{"id":3409,"date":"2026-07-09T13:37:46","date_gmt":"2026-07-09T12:37:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.gov.scot\/planning-architecture\/?p=3409"},"modified":"2026-07-09T13:50:00","modified_gmt":"2026-07-09T12:50:00","slug":"updated-evidence-in-the-local-development-plan-ldp-process","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.gov.scot\/planning-architecture\/2026\/07\/09\/updated-evidence-in-the-local-development-plan-ldp-process\/","title":{"rendered":"Updated evidence in the Local Development Plan (LDP) process"},"content":{"rendered":"<h4><strong>Stakeholder workshop<\/strong><\/h4>\n<p>Earlier in the Spring, the Scottish Government hosted a workshop to consider implications of new evidence as LDPs are prepared. It was prompted following the publication of updated household projections (2022 base) by National Registers for Scotland (NRS).<\/p>\n<p>Attendees included representatives from Heads of Planning Scotland, Homes for Scotland, the Improvement Service and Scottish Government, including DPEA. The asks resulting from the workshop were for:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>clarity on <strong>key messages<\/strong> to inform action taken on new evidence,<\/li>\n<li><strong>practical advice and support<\/strong>, rather than more guidance documents, and<\/li>\n<li>increasing<strong> in-person working<\/strong> to build relationships between stakeholders<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h4><strong>Key messages<\/strong><\/h4>\n<p>Stakeholders acknowledged that <strong>new evidence is not a new thing<\/strong> to the plan making process \u2013 evidence will evolve as new information emerges and updated statistics are released. For housing, new information could include the updated household projection information and the refresh of the Housing Need and Demand Assessment (HNDA) tool and guidance. There will be change as plans progress through the stages of preparation, and updated information will relate to a <strong>range of areas<\/strong>, for example climate change and flood assumptions.<\/p>\n<p>It was also accepted that the <strong>plan making process cannot stop and\/or restart<\/strong> each time new information becomes available as this creates delay. There is a drive to accelerate LDP delivery before the May 2028 target date so that there is greater confidence to progress allocated development sites and achieve national and local objectives for communities.<\/p>\n<p>Key to addressing the resulting tension is taking a <strong>pragmatic approach<\/strong> of looking at the practical considerations. Whilst there is no single approach that suits all circumstances, following discussion, workshop attendees identified the following to inform action:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>new evidence <strong>should be acknowledged and taken account of<\/strong><\/li>\n<li>\u00a0new evidence can be accounted for at <strong>all stages<\/strong> of the LDP making process<\/li>\n<li>taking into account new evidence <strong>does not necessarily mean making changes<\/strong><\/li>\n<li>Councils should explain <strong>why or why not<\/strong> any changes have been made<\/li>\n<li>this should be done in a <strong>transparent<\/strong> way, for example a concise statement provided to <strong>explain<\/strong> the position and to support stakeholder understanding<\/li>\n<li>this should involve <strong>proportionate engagement<\/strong> with stakeholders, for example focussed round table discussions which is <strong>recorded<\/strong>, rather than public consultation<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h4>Practical advice and support<\/h4>\n<p>The National Planning Improvement Champion (NPIC) is developing a programme to support LDP acceleration <a href=\"https:\/\/sway.cloud.microsoft\/Slzvu9k6L5UG26Xs?ref=email\">National Planning Hub<\/a>. This will include sharing of learning, for example developing case studies from good practice highlighted, and peer support amongst authorities. The Centre for Housing Market Analysis (CHMA) will also take part in webinars with authorities and industry on the refreshed HNDA tool and guidance.<\/p>\n<h4>In-person working<\/h4>\n<p>Bringing different interests together has reinforced the value of working in-person. Similar to the earlier <a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.gov.scot\/planning-architecture\/2026\/02\/26\/local-development-plans-ldp-action-plan-and-advice-on-evidence-reports-and-gate-checks\/\">summit<\/a> it has enabled the candid and respectful sharing of viewpoints and development of understanding rather than perpetuating defensive positions. This approach has been positively received across interests and we thank those attending the workshop for making the journey and engaging thoughtfully. The LDP support programme will facilitate the delivery of further in-person sessions.<\/p>\n<h4><strong>Further information <\/strong><\/h4>\n<p>The slides used at the workshop are available <a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.gov.scot\/planning-architecture\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2026\/07\/LDP-workshop-All-slides-31-March-2026.pptx\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">here.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Stakeholder workshop Earlier in the Spring, the Scottish Government hosted a workshop to consider implications of new evidence as LDPs are prepared. It was prompted following the publication of updated household projections (2022 base) by National Registers for Scotland (NRS). Attendees included representatives from Heads of Planning Scotland, Homes for Scotland, the Improvement Service and&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[466],"tags":[132],"class_list":["post-3409","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sg-planning","tag-local-development-plans"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Updated evidence in the Local Development Plan (LDP) process - Planning and Architecture<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Updated evidence in the Local Development Plan (LDP) process.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.gov.scot\/planning-architecture\/2026\/07\/09\/updated-evidence-in-the-local-development-plan-ldp-process\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Updated evidence in the Local Development Plan (LDP) process - 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