The Council’s Planning Service has begun preparation of a new Local Development Plan (LDP3) for the area. The Local Development Plan will set out how places in West Dunbartonshire will change over the next 10+ years, identifying where development will and will not happen.
Local Place Plans were introduced by the Planning (Scotland) Act 2019, giving communities the new power to produce their own plans to inform the preparation of the Local Development Plan.
Local Place Plans offer the opportunity for a community-led, collaborative approach to achieve community aspirations and create great places. We encourage community groups in West Dunbartonshire to take up this key opportunity to positively influence the future planning of their areas. We will work with groups to support this early engagement in development planning and empower communities to play a proactive role in defining the future of their places through preparing a Local Place Plan.
The new Local Development Plan will consider all validated and registered Local Place Plans to ensure that our communities’ aspirations for future development are proactively fed into the development planning process. We are inviting community groups to prepare Local Place Plans in accordance with this new power. We are offering support to communities to guide them through the technical process, so that they can meet the legal requirements for validation. Further details of this are below.
It is recommended that communities submit Local Place Plans for validation before 30th June 2025. This will allow sufficient time for Local Place Plans be validated, registered and considered before publication of the Proposed Local Development Plan in January 2026.
We are keen to support communities through this new process, so please contact us if you are interested in preparing a Local Place Plan, or have any questions on the process at: ldp@west-dunbarton.gov.uk.
A Local Place Plan must fulfil the following criteria. It must:
(a) a community-controlled body within the definition given in section 19 of the Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act 2015, or
(b) a community council established in accordance with Part 4 of the Local
Government (Scotland) Act 1973.
Broadly speaking, the definition covers established community councils, and bodies which must have a written constitution, but may not necessarily be incorporated. Please use the additional support form below to let us know if your group requires assistance with forming a community controlled body.
‘Development’ includes the change in use and appearance of existing buildings and land as well as new buildings. Local Place Plan proposals must relate to this ‘development’ process.
It is recognised that other matters, which are not defined as ‘development’ will be important to communities. Communities will want to consider how these are expressed within the Local Place Plan. These cannot be considered as part of the Local Development Plan process. Validated Local Place Plans will however be shared with relevant services across the Council for their consideration.
Local Place Plans must be prepared in accordance with Schedule 19 of the Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act 1997 (legislation.gov.uk) and The Town and Country Planning (Local Place Plans) (Scotland) Regulations 2021 (legislation.gov.uk). The Council can provide further guidance and assistance in relation to these requirements.
Circular 1/2022: Local Place Plans Circular 1/2022 Local Place Plans (www.gov.scot) gives further advice on meeting all of the above requirements.
The Scottish Government is preparing a How to Guide to support communities in preparing Local Place Plans. The Draft How to Guide (transformingplanning.scot), includes some helpful advice on the process. Please note however that it was prepared before the Regulations and Circular were finalised.
The Council will prepare a local How to Guide, in consultation with groups which are working on preparing a Local Place Plan.
Officers from the Development Planning and Place team are available to meet with community groups at the start of their Local Place Plan process to discuss the statutory requirements, explain the support that is on offer and discuss any further assistance.
Please use the communities map to view a number of different services and facilities within Community Council areas across West Dunbartonshire. WDC Map (arcgis.com)
Further online mapping facilities are under development and will be shared with groups preparing Local Place Plans and on this webpage.
Local Place Plans are required to have regard to the following documents:
National Planning Framework 4 - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)
Development Plan | West Dunbartonshire Council (west-dunbarton.gov.uk)
The current adopted plan is Local Plan 2010. Local Place Plans may also wish to consider the Proposed Local Development Plan (as modified) 2020 which is not adopted, but represents the Council’s most recent spatial strategy.
A Local Place Plan which relates to an area where a Locality Plan has been published must have regard to that Locality Plan. There is currently one Locality Plan in West Dunbartonshire:
West Dunbartonshire Council - Clydebank Waterfront Plan for place (west-dunbarton.gov.uk)
When your community group has a draft Local Place Plan for consultation, the Development Planning and Place Team will provide a response on the draft and will coordinate responses on the draft from relevant Council services.
A final meeting is available to communities to give the opportunity to undertake any outstanding processes which would be required to ensure a Local Place Plan is valid prior to formal submission.
The Council may be able to offer other assistance to groups, however due to resource implications, and dependent on the level of interest, these may not all be available to every group. Interested groups are asked to submit an expression of interest for further support using the form below. There will be an opportunity to discuss additional support at your start-up meeting. We may be able to offer assistance with the below:
Please complete the expression of interest form below to let us know if you are interested in this additional support:
The below links and information may be of assistance and interest as you move towards preparing a Local Place Plan.
Please contact us if you are considering preparing a Local Place Plan, or have any questions on the process at: LDP@west-dunbarton.gov.uk.