Local Development Plan 3

Local Development Plan 3 - Evidence Report 

The council has gathered evidence in relation to topics within National Planning Framework 4 and created a series of topic papers which forms the Evidence Report.  

Current Stage - Gate Check

The East Renfrewshire Local Development Plan 3 Evidence Report was approved by Council on the 11 September 2024. The Evidence Report provides an overview of the Council area and identifies what to plan for.

Read the LDP3 Evidence Report and supporting papers. 

This was submitted to the Scottish Government Division for Planning and Environmental Appeals (DPEA) for Gate Check.  The Gate Check is an independent assessment of the Evidence Report to determine whether we have sufficient information to progress and prepare a Proposed Plan.

Gate Check Outcome

The Council submitted its LDP Evidence Report for Gate Check on 19th September.  We have now received notification that the Reporter appointed by the Scottish Ministers is satisfied that the evidence report contains sufficient information to enable preparation of Local Development Plan 3.

Read the report on the Department of Planning and Environmental Appeals website. 

Next Stage

The next stage in the LDP process will be a Call for Sites consultation which is programmed for February 2025.

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.

Masterplan Consent Areas

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.