Development

Context

Scotland’s planning system for development has a hierarchical system.

The Scottish Government sets a National Planning Framework. This informs Regional Spatial Strategies and Local Development Plans developed by local authorities and National Park authorities.

The contents of these inform decisions on planning applications. By law, these are to be made in accordance with the Development Plan, unless material considerations indicate otherwise.

Above: Scottish Government diagram showing the links between different parts of development planning

Local Development Plans

The part that has greatest impact at a community level is the Local Development Plan (LDP) set by Stirling Council. Included in this are district-wide policies as well as “settlement statements” for individual places (the most recent LDP had separate statements for Doune and Deanston).

As part of the process to create new LDPs, developers and landowners can submit proposals for future land or building use for consideration by the planners. Stirling Council then make assessments, including public consultation, on the need for different types of development and come to a considered view.

Local Place Plans

New planning legislation has introduced a right for communities to submit their own proposals for how land and buildings are developed (or not). These have to be in a specific format to meet the requirements of legislation.

Once submitted, Stirling Council will have to consider any community proposals when making future Local Development Plans. This, however, doesn’t give any guarantees that any community suggestions will be adopted by the council as official planning policy.

The new Kilmadock Community Plan will be submitted to Stirling Council as a Local Place Plan. Presented here are two of the significant development issues facing the community in the next decade:

• the old parish church on Main Street; and,
• future housing needs.

The Old Parish Church

Above: How The Bridge has chronicled the old parish church since 2007

The last service in Kilmadock Parish Church took place in 2008. Since then, plans have come and gone but the old parish church on Main Street has largely stood still for over ten years.

The community plan will look forward to the next decade. No one wants it to be still standing empty in 10 years time. So what can be done?

The church is in private ownership, and we aren’t aware of any plans for it to be marketed for sale. For the community plan, we are looking to find out if there is local consensus on what should happen with the vacant building in the long term.

Presented here are three examples of what other former church buildings have been developed as.

At the Chapel, Bruton (Somerset)

Converted to hotel and restaurant

Housing Needs

It is Stirling Council, as our planning authority, who have responsibility to determine the future housing needs of the district, and identify appropriate sites to accommodate this across the region and at specific sites locally.

This is done through the Local Development Plan, and Stirling Council follow their own public consultation process to consider the suitability (and impact) of any potential sites and developments.

All of the housing (and employment) development sites identified in the last Local Development Plan (formally adopted in 2018, although developed in the years up to this) have been completed.

It is therefore likely that in the next Local Development Plan, Stirling Council will identify new sites for development in the coming years.

The exact size and design of any development will depend on the site. However to inform the Community Plan we’re interested to see what views people have around the types of housing that might meet future needs.