Gate Check Completed

Our Evidence Report has been found to be sufficient, and we can now progress to preparing the Proposed Plan.

The first stage in preparing North Ayrshire’s third Local Development Plan, LDP3, is the Evidence Report. The purpose of the Evidence Report is to support the quality and effectiveness of the LDP, given its significant implications for plans for people, places and finances. The Evidence Report should help make a better plan, clearly informing what to plan for before the Proposed Plan looks at where development should take place.

The Evidence Report was approved by the Council’s Local Development Plan Committee on 9 December 2025 and submitted to Scottish Ministers on 20 January 2026. Scottish Ministers appointed a Reporter to carry out a 'Gate Check' of the Evidence Report on 24 February 2026.

The Scottish Government Planning and Environmental Appeals Division (DPEA) gave us notice on 1 July of the appointed Reporter’s assessment that our Evidence Report contains sufficient information to enable us to prepare a Local Development Plan. The Reporter’s assessment and decision can be viewed at the DPEA case page.

Following receipt of the Notification of Sufficiency, we have prepared a draft Development Plan Scheme. The draft includes a revised indicative timetable for the preparation of LDP3 and an updated Participation Statement which sets out our intentions around ensuring engagement on LDP3 is early, collaborative, meaningful and proportionate; including when consultation is likely to take place, how and with whom.

A minimum of 12 months is expected to be required to prepare a Proposed Plan, which is the next milestone in the process. Four key elements of stakeholder engagement are planned to inform the preparation of the Proposed Plan.

Comments are sought on this draft Development Plan Scheme, specifically the proposed timetable and approach to engagement. Comments should be emailed to ldp@north-ayrshire.gov.uk or submitted via our Commonplace site. The deadline for responding is Monday 31 August 2026. We intend to adopt and publish the finalised Development Plan Scheme in September 2026.

If you have any queries regarding the Local Development Plan, or any other aspect of planning in North Ayrshire, please do not hesitate to get in touch with the Strategic Planning Team.