We’re currently in the ‘Evidence Gathering’ stage of preparing our new Local Development Plan and would like your feedback on our Topic Papers and Area Summaries.
This first stage of the Local Development Plan preparation is all about collating relevant information for an Evidence Report, which has to be submitted to the Scottish Government for review that is called a ‘gate check’. This to ensure that sufficient information is available to start preparing a new Local Development Plan. We have two ways for you to provide feedback: on our technical Topic Papers, or on our shorter, map-based Area Summaries.
The Topic Papers
The 10 Topic Papers we have drafted group the most closely related national planning policies of National Planning Framework 4. Each Topic Paper aims to summarise relevant national, regional and local evidence and information for the given topic area.
The Topic Papers have been prepared by National Park staff with advice and comments incorporated where possible from public bodies such as SEPA, Historic Environment Scotland, NatureScot, Transport Scotland and the Councils that cover the National Park.
The Topic Papers are engagement drafts, so are not the final ones that we will include within our Evidence Report – but your feedback will help us finalise these. By completing our survey, you can identify any gaps or pieces of evidence we should also consider for the Evidence Report.
The Topic Papers are technical and present a lot of information. This is due to their nature as baseline information to be reviewed by Scottish Government, as the foundation for the new Local Development Plan. Each Topic Paper has an explanatory note at the front to help you navigate it. If you’d prefer to read and give comments on a shorter map-based of the evidence, check out one of our Area Summaries, which highlight key points, opportunities and issues from across the 10 Topic Papers.
The technical Topic Papers
The following list links to the 10 Topic Papers, alongside any relevant supporting information.
The Topic Paper Feedback Survey be used to provide feedback on any of the Topic Papers. You can submit feedback to multiple Topic Papers within the same survey. Please note, this survey will close on Thursday 10th July 2025.
- Climate Change and Land Use
- Biodiversity, Natural Places, and Forestry, Woodland and Trees
- Infrastructure First
- Flooding, Water Management and Blue & Green Infrastructure
- Energy and Heat & Cooling
- Sustainable Transport
- Housing
- Living Well Locally
- Cultural Heritage and Place
- Rural Economy
If you have any questions please get in touch with us LocalDevPlan2@lochlomond-trossachs.org
The Area Summaries
We are hosting 6 workshops across the National Park to discuss the Local Development Plan and highlight the key priorities, opportunities and issues for different places. We’ve created Area Summaries for each of the localities to present the information at these workshops. These clearly show how we have incorporated the Local Place Plans from our communities within our evidence.
The Area Summaries were primarily designed for the in-person workshops, but we are making these available online too for feedback. You may prefer these over the Topic Papers if you attended the workshops and would like to provide further feedback, have a local interest in a particular place, or are simply looking for an overview of the Topic Papers in a spatial context. The Area Summaries will also form part of our Evidence Report, so your feedback on these and the Topic Papers, will help shape this important document.
They will work best when viewed on a desktop screen.
If the format of these isn’t accessible to you, you can get in touch with us at LocalDevPlan2@lochlomond-trossachs.org to request a different format.
As we are using these Area Summaries at our workshops, we will release them in order of when they are scheduled, as detailed in the following list. We have also prepared a short introduction to explain what the Area Summaries cover and how they are structured.
The Place Summaries feedback survey should be used to provide feedback on these. Please note, this survey will close on Thursday 10th July 2025.
Week Commencing 19th May:
Week Commencing 26th May:
Week Commencing 2nd June: Callander and Strathearn, East Loch Lomond
How to feedback
If you would like to feedback on the Topic Papers, please complete our survey here.
The Area Summaries documents will be available online after the workshops have happened. If you wish to feedback after a workshop, you can complete our survey here.
Please note, both surveys will close on Thursday 10th July 2025.
Play Sufficiency Assessment
Loch Lomond & The Trossachs National Park Authority has carried out a play sufficiency assessment to meet the obligations of the Planning (Scotland) Act 2019. As a planning authority, the National Park is required to assess the adequacy of play opportunities for children within its area. This assessment forms part of the Evidence Report.
A dedicated survey has been developed to gather insights from primary and secondary school-aged children about where they play and spend time, and how these spaces could be improved. Parents, carers, and community councils are also encouraged to complete the survey to help the Park Authority better understand the quality and availability of play spaces in their area. This feedback will play a vital role in shaping future provision and improvements.
What's Next?
Your feedback will help finalise the Topic Papers. Once we have completed the 8-week engagement period, we will review all the responses we have received. We will make changes to the Topic Papers where required and collate these into the full Evidence Report, which will also summarise the outcomes of our engagement. It is this full – finalised – Evidence Report that the Park Authority Board will need to approve before it can be submitted to the Scottish Government for review at the ‘gate check’.
Once we have received Scottish Government’s feedback from this gate check on whether we can either proceed or need to amend the Report, the next stage is preparing the Proposed Plan (draft Local Development Plan). In this future stage, there will be further opportunity to get involved including a formal public consultation on the Proposed Plan.
