A three month public consultation on the proposed Argyll and Bute Local Development Plan (LDP) will start in the third week of January 2013. The plan provides a clear vision of how Argyll and Bute’s land will be used over the next 10 years in response to the key challenges facing our area such as population loss and climate change.

The focus of the plan is on creating sustainable jobs and realising new investment opportunities, delivering new homes in the places people want to live and the vital infrastructure such as roads and superfast broadband to support this.   

Chair of the Planning, Protective Services and Licensing (PPSL) Committee, Councillor Sandy Taylor said, “The proposed Local Development Plan includes a vision, key aims and policy responses which are designed to address the challenges the communities of Argyll and Bute will face in the years ahead. These include meeting all of our housing needs, reducing the need to travel, creating new job opportunities, retaining our essential services and looking after our outstanding natural and built environment and delivering the many development opportunities contained within the plan.   

“Only by having a successful economy can we grow our working population and keep and enhance the essential services and infrastructure we all need to maintain our quality of life”.

The proposed LDP has been developed after extensive consultation with more than a thousand stakeholders over several years.  This includes community councils, developers, land owners, private individuals and key agencies including Scottish Natural Heritage, The Scottish Environment Protection Agency, Historic Scotland and Scottish Water.

Following the consultation period any necessary changes will be made to the plan before being approved by the council and sent on to Scottish Ministers. Once the LDP has been examined by a Scottish Government appointed Reporter to address any unresolved objections the LDP will be published with any required modifications and then adopted by Argyll and Bute Council as its land use policy document in its role as planning authority.