Vision for Helensburgh:
FAQs

The Information Notice period is a statutory requirement for a minimum 28-day period where local councillors and community councils adjacent to the boundary of the Local Place Plan have a chance to make representations about the draft LPP. We have taken the decision to go beyond this statutory requirement and use this period to also consult the whole community on the proposals that have been developed.

All comments submitted as a citizen or from a community group will be read and assessed by the Steering Group who will then decide how best to modify the draft proposals before final submission.

Once validated, the final submission will be placed on a public register which everyone can access. Regardless of any changes that the Steering Group makes in light of representations submitted through this survey, all responses submitted as part of this survey (including any comments that disagree or object to the proposals) will be submitted alongside the LPP for the planning authority to assess in full.

The final decision on whether to include LPP proposals in LDP is for the Local Authority to decide. This will be done as part of the process of forming the next Local Development Plan. Ultimately, it is for the Local Authority to decide what weight to place on the representations and comments made by the community during this Information Notice period.

Ideas and initiatives submitted during the consultation process that are otherwise suitable for inclusion in a Community Action Plan but not related to development, land or buildings (or otherwise not controlled by the planning system) have been gathered in a separate appendix. Examples might include staring a youth group, addressing litter issues, or implementing measures to control speeding none of which are controlled by the planning system. The appendix with these ideas and initiatives will be released alongside the final plan at time of submission. We have not released that information at this stage because we would like people responding to this survey to focus their comments on proposals developed to influence the Local Development Plan. To read more about the difference between a Local Place Plan and a Community Action Plan, please read the Overview section of the Guide to Local Place Plans.

• The Information Notice period (statutory consultation) is required to last 28 days and will run from ……. 2025 to …… 2025. • After reviewing all responses, we aim to submit the final report for validation by the end of June 2025.

Proposals in this LPP seek planning status for potential developments that could happen before adoption of next LDP Such status does not guarantee development. Proposals for future development found in the LPP may still not be delivered even if they are included in the statutory Local Development Plan. Many other factors can influence delivery: legal ownership, feasibility, funding, wider economics, detailed design being just a few of these. Additionally, many external factors (economics, climate change) could change over the proposed 10-year lifespan of the next Local Development Plan.

In law, the local planning authority has the final say as to which of the proposals submitted in a LPP are included in the Local Development Plan. The planning authority must however give an explanation of why they have made these decisions and make that publicly available. That explanation will likely be issued alongside the draft Proposed Plan for Argyll & Bute, when that is made public.

When the Proposed Local Development Plan is placed before committee. The current timeframes for creating the Proposed Local Development Plan can be found on Argyll and Bute Council’s website.

Yes, there will be an opportunity to comment on the Proposed Plan during a 3-month consultation period that will occur once the Proposed Plan has been approved by committee.

All necessary information will be provided in this regard in the final submission to the local authority. We have not included it in this draft to reduce the amount of information that citizens need to absorb to be able to comment on the core proposals themselves.

Local Place Plans (LPPs) are a new idea from the Scottish Government to help communities have a say in how their area develops. When official planners make big plans for an area, they have to consider these LPPs.

The planners at Argyll & Bute Council explained it like this:

"We'll include information about approved LPPs when we start making our big area plan. An expert from the Scottish Government will check this. Then, we'll use this information to decide where different things should go in our area.
We get to choose how much importance we give to different parts of the LPPs. Ideas about where to put things or how to develop the area are likely to be the most useful for our planning.
If we decide not to use some ideas from the LPPs, we need to explain why. Our final plan will be checked by an expert again.

LPPs will also be considered when we're deciding whether to approve specific building projects in your area, as long as the ideas in the LPP are relevant to planning and to that particular project."

This means that while the council doesn't have to do everything suggested in an LPP, they do have to consider it seriously when making decisions about the area's future.