the plan, with evidence to demonstrate this.

We would expect community engagement to inform Local Place Plans to be as inclusive as possible, ensuring that everyone, including young people, have an opportunity to be involved. There are rules about engaging with elected Council Members and adjacent Community Councils. The good-practice principles set out in the National Standards for Community Engagement should be applied.

What will be the process for registering a Local Place Plan?

The National Park Authority will keep a record of Local Place Plans. We expect the Scottish Government to keep the official Register Local Place Plans. When a valid Local Place Plan is submitted to the Park Authority by a community body, we’ll include it in our record and inform the Register and then inform the community body that the plan has been registered.

For the Local Place Plan to be considered valid, the community body must comply with requirements relating to the steps which must be taken before preparing and submitting the plan and the information which must be submitted alongside a local place plan. These details are set out in the Circular. To be valid, a Local Place Plan must include the following information:

• A copy of the written constitution of the community body.
• Contact details (including email address) for the Park Authority to contact the community body.
• Evidence of meeting the requirements for consulting on the proposed Local Place Plan. This should include a list of the councillors and community councils consulted, a copy of the Proposed Local Place Plan, and a copy of the information notice.
• A statement explaining how the community body has given regard to the existing Local Development Plan, National Planning Framework, and if applicable, any locality plan for the Local Place Plan area, in preparing the Local Place Plan.
• A statement setting out the community body’s view of the level and nature of support for the Local Place Plan, explaining how it has reached that view, including a description of any consultation carried out on the Proposed Local Place Plan.
• A copy of any document referred to in the Local Place Plan, unless it is a National Park Authority document. We will accept electronic copies or hyperlinks to documents on the web.
• If the community body considers that the Local Development Plan should be amended as a result of the Local Place Plan, a statement should be included setting out the reasons of the community body for the amendments it suggests.

The record and Register will be accessed from these pages. You’ll also be able to find a map of land covered by registered Local Place Plans here in the future.

Our Checklist for Local Place Plan (LPP) Submission for Validation and Registration provides you with some further information and a template for submission.

What if our community wishes to submit an existing or recent Community plan?

If your community has produced a recent plan which meets the criteria for Local Place Plans, it may be possible to use this as a basis for submission. We will need to consider this in the context of requirements from the legislation and forthcoming Scottish Government guidance. Please refer to the Circular and check that you have undertaken the necessary engagement and included relevant information in your plan prior to submission.

What if we don’t have a Local Place Plan registered before consultation and publication of the Local Development Plan?

Communities can influence what’s in the Local Development Plan (LDP) in a variety of ways. If you haven’t got your Local Place Plan ready, or you don’t intend to prepare one, then the Park Authority will contact your Community Council and other community groups to give you an opportunity to share your ideas as part of the process to prepare the new LDP. The Park Authority will also gather all the information we can find about your community, including your past and present Community Action Plans to inform the Proposed Plan alongside other evidence and stakeholder engagement. In the formal stage, you can then comment on the proposed LDP, which we expect will be published in late 2023 (subject to change).

Local Place Plans can be prepared and submitted to the Park Authority after the publication of the next Local Development Plan. They will become material consideration to any planning decisions, even if they have not formally informed policies.

How is community-led planning different in the National Park – what are Key Agencies?

Most Planning Authorities are part of a Council, however, the Park Authority is the Planning Authority for the National Park. This means National Park communities must understand how both agencies work and have to engage with Council staff and Park Authority staff when discussing local needs, such as roads, waste/recycling, transport, health/social care, skills, and economic development etc. This is in addition to having to speak with all the other public sector Key Agencies, such as Transport Scotland.

We understand this can be challenging. Please come and speak to the Park Authority to discuss how best to engage with other agencies.  There may even be opportunities to involve other agencies in you Place Plan process, or you could approach your Community Planning Partnership and ask how your Local Place Plan idea can be considered by the relevant Community Planning Partner(s). You can also ask your Third Sector Interface Contact Page for help – the TSI is the statutory mechanism set up to support the voice of the community/third sector in Community Planning.

Can a Local Place Plan propose ideas about services rather than developments that need physical space?

Yes, a Local Place Plan can express proposals about services, such as health care, social care, transportation, waste, and recycling, etc., and some of these will rely on the development or long-term use of land or buildings. Your community can use priorities about services to discuss with providers about service improvements. It’s important that your Plan explores local priorities together with neighbouring villages and towns; these connecting priorities can help improve access to essential services that are out of walkable reach and can help to reimagine mobility for the wider area. Please see the Living Well Locally section on our Community Planning webpage.

What statistics/area profile information is available to help inform Local Place Plans?

Your Council will have census information, research, and data about your area and community. This will include Datasets that provide access to a broad range of key social, economic and health, and well-being indicators. Contact your Council and speak to the Communities or Community Development Team to ask about how you can get this sort of information. Park Authority staff can help signpost you to more open-source census information too, contact us at communitydevelopment@lochlomond-trossachs.org.

When you’re creating a place plan, it’s important to understand the existing assets of the area, such as the built and natural heritage. Heritage can make a significant contribution to place, identity, health, education, culture, well-being, tourism, and sustainability. Heritage assets should be considered in this context.

It’s also important to consider existing plans and strategies relevant to the local area. Please see our Helfpul Links page, for more information on these.

How can we make sure our Local Place Plan is delivered?

Once you’ve completed your Local Place Plan, the most important stage is about to start – taking action! Your community body will have ownership of the delivery of the Local Place Plan, which can take many forms, for example, influencing other plans and strategies, community-led delivery of projects, or even acquiring land/buildings through community asset transfer.

A Delivery Plan is needed because it’s complex to work out what support or funding is needed to deliver certain actions, who is responsible for delivery (it could be many organisations), and how long it will take to deliver. A Delivery Plan should

• be developed collaboratively – involve other organsations/agencies to gain their buy-in
• identify if support/funding is needed to develop proposals and coordinate delivery
• include delivery costs and timescales
• explain how the delivery will be monitored using SMART outcomes
• identify ways of communicating and celebrating progress
• review, evaluate and update your Plan

Having a Local Place Plan comes with the responsibility to keep it alive through a Delivery Plan. Delivery needs to be coordinated and communicated in order to maintain momentum. It is a long-term commitment and requires collaborative working. Therefore, the Delivery Plan needs to be feasible and realistic – and the orgnaisation coordinating and monitoring it needs to have the capacity to coordinate the process. Section 4 of the Draft How to Guide includes advice on delivery.

How can a Community Council use a Local Place Plan?

A Community Council can work with other local community groups and residents in their area to prepare a Local Place Plan. In some places, Community Councils have led/convened the Local Place Plan Steering Group, which is made up of a variety of groups representing different interests in a community. However, information and priorities proposed in a Local Place Plan are based on inclusive engagement with the wider community and should reflect the views of the whole community. It is therefore an objective, evidence-led document owned by the whole community – not owned by one particular group.

Some would say, a Community Council is in a good position to ‘govern’ a Local Place Plan, but does not have singular ownership of its proposals. As a community-owned plan, a Local Place Plan can be used by a Community Council to represent community views and interests – especially in relation to planning applications.

How can Local Place Plans help with influencing wider land use and deliver for the nature crisis?

Your community could play an important role in land use decision-making on issues like food production, carbon sequestration, improved biodiversity and support for health and wellbeing. We are one of five pilot areas to help develop Scotland’s’ approach to land use.

Even though the idea of Local Place Plans has come out of Planning Legislation, their focus does not just need to be about development in a village/town. We are keen to see communities consider wider themes and issues in relation to the way land is used and managed and the value and condition of nature in the surrounding countryside.

There is often a misconception that Nature in the National Park is doing well – but in fact it is in crisis just as much as other places in Scotland. It experiences pressures from overgrazing, pollution and invasive non-native species meaning iconic habitats and species are in decline. Some communities in the Park are already taking action by taking control of areas of land, such as developing community woodlands for people and nature (see Cormonachan Woodlands or Strathfillan Community Woodlands).

Others have already been using Local Place Plans to express their views on land use and seeking greater involvement in land management planning in relation to commercial forestry, culling, and rhododendron control. See Stronachlachar and Inversaid Community Life Plan as a good example of a plan that tackles these wider issues.

As part of the pilot, the Social Enterprise Academy are exploring a new approach to strengthen community engagement in local land use. Local people were invited to take part in a unique community learning programme starting with open webinars entitled ‘Lighting a Spark – Sharing Inspiring stories about Land Use across Scotland’. The Social Enterprise Academy will then be working with communities across Scotland to develop their vision for their land use. Lochgoilhead has been selected as a pilot community and we will share the outputs of this work here, when available.

We can help you understand the land use issues in your place and the Local Place Plan can be used to help find solutions to restore nature; you may wish to identify land that the community wish to own or have more influence over decisions.

If you want more information or help to develop this aspect of your Local Place Plan then please come to speak to us and we can put you in touch with our land conservation team. Further information can be found in the Conservation section of our website

How can Local Place Plans be used to tackle the climate emergency?

Local Place Plans can support community aspirations on the big challenges for a future Scotland, such as responding to the global climate emergency.
We know from working with communities that there is a real concern about our changing climate and many parts of the Park are already being impacted by flooding, or long periods of dry weather. Communities are considering local solutions, quite often around sustainable modes of transport to reduce carbon emissions, renewable energy, reuse and repair, or growing local food.

Local Place Plans can consider climate adaptation, climate mitigation and just transition -see here for more information. A ‘climate lens’ for the Place Standard Tool has been developed and offers a practical resource for communities to consider how climate change will play out in your local area and what action might be taken.

Another way to consider climate is look at how your community could live well locally. In 2021/22 we funded Forth Environment Link to work with the Drymen community and its neighbouring villages to apply this concept in a more rural context. The project explored how residents currently access facilities or services, and what is needed to enable people in a rural village to live more locally (and in turn reduce carbon emissions). Please see the Living Well Locally Vision and Route Map.

We hope communities across the whole of the National Park will learn from this project and consider applying this thinking, especially as they develop their Local Place Plans to help them identify what is needed to enable local living within their places. Some great examples can be found on our Green Recovery Grant webpage, as well as numerous webpages such as on the Scottish Communities Climate Action Network, Adaptation Scotland and the Communities Channel Scotland. The Net Zero Scotland website is also a helpful resource.