Dundee City Council has validated Dundee’s first Local Place Plan as submitted by Stobswell Forum. This marks a major milestone after 18 months of preparation and consultation to deliver a clear route map for new actions that the local community would like to see happen in its locality.
Local Place Plans are community-led plans setting out proposals for the development and use of land. They were introduced by the Town and Country Planning (Local Place Plans) (Scotland) Regulations 2021. These plans set out a community’s aspirations for its future development. Once completed and then registered by the planning authority, they have to be taken into account in the preparation of the relevant local development plan. The Stobswell Local Place Plan will now be considered under the new Dundee Local Development Plan currently being prepared by the Council.
Chair of Stobswell Forum, Colin Clements highlighted that: “This is a really important time for the Stobswell community. We’ve seen some really exciting progress over the last few years but there is no doubt that continuing to deliver the positive progress that the area needs won’t be easy to achieve. The Local Place plan is a key element in our ambitions to make Stobswell the best place it can be for residents and visitors alike.”
Local Place Plans are a way for communities, working with local authorities and other public sector organisations, to bring forward local proposals that align with wider national policies and plans, making them easier to implement within the planning system. The Stobswell Local Place Plan promotes a shared understanding of place, and the need to take a more collaborative approach to a place’s services and assets to achieve better outcomes for people and communities.
Stobswell Forum Trustee Professor Fionn Stevenson who led the team that produced the Plan, said: “We had such lot of support from across the Dundee City Council all the way through the long process to get us to where we are and we are grateful for that. We’ve also had invaluable commitment and support from the Stobswell Forum trustees and the group of University of Dundee students, as well as funding from the Maryfield Community Regeneration Forum – we couldn’t have delivered the Local Place Plan without them.”
There are forty-five proposals in the Plan including a major re-working of Albert Street to revitalize it as the District Shopping Centre for East Dundee, calls for the provision of a new community banking hub there to make life easier for local businesses, and better traffic management.
Will Dawson convener of Dundee City Council’s planning committee said: “The level of engagement by the community in Stobswell and the way they have embraced this new process is a model for other neighbourhoods in the city to become involved. This is great example of grass roots democracy in action and should lead to better outcomes for the people of Stobswell and for the city as a whole.”
