Local Development Plan 3 Evidence Report Resubmission
Perth and Kinross Council · 10 December 2025
Back to Perth and Kinross Council — 10 December 2025 and its agenda
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Our vision is a Perth and Kinross where everyone can live life well, free from poverty and inequality ___________________________________________________________________ Committee: Perth and Kinross Council Date of Meeting: 10 December 2025 Report Title: Local Development Plan 3 Evidence Report Resubmission Report Number: 25/354 Report Author: Brenda Murray, Team Leader – Development Plans Organisational Lead: Serge Merone, Strategic Lead – Economy, Development and Planning ___________________________________________________________________ 1. Purpose 1.1 This report asks Council to approve the Perth and Kinross Local Development Plan 3 (LDP3) Evidence Report Resubmission and delegate authority to the Strategic Lead (Economy, Development and Planning) to submit to the Scottish Ministers for the Gate Check process. 1.2 The LDP3 will have an important role in delivering the spatial planning aspects of the Corporate Plan 2022-2027, particularly contributing to the priorities of ‘tackling climate change and supporting sustainable places’ and ‘developing a resilient, stronger and greener economy’. 1.3 Sections 1. Purpose 2. Recommendations 3. Background/Context 4. Main Issues 5. Next Steps 6. Conclusion 7. Impact Value Assessment 8. Appendices
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2. Recommendations It is recommended that the Council: 2.1 Approves the LDP3 Evidence Report Resubmission and delegates authority to the Strategic Lead (Economy, Development and Planning) to submit it to Scottish Ministers who will appoint a Reporter from the Department for Planning and Environmental Appeals (DPEA) for review. 2.2 Delegates Authority to the Strategic Lead (Economy, Development and Planning) to make any necessary minor changes or updates to the Evidence Report thereafter, prior to its submission to Scottish Ministers. 3. Background/Context 3.1 Local Development Plans (LDPs) guide the use and development of land within an area, and indicate where investment in housing, employment, leisure and infrastructure will take place over the plan period. Together with the National Planning Framework (NPF4), the LDP constitutes the statutory Development Plan for an area against which all planning applications are assessed. The Development Plan is also used by investors to inform decisions. 3.2 The LDP Evidence Report was approved for submission to Scottish Ministers at Full Council on 5 March 2025 and submitted to the DPEA for Gate Check on 27 March 2025. A response back from the DPEA was received on 8 July 2025 asking that further work was undertaken and the Evidence Report be re- submitted. The Reporters assessment is at Appendix 2. 3.3 The Reporter’s assessment concluded that the Evidence Report collated a large amount of information and appears to be a largely comprehensive overview of the evidence available to Perth and Kinross Council at the time of preparation. However, the Reporter found that the Evidence Report submission did not provide the Council’s view, as the planning authority, on the capacity of education services in the district, required by sections 16B(3)(a) and 15(5) of the 2019 Planning Act. 3.4 Furthermore, it was also the Reporter’s view that there was not sufficient information in the report submission, with respect to a number of identified gaps relating to emerging reports, strategies and analysis that remained outstanding at the time of submission in March 2025, to enable us, as the planning authority, to prepare the Local Development Plan 3. The Reporter’s assessment report contained the detailed reasons for this decision and set out a list of recommendations for improvement. 3.5 The Evidence Report has now been updated in line with these recommendations for re-submission. To make it clear, the updates are set out in Table 1 of the revised Evidence Report which is replicated in this report at Appendix 1.
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The revised Evidence Report is attached in full at Appendix 3; it’s appendices at Appendix 4 (Note: those which have been updated for resubmission include ‘RESUBMISSION’ in their title), and details of where changes have been made across the various documents are provided at Appendix 5. 3.6 As a reminder, the LDP3 is being prepared under a revised statutory process as set out in the Planning (Scotland) Act 2019 and accompanying Local Development Planning Regulations 2023. A significant change in the process is the requirement to prepare an Evidence Report as the first major stage in plan preparation, prior to the drafting of the Proposed Plan. The purpose of the Evidence Report is to provide a sound evidence base for preparing the LDP3 and explaining what the implications of this information are for the development of the plan. The Evidence Report does not contain any strategy or policy, nor does it involve the assessment or allocation of specific sites. Rather it provides the information on which these decisions will be founded at the Proposed Plan stage. 3.7 The process, programme and consultation proposals for LDP3 are set out in the Development Plan Scheme, which is reported annually to the Economy and Infrastructure Committee, the most recent version of which was approved in May 2025. This will be updated again in 2026. 3.8 All Scottish authorities are currently at slightly different stages of the Local Development Plan process though all are working to the May 2028 deadline to have an up-to-date Plan in place. Fife Council and East Dumbartonshire Council have progressed quickly, but both have had to return their Evidence Report to the Scottish Government a second time. 4. Main Issues Education 4.1 The Reporter did not feel that the Evidence Report presented a clear picture of the existing and projected education capacity in the council area and that the statements made were too broad and high-level. The Reporter was seeking clear information setting out which schools were forecasting to have spare capacity or approaching capacity over the projected plan period. 4.2 The Reporter also noted that this evidence was essential in order to support the justification for developer contribution policy which is particularly true of primary school contributions which the Council proposes to continue requesting. 4.3 The Reporter also asked that an explanation was given around the involvement of the Education Officers. Prior to the first submission, work was undertaken with colleagues who pulled together the information available to them. This work has continued after receiving the Reports Assessment with a collaborative approach to ensuring that sufficient data is provided and importantly in a clear manner.
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The level of detail necessary for the Evidence Report is not something which is readily published by the Council due to the sensitivity around this information. Whilst discussed prior to the original submission, it was considered that using high level information published by the Scottish Government and indicating that the most recent Council’s information on school rolls, pupil projections and housing completions would be utilised in the preparation of LDP3, would suffice. Following a useful meeting with the DPEA, it has been confirmed that the Council’s more detailed local level data in relation to school roll projections is required. This has enabled further collaborative working with Education and Property colleagues to address the Reporter’s concerns and provide a clear picture of the existing and projected education capacity over the LDP3 plan period. Other Areas 4.4 Paragraph 3.4 above refers to the Reporter’s consideration of identified gaps relating to emerging reports, strategies and analysis that remained outstanding at the time of submission in March 2025, with a request for a clearer commitment and timescale to be provided. These matters have been addressed and are detailed within Appendix 1. Key points to note are: o Forest and Woodland Strategy is under preparation and being prepared for an April 2026 Committee o Circular Waste Plan, which will incorporate a Waste Management Plan is in the early stages of development, with an expected timeframe for delivery of an approved plan in 2029 o Open Space Strategy is being developed for consideration by Committee in August 2026. An audit of all the LDP2 designated open spaces has now been completed. o Gypsy/Travellers Housing Needs Assessment currently being undertaken by consultants and be concluded by end of March 2026 o Employment Land Audit 2025 is now published. o Map of workable mineral resources included as evidence and survey to operators will be issued by end of 2025. 5. Next Steps 5.1 On the re-submission of the Evidence Report to Scottish Ministers for the Gate Check, the Scottish Ministers will appoint a Reporter from the Scottish Government Division of Planning and Environmental Appeals (DPEA) to independently assess the evidence to prepare the LDP3 Proposed Plan. It is not known if it would be the same Reporter who considered the first version of the Evidence Report. 5.2 Following the re-assessment of the Evidence Report, the Reporter will again prepare a letter setting out whether following the additional information, the Evidence Report contains sufficient evidence to prepare LDP3, and the reasoning for this, or prepare an ‘Assessment Report’ setting out the reasons that they are not satisfied that the Evidence Report contains sufficient evidence and the recommendations for improving the evidence.
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A copy of the letter of Assessment Report will be sent to the Planning Authority and the Scottish Ministers. Should a second Assessment Report be issued, the Council as the Planning Authority will be required to address the areas of improvement and resubmit the Evidence Report to the Gate Check. 6. Conclusion 6.1 The Council continues to progress with the LDP3 and has recently undertaken a Call for Sites to ensure that overall timescales can still be met even though work on a resubmission of the Evidence Report has been required. 6.2 The Evidence Report will be submitted to the DPEA before the end of 2025 with an expectation that the Gate Check process should be less than three months. This will depend on whether a new Reporter is appointed who has to consider the evidence afresh, but the DPEA have indicated that it should be a relatively quick turnaround. 7. Impact Value Assessment 7.1 Impact and Value Assessment 8. Appendices 8.1 Appendix 1 – Table of Changes 8.2 Appendix 2 – Reporter’s Assessment 8.3 Appendix 3 - LDP 3 Evidence Report Resubmission 8.4 Appendix 4 – LDP 3 Evidence Report Resubmission Appendices 8.5 Appendix 5 – List of Updates to Evidence Report and Appendices