Local Development Plan Thanks

Orkney Islands Council’s Development and Marine Planning team are sending out a huge shout of thanks to the Orkney community for their engagement so far with the Local Development Plan - and have set out the next stages in the process.  

The Local Development Plan is a land use strategy document that will detail areas within Orkney that require to be protected for their value and also identifies areas which may be suitable for new development which will meet the social, economic and housing needs of the community. 

A review of the current document is underway, with a proposed plan to be published in 2026 and a final plan in 2027, following extensive consultation. 

Community involvement in the plan is a vital and over the last few months, the community has shown huge support for the process by submitting ideas and suggestions , identifying sites for potential development  and responding to a survey on outdoor play  - as well as attending various in-person consultation events that have been held over the summer . 

Derek Manson is the Team Manager for Development Planning.  He said: “We have had a very big  response – for which we are hugely thankful.  There have been productive discussions and helpful suggestions made on future policy priorities and where development should and shouldn’t be supported across all the different communities of Orkney. Over the coming months we will be working through these comments and suggestions to prepare an evidence report.” 

The evidence report, presented to the Scottish Government. will describe the Council’s understanding of the baseline evidence across a range of topics.  This will include setting out a summary of the stakeholder views gathered and what it might mean for the policies and proposals contained in the next Local Development Plan.  An independent reporter will then determine if the Council has sufficient information on which to prepare a Local Development Plan.  

Once this has been confirmed work can get underway on preparing the next Local Development Plan. 

In terms of timings for the preparation and publication of the proposed plan it is anticipated that 2025 will be spent preparing the proposed Local Development Plan with publication anticipated for consultation in early 2026.  

Derek continued: “We prepare an annual development plan newsletter which sets all the programme of work and indicative timings out in more detail which can be accessed on the Council website here. This timetable will be updated in November each year.  

“If you would like to be added to our mailing list with updates on the review of the Local Development Plan then please email devplan@orkney.gov.uk.”