6. Renfrewshire Local Development Plan 3 Progress Update and Local Place Plans - Report
Renfrewshire Council · 19 March 2024
Back to Planning and Climate Change Policy Board — 19 March 2024 and its agenda
Text extracted from the council's PDF. Layout and reading order may differ from the original.
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___________________________________________________________________ To: Planning and Climate Change Policy Board On: 19 March 2024 ___________________________________________________________________ Report by: Chief Executive ___________________________________________________________________ Heading: Renfrewshire Local Development Plan 3 Progress Update and Local Place Plans ___________________________________________________________________ 1. Summary 1.1 This report provides an update for members on progress that is being made in preparing the next Local Development Plan for Renfrewshire and the extensive consultation and engagement that will take place in the coming months. 1.2 The Planning (Scotland) Act 2019 gives new powers to communities to prepare Local Place Plans for their area, as well as placing associated duties on the Council. This report sets out the support that will be available to local communities and the new requirements for the Council to validate and maintain a register of Local Place Plans. __________________________________________________________________________________ 2. Recommendations 2.1 It is recommended that the board: (i) Note the update on the consultation and engagement that is to take place with local communities to inform the preparation of the new Renfrewshire Local Development Plan (LDP3); (ii) Note the new requirement for the Council to validate and maintain a register of Local Place Plans prepared across Renfrewshire; (iii) Agree that the Planning and Climate Change Policy Board takes the decision on whether a Local Place Plan should be validated; and, (iii) Note the support that is being offered to communities to help them prepare a Local Place Plan for their area. _________________________________________________________
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3. Preparation of Renfrewshire Local Development Plan 3 3.1 The Planning and Climate Change Policy Board approved the Renfrewshire Development Plan Scheme and Participation Statement (2023) at its meeting on 29 August 2023. This set out the programme for preparing the new Local Development Plan and the extensive consultation and engagement that will take place. 3.2 Work is currently progressing to prepare the Local Development Plan Evidence Report which will be presented to full Council for approval once finalised. This evidence base will be informed by the views of local communities across Renfrewshire. 3.3 The Renfrewshire Local Development Plan hub will be launched on the Council’s website by the end of March 2024. This will be the go-to location for information on the preparation of the new plan and will host online community consultations. 3.4 The hub will be used to host a ‘Have your say on Renfrewshire’s places’ survey which will run for a minimum of two months. The initial survey will be targeted at the general public, with later surveys and consultation work focused on children and young people. 3.5 The survey is based on the Scottish Government’s Place Standard tool and asks respondents to score and comment on their local area based on a range of factors. The survey response will be used to inform the new Local Development Plan and can also be shared with local communities to inform the preparation of their Local Place Plan. 3.6 A ‘call for ideas’ consultation is also to be launched alongside the ‘Renfrewshire’s Places’ survey. This consultation will run for two months and will give an early opportunity for communities, developers, landowners and businesses to submit ideas and proposals for sites and places within Renfrewshire, which will be considered in preparing the new Local Development Plan. 3.7 Each proposal and potential development site will be fully assessed in consultation with key agencies during the plan preparation process. 4. Local Place Plans 4.1 The Planning (Scotland) Act 2019 includes new powers for communities to prepare Local Place Plans for their area, as well as placing associated duties on the Council to validate and maintain a register of Local Place Plans. 4.2 Local Place Plans are community led plans which can be prepared by a Community Council, or another community body as defined by the Community Empowerment Act. They are to be focused on proposals for the development and use of land.
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4.3 An invitation to prepare Local Place Plans was sent to local communities across Renfrewshire in May 2023. Local Place Plans are to be completed and submitted to the Council by May 2025 so they can be taken into account when preparing the next Local Development Plan. 4.4 To support the Local Place Plan process, workshop sessions with Community Councils and Development Trusts across Renfrewshire will take place in late March. 4.5 These engagement sessions will be used to raise awareness of the opportunity to prepare Local Place Plans, the legislative process that requires to be followed by local communities, and the assistance that the Council will be offer to community groups preparing Local Place Plans. 4.6 The assistance that the Council will be able to offer community groups to prepare Local Place Plans will be dependent on the level of interest, however, the following assistance would be offered to all community groups by the Council: ‘How to Guide’ to help communities prepare a Local Place Plan is available on the Council’s website. Provision of mapping to support the preparation of plans. Assistance to apply for funding opportunities for professional /consultancy support. Place Profiles published on the online Local Development Plan hub to support communities to prepare the evidence base for their Local Place Plan. A start up meeting would be offered to any group to talk through the process of preparing a Local Place Plan. If the community group shares a draft plan with the Council, the Place Strategy team will coordinate responses on the draft plan from relevant Council services. Pre-validation check would be offered to give communities an opportunity to ensure a Local Place Plan is valid prior to formal submission. Validation Process and Register of Local Place Plans 4.7 The Council, as Planning Authority, is required to validate Local Place Plans which meet the requirements of paragraphs 1(4) and 2(1) of Schedule 19 of the Planning (Scotland) Act 2019. 4.8 It is proposed that the decision of whether to validate a submitted Local Place Plan would be taken by the Planning and Climate Change Policy Board. Officers would aim to support communities to meet the legislative requirements before a recommendation on whether to validate the Local Place Plan is made to the Planning and Climate Change Policy Board. 4.9 The validation process only considers the requirements of legislation regarding the process of preparing a Local Place Plan and is not based on the content of the Local Place Plans. 4.10 Following validation, the Council is required to consider any registered Local Place Plan when preparing the Local Development Plan.
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4.11 It is anticipated that Local Place Plans may include proposals which go beyond development and the use of land, and which would not be considered within the Local Development Plan. These will be passed to the relevant Council services for consideration. 4.12 The Planning Authority will maintain a register of valid Local Place Plans which will be available to view by the public in person at Renfrewshire House and on the Council’s website. 4.13 The register would include a map showing the land to which the Local Place Plan relates as well as copies of plan and the associated validation report. Elected Member Training 4.14 An Elected Member training session relating to the Local Development Plan and Local Place Plans has been arranged for Tuesday 16th April at 11am. This will be delivered online. ___________________________________________________________________ Implications of the Report 1. Financial – None identified. As mentioned above it is not clear how many communities will look to prepare a Local Place Plan and the support they will require. Communities may seek support to prepare Local Place Plan through appropriate Council funding e.g. Sustainable Communities Fund. 2. HR & Organisational Development – It is likely that different communities will require different levels of support from the Council. There is likely to be a call on the time of officers in the Place Strategy team to assist in the preparation of Local Place Plans. 3. Community/Council Planning – The Local Development Plan and Local Place Plans are key documents in establishing a land use framework for supporting, encouraging and delivering economic development, a sustainable Renfrewshire, building strong and resilient communities and working together to improve outcomes across Renfrewshire. 4. Legal – None. 5. Property/Assets – None. 6. Information Technology – None. 7. Equality & Human Rights (a) The Recommendations contained within this report have been assessed in relation to their impact on equalities and human rights. No negative impacts on equality groups or potential for infringement of individuals’ human rights have been identified arising from the recommendations contained in the report.
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If required following implementation, the actual impact of the recommendations and the mitigating actions will be reviewed and monitored, and the results of the assessment will be published on the Council’s website. 8. Health & Safety – None. 9. Procurement – None 10. Risk – None. 11. Privacy Impact – None. 12. Cosla Policy Position – None. 13. Climate Risk – The Local Development Plan and potentially Local Place Plans support the re-use of vacant and derelict land for a range of uses including those which can help address the climate crisis by managing flood risk and providing biodiversity enhancements. _________________________________________________________ List of Background Papers Renfrewshire Council Development Plan Scheme and Participation Statement 2023 ___________________________________________________________________ Author: Alan Williamson, Strategy and Place Manager, alan.williamson@renfrewshire.gov.uk, 07811 053968