Local Development Plan 3
Find out about the Local Development Plan 3.
Local Development Plan 3
We're preparing a new Local Development Plan for the whole area (known as LDP3). The LDP will outline a strategy to deliver growth and new development for the entire Council area over the next decade and beyond.
The Call for Ideas is a crucial stage in the Local Development Plan (LDP) process. It provides the opportunity for the public, community groups, and other organisations to suggest ideas for specific sites or topics that could be included in the emerging LDP.
East Renfrewshire Council would like to hear your thoughts on future land use, particularly covering topics such as: Greenspace, Parks and Nature; Climate Action; Culture and Place; Housing; Work and the Local Economy; Optimising Infrastructure; Transport and Moving Around; and Rural Areas and the Countryside.
Please submit your idea by completing our online engagement survey below. Submit only one idea at a time so we can assess each idea or proposal individually. The survey will be open until 5 September 2025.
Suggest an idea for LDP3
The Strategic Planning Team will review these contributions to shape the Proposed Plan, which is set to be published in Autumn 2026.
The Local Development Plan 3 Evidence Report was approved by Council on 11 September 2024. It provides an overview of the Council area and identifies what to plan for.
This was submitted to the Scottish Government Division for Planning and Environmental Appeals (DPEA) for Gate Check, an independent assessment of the Evidence Report to determine whether we have sufficient information to progress and prepare a Proposed Plan.
We received notification on the 13 December 2024 that the Reporter appointed by the Scottish Ministers was satisfied that the evidence report contained sufficient information to enable preparation of Local Development Plan 3.
Read the report on the Department of Planning and Environmental Appeals website.
Details on the stages and programming for preparing the new Local Development Plan is set out in the Development Plan Scheme (DPS) and Participation Statement. This includes, what is likely to be involved at each stage and who will be involved.
More information on LDP3 can be found on our LDP3 Hub.
Next Stage - Call for Ideas
We're excited to announce that a 'Call for Ideas' engagement will be launched in the coming weeks.
The Call for Ideas is a crucial stage in the Local Development Plan (LDP) process. It provides the opportunity for the public, community groups, and other organisations to suggest ideas for specific sites or topics that could be included in the emerging LDP.
East Renfrewshire Council would like to hear your thoughts on future land use, including: Greenspace, Parks and Nature; Climate Action; Culture and Place; Housing; Work and Local Economy; Optimising Infrastructure; Transport and Moving Around; and Rural Areas and the Countryside.
The Planning (Scotland) Act 2019 introduced Masterplan Consent Areas (MCAs) as a new proactive consenting mechanism. This means development that is in accordance with the agreed scheme can be brought forward without the need necessarily for a planning application. Part 2 of the 2019 Act (Section 15) sets out the legal framework for preparing MCAs. The full provisions from the Act relating to MCAs and the associated regulations are not yet in force. We anticipate the MCA provisions being fully in place later in 2024.
The new provisions will allow the council to prepare a MCA 'Scheme' setting out for particular places, the detail of what they are giving consent for. There will be requirements for publicity and consultation on individual schemes. As the MCA regulations are not yet in place, we have not yet identified or assessed potential locations which may be desirable to bring forward an MCA scheme. We intend to reconsider this once the legal basis for preparing MCAs is in place.
We recognise the potential benefits of MCA schemes. The Scottish Government has indicated that MCAs could be used to support delivery of the local development plan. We'll consider whether it would be desirable to make any Masterplan Consent Areas as part of our work on delivery linked to the Local Development Plan's Delivery Programme.
In future we'll be able to use prepare Masterplan Consent Area schemes as part of a placemaking approach to planning and consenting. Unlike planning applications which are typically led by a developer, the preparation of MCA schemes will be led by the planning authority, but can be taken forward through collaboration.
