WHAT IS A LOCAL PLACE PLAN?
Local Place Plans are a new kind of plan which give local communities more influence over what happens in their area. Their most important feature is that they are prepared by the community itself.
Local Place Plans are part of new planning legislation that enables communities to identify their local priorities and develop a plan to tackle them. The planning authority (North Ayrshire Council) is legally obliged to take account of registered Local Place Plans in preparing new planning policy. You can find out more about Local Place Plans on this government webpage.
The Scottish Government says that Local Place Plans “offer the opportunity for a community-led, collaborative approach to creating great local places… effectively empowering communities to play a proactive role in defining the future of their places” (Circular 1/2022, paragraph 3).
Although Local Place Plans must include proposals for the development and use of land, they can include other proposals too. So, in many ways, Local Place Plans are similar to the Community Action Plans that were produced for Beith, Dalry and Kilbirnie in 2014-15, but with greater legal clout.
Since preparation of this Local Place Plan for the Garnock Valley is being supported by North Ayrshire Council and the Garnock Valley Locality Partnership, it is likely to influence other public services and investment too.
Local Place Plans are very new. Four examples from different parts of the country are shown below. Each is very different, because every community has distinct needs. Our Garnock Valley Local Place Plan will be different again.
The Black Isle Local Place Plan
Like the Garnock Valley, the Black Isle Local Place Plan covers multiple Community Council areas, with about 10,000 residents and lots of commuting. The Plan was funded by the local authority. Although the content is entirely community-led, the local authority was closely involved in its preparation as it marks the start of a fresh collaborative approach to planning public services and investment in the area.
Wester Hailes Local Place Plan
This Local Place Plan was produced by the local community with support from the local authority, to complement and support public sector investment in housing and infrastructure. The Plan includes detailed project proposals worked up by designers with the local community.
Ardgour Local Place Plan
Smaller scale than the Garnock Valley or the two examples above, this Local Place Plan was completely community-led and funded in the tradition of Community Action Plans up and down the country. It includes plans of villages too, making it into a Local Place Plan. It immediately led to an award of funding for a community development worker to help implement the plan.
Foxbar Local Place Plan, Paisley
This Local Place Plan was led by the local Community Council and local authority working together. The Scottish Government part-funded it as a pilot for the Local Place Planning concept.
It’s worth a look simply because of its simplicity: clear priorities emerging from community engagement, which have since been used to guide investment and action locally.
