Giving a voice to communities: the key to strong Local Place Plans in Scotland

Across Scotland, communities are invited by their councils to shape the future of their neighbourhoods - but making those voices count within a Local Development Plan (LDP) isn’t easy. 

An LDP is a document that guides development in a specific area. They are re-written every few years and determine how places will change and develop to be in keeping with community needs, and in line with wider planning strategies and national frameworks. To make sure this is really the case, the Scottish Government introduced Local Place Plans, to give a voice to the community within this process. This is usually supported by a small grant for the community group to appoint a consultant - which is where we come in. 

We understand the potential that a considered and well-scoped Local Place Plan can offer a community; they are a powerful tool and encourage people to get involved in creating a better future. 

What does this really mean in practice? 

Over the last year, we’ve been working with communities across Scotland, such as, Broomhill and Whithorn, to support them in developing strong community-led plans. 

For example, in Broomhill, residents used their Local Place Plan to: 

• Protect green spaces - The plan proposed formal designation of local parks and woodlands as protected open space and sites of special landscape importance, preventing future development pressure. 
• Improve movement and safety - It called for safer school streets, upgraded crossings, and new cycle routes to connect key neighbourhood destinations. 
• Secure community facilities - The plan highlighted the lack of local indoor gathering space and recommended policy support for converting suitable sites into community use. 
• Enhance local centres - It recommended re-designating Crow Road as a Local Town Centre, creating the foundation for more vibrant retail and hospitality and safer pedestrian experience. 

Our Broomhill Place Plan has recently been formally registered by Glasgow City Council – you can view it here: https://lnkd.in/esaK4sdA 

But, not all Local Place Plans are created equal. The difference lies in how deeply you engage and how rigorously you align community goals with policy realities.  

A strong Local Place Plan should hit all of the below requirements in development: 

1. Every plan must be bespoke 

Every plan should be truly individual - shaped around the community’s identities, priorities, and future aspirations, rather than a generic template. This means the Local Place Plan isn’t just compliant, it’s meaningful and actionable. 

In Broomhill, that meant designing a plan that balancing the character of a conservation area while addressing accessibility and community amenity challenges. 

2. Bridge the gap between communities and policy 

Turning community voices into proposals developed with planning context in mind, so that local authorities can easily make the next steps to action them. This ensures the priorities don’t just get heard - they are easier to genuinely write into the Local Development Plan. 

3. Be more than just a one-off report  

Seeing place plans as process to connect communities, stakeholders and potential partners. Often, the ambitions and parties identified in a place plan can lead to future community initiatives and support funding applications for new or reinvigorated projects. Your Local Place Plan can become a long-term strategy document; we will keep this in mind when producing it, and be on hand to advise how we could continue working with you to push forward on any continued work long after the plan is signed-off. 

4. Reach the unreachable 

Going beyond the ‘usual voices’ by using tailored engagement methods is a must - from creative youth workshops to outreach targeted at the hard-to-reach voices unique in every community - so marginalised and disconnected groups are genuinely represented as best they can within the scope of work and funding available. This makes plans more inclusive, robust, and harder to ignore.  

For Broomhill, we designed focussed efforts to reach residents in high-rise flats who might otherwise have been excluded from the conversation, including pop-up painting event during school pick-up times to catch parents and carers. 

5. Wear multiple hats  

It's important to bring different skills into the process when creating a professional, and visually clear and graphic document, that's presented in a way most useful to the community it's seeking to support. One community may need a series of quick wins, whereas another needs a handful of detailed vision projects; in any case, so it's important to not just create text-heavy document without any hierarchy or pragmatic strategy to its suggestions. 

6. Be honest 

Honesty is key. Being honest and transparent about the scope of change possible throughout the planning system will focus efforts and build positive relationships with the community. Having trust makes the place plan more meaningful, sustainable and effective.  

We believe Local Place Plans can transform how places evolve - and we’re here to help communities make that happen. If your community is considering a Local Place Plan, let’s talk about how we can help. Get in touch with the team via: Community Engagement Consultants | Civic