Newtonhill, Muchalls & Cammachmore and Stonehaven & District community councils have each created their localised plans for consideration in the Aberdeenshire Local Development Plan process following lengthy community engagement.

The ‘live’ documents describe the needs, hopes and aspirations for the communities living within the various settlement boundaries.

Local Place Plans give communities an opportunity to work up proposals for the development and use of land in the place where they live and offer the opportunity for a community-led, but collaborative approach to local place-making, setting out proposals for the development and use of land. 

Forming a key part of the Scottish Government’s new planning reform, the scheme has been introduced to increase community involvement in the planning and spatial design process.

The aim of the provisions is to significantly enhance engagement in development planning, effectively empowering communities to play a proactive role in defining the future of their places.

Both the Newtonhill, Muchalls & Cammachmore and Stonehaven Local Place Plans provide comment on a wide range of topics including sustainability and design, planning and development, jobs, tourism and the economy, education, transportation, the environment and health and wellbeing.

LPPs can be specific to a single place or building or cover a wider geographic area, but need to be registered with Aberdeenshire Council which is legally required to make them publicly available.

They can be created by communities to highlight planning and spatial design issues, and propose the development or use of land, but can also identify land and buildings which the community body considers to be of particular significance to the area.

Last year, Aberdeenshire Council offered community councils or community-controlled bodies up to £500 to develop their own plans and help cover the cost of hall and venue hire, software required for the development of the LPP, initial costs associated with advertising and websites, printing of leaflets and creation of information boards for community engagement events.

Commenting on the submission of the first Local Place Plans, Stonehaven councillor and chair of the Kincardine and Mearns Area Committee, Sarah Dickinson, said: “I am delighted to see that the first Local Place Plans submitted to Aberdeenshire Council have been developed by our enthusiastic and highly-motivated communities in the south of the region. Through their rigorous local engagement work, the two community councils have very clearly set out how residents wish to shape their villages and towns, and that is vital as we all work together to develop our communities in the future.”

Fellow Stonehaven councillor and chair of the council’s Infrastructure Services Committee, Alan Turner, added: “The introduction of Local Place Plans offers our local communities the ability to be actively involved with planning for the future of their community. With a focus on development and land-use, these are plans that will allow and empower communities to set out their proposals and future ambitions and will also be an important input into the preparation of our new Local Development Plan in Aberdeenshire.”

Once registered, LPPs will be taken into account in the preparation of the region’s Local Development Plan and therefore will have weight within the planning process.

While LPPs can be produced at any time, their integration with the Local Development Plan will be greatly facilitated if they are prepared and consulted upon for submission by September 2025.

Aberdeenshire Council has created a dedicated page on its website where information on the Local Place Plans can be found along with supporting documentation and resources.