CEC’s Planning Division have their heads down in earnest now, pushing to wrap up City Plan 2030 for adoption by mid-2024 and starting to shape the canvas for the one that comes next, City Plan 2040.
“Pie in the sky!”, I can hear, or worse. But that completely misses the point. A local economy needs to change and develop. The city needs to adapt and grow. Someone has to own the project. Better too early than too late.
So, as they say, ‘Fail to plan; plan to fail’. The Scottish Government has no intention of letting that happen. Local Authorities have their orders. The clock is ticking. Here’s a quick rundown on where things stand.
City Plan 2030 is the successor to the current Local Development Plan 2016. A local development plan carries a 10-year strategy along with policies and proposals to determine planning applications and an Action Plan to guide delivery.
City Plan 2030 was submitted to the Scottish Government’s Planning and Environmental Appeals Division (DPEA) for formal examination in December 2022. This process is close to completion. A Report of Examination should be returned to the Council in Q1 2024. It will carry recommendations and may include proposed modifications. The Council will decide on adoption of the plan. It’s expected that will take place by mid-year.
The legislative framework for development planning has now changed with the Planning (Scotland) Act 2019. New procedures on the shaping and build of local development plans were announced by the Scottish Government in May 2023, along with new regulations and a change in the ‘planning style’ to be adopted. Every planning authority in Scotland is expected to have a new local development plan in place by May 2028. The over-arching National Planning Framework 4, which covers all of the country, stays in place for now. (It will also begin a journey of revision.) Other reference points include Regional Spatial Strategy and community-led Local Place Plans.
The new ‘style’ of City Plan 2040 will display three core characteristics. It will be:
‘Place-based’ – focused on illustrative local geographies; climate-crisis aware;
‘People-centred’ – prepared collaboratively through active public and community engagement;
‘Delivery-focused’ – targeted on achievable outcomes.
Notice that phrase ‘active public and community engagement’. City Plan 2040 is coming to you. At this very early stage of ‘Evidence Gathering’, you are being invited to say how you would like to be involved in, and to be kept informed about, the whole process. Here is the link to the survey that the Council has opened until 19 January 2024. Take the opportunity.
City Plan 2040 - Draft Participation Statement - City of Edinburgh Council - Citizen Space
The Evidence Gathering stage sits within the Development Plan Scheme (DPS) for City Plan 2040. The DPS is the ‘how to go about it’ framework. Work on the DPS will be accompanied by work on a draft Participation Statement, a summary of when and how the public and communities will be engaged over the course of the long planning programme. One aspect already in course is the live invitation for community groups to submit Local Place Plans to inform the planners’ early thinking.
As a community councillor, you are going to hear a lot about City Plan 2040. Community councils are there to serve their communities. Helping deliver that sought-for close engagement between the planners and the people is going to be a big item on their ‘to do’ list.
Here are some useful references:
Planning Edinburgh blog:
View the City Plan 2030 project webpage at:
https://www.edinburgh.gov.uk/cityplan2030
View the City Plan 2040 project webpage at:
https://www.edinburgh.gov.uk/local-development-plan-guidance-1/city-plan-2040
Sign up to the mailing list:
Questions about the content of the current local development plan:
Scottish Government Local Development Planning Guidance
Local development planning guidance - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)
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