Planning and Architecture

Local Place Plans – a big step closer

October 7, 2021 by planningarchitecture No Comments | Category Architecture, Planning

On 7 October 2021 the Scottish Government laid the Town and Country Planning (Local Place Plans) (Scotland) Regulations 2021 (the Regulations) in the Scottish Parliament. Subject to Parliament’s approval, they will come into force on 22 January 2022.

The Regulations provide for the preparation, submission and registration of Local Place Plans (LPPs). They are an important part of the legal framework for the development of LPPs. This legal framework also includes the requirements set out in schedule 19 of the amended Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act 1997.

The Regulations build upon proposals contained in a consultation paper published earlier in 2021. The consultation analysis report and consultation responses have been invaluable in preparing the 2021 Regulations now before Parliament. We would like to thank all of those who responded. Through their development, we have balanced light-touch legislation with a desire to promote collaborative, constructive and influential local place plans.

In anticipation of the Regulations coming into force in early 2022 we will develop the associated guidance linked to the legal requirements set out in both schedule 19 of the 1997 Act and the Regulations. With light-touch legislation, the guidance will be an important element of the package aimed at providing a framework for community bodies to prepare LPPs.

We are not starting with a blank slate and have a strong steer from communities and planning authorities as to the range of issues they wish to see covered. In addition, many communities have experience of community-led planning. There are also the responses to the consultation which contained many useful ideas and pointers. And we have the review of community-led planning in Scotland prepared by the Scottish Community Development Centre and Nick Wright Planning who distilled that learning into a draft ‘How to prepare a local place plan’ Guide.

Over the next few weeks we will draw these resources together and see where there may be gaps in our knowledge. We will seek further views on the shape of the guidance before the end of the year.  In the meantime, if you have any thoughts on the guidance, don’t hesitate to contact us at LPPRegs@gov.scot.

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