Renfrewshire Council

What Local Place Plans are

Local Place Plans offer communities the chance to shape their local area.

These are community-led plans that focus on the existing and future use of land and set out proposals for potential developments in the community.

A Local Place Plan might consider:

• improvements in town and local centres
• local initiatives to promote active travel or community food-growing
• conservation of the natural and built environments
• sites or areas of land which could help tackle climate-change (such as renewable energy, flood mitigation, or tree planting)
• sites for housing development (including affordable housing and housing for particular needs or groups), local employment, or new tourism and community facilities
• retaining, improving, and expanding open space, green and blue infrastructure (such as footpaths, water networks, and drainage or flooding measures), and play facilities.

Once completed and registered by the planning authority, Local Place Plans will be considered when we are preparing a new Local Development Plan.

Communities can prepare Local Place Plans at any time but must submit their plan by 31 March 2026 if you would like it to be considered in the preparation of Renfrewshire's new Local Development Plan.

Who can submit a Local Place Plan

Community councils and some other community bodies, such as a Development Trust, can create Local Place Plans.

You could create one for a local area, such as a community council area, town, or even a neighbourhood within a town.

If you're not sure if your group qualifies as a community body, contact localplanconsultation@renfrewshire.gov.uk for more information.

What funding you could get

A Local Place Plan fund of £100,000 is available to support communities to prepare and develop a plan for their area.

Community groups can apply for up to £10,000 towards the development of a Local Place Plan.

Funding will be prioritised towards Local Place Plans which cover a recognised neighbourhood or community area, including a town or village centre.

What the fund will cover

The fund can cover costs including:

• research
• community consultation
• professional services, such as planning consultants or graphical support
• website or document production
• venue hire.

How to apply

If you're interested in creating a Local Place Plan, the first step is to express your interest.

You can do this by completing our expression of interest form.

You must submit your expression of interest form before midday on Tuesday 22 April 2025.

If you're not able to complete the expression of interest form online, you can request a copy of the form by emailing us at localplanconsultation@renfrewshire.gov.uk.

What happens next

After you've sent us your expression of interest form, our team will be in touch to discuss next steps.

If your expression of interest is eligible, we'll ask you for more information about your group's Local Place Plan and tell you how to submit a formal application for funding.

Additional information we'll ask for includes any work already carried out towards preparing a Local Place Plan, how the fund would be spent with a breakdown of anticipated costs, and an estimated timeline.

You can see a how-to guide for creating your Local Place Plan [13MB] . 

It explains what your group needs to include in your Local Place Plan and how to prepare your plan.

The guide is based on early plans developed with communities across Renfrewshire, including the neighbourhoods of Foxbar and Ferguslie Park in Paisley.

If you receive funding, your funded Local Place Plan needs to be submitted by 31 March 2026.

Key dates

• 22 April 2025 - deadline to submit expression of interest forms
• 25 April 2025 - invitation to apply for Local Place Plan funding sent to groups who have submitted an eligible expression of interest form
• 23 May 2025 - closing date for submission of application form
• 30 May 2025 - community groups notified if their application is successful
• 31 March 2026 - deadline for your funded Local Place Plan to be submitted.

More information

If you'd like more information on Local Place Plans, email us at localplanconsultation@renfrewshire.gov.uk.

We can answer your questions and support you through the Local Place Plan process.

We can also provide additional resources to help you create your Local Place Plan, including previous examples of Local Place Plans in Renfrewshire.

Have your say on our Local Development Plan

By creating a Local Place Plan, you can share your ideas and shape the future of your local area.

If your Local Place Plan is registered by 31 March 2026, we'll also consider it when preparing Renfrewshire's next Local Development Plan.

Our Local Development Plan will set out the long-term vision of where development should happen in Renfrewshire.

We want to hear from local communities and stakeholders in the area, and Local Place Plans are one way to do this.

You can see more information and ways to have your say on our Local Development Plan page.