New resource: Exploring the role of Local Place Plans

This article was featured in the SCDC Weekly - 9th October 2024.

Our new resource explores Local Place Plans – a way for communities to have more influence over what planning development can happen in their area.  

Local Place Plans focus on spatial issues in communities, like where different kind of things should be located and what size any developments should be, or how existing sites could be used differently.  Importantly, they must be taken into consideration legally when local planning authorities create their statutory Local Development Plans. 

While they do have this statutory function, only the aspects relating to planning policy must be taken into account under the law. That’s why we’ve seen examples of community anchor organisations developing both community-led actions plans and Local Place Plans, writing them so they feed in and complement each other.  

We’ve recently explored community-led action plans, and while government and most community planning partners recognise them as valuable, this type of plan doesn't currently have any statutory basis. Both these plans and Local Place Plans are driven by communities, but community-led action plans cover a broad range of actions that need to be taken to make local improvements. 

LPPs are important tools for community organisations to explore issues related to land use that can influence planning decisions, but are particularly useful and relevant where they are also linked to community-led action plans, which describe the needs of communities as a whole.  

Our new resource sets out what Local Place Plans are, compares them to other types of plans such as community-led actions plans, and provides practical guidance around how community organisations could develop their own LPPs.  

 
 
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