Highland Council has registered their first Local Place Plan. Stratherrick and Foyers, south of Loch Ness, are the first out of the blocks. It means that the community now has a plan that sets out ...

[640-alexandria.png] Online community engagement has received increasing attention during the last 2 years.  For some people it means yet more time on Zoom calls, for others it means Surveymonkey a...

[Image]This is an edited version of an article written for RTPI Scotland on 26 January 2021. Creating places for people, supporting communities to shape where they live, and planning for the green ...

Communities sometimes ask: what’s the point of a community-led plan?  Why sit around talking about a plan?  Why not just get on with what needs to be done? There are two answers to this.  The fir...

[Image]There's been a lot of talk about online engagement in planning since lockdown started in March, much of it focussing on the use of web platforms for public Pre-Application Consultation on pl...

The original version of this article, jointly authored with Kathie Pollard of the Scottish Land Commission, was published on the Land Commission website on 15 June 2020. This version has been sligh...

[Image]Towards the end of last year, Glasgow City Council decided to ask its citizens a simple question about George Square: is it time for a change? Many will remember the international design com...

[Image]Local Place Plans - one of the provisions of the new Scottish planning system - are the subject of much uncertainty in the world of Scottish planning. Have they started yet? What will they l...

[Image]My colleague Steven Tolson and I are delighted that the Scottish Land Commission has asked us to research the value of early public engagement in the planning system. We see this as really...

One thing I love about Glasgow city centre is the buzz: people everywhere, events in the street, new places to visit. In my professional life as an urban planner, I’m really interested in how to ...

The annual Scottish Quality in Planning Awards took place last Wednesday night in Edinburgh.   If you're interested in seeing the 20-plus awards that illustrate the best of Scottish planning in 2...

As part of the team led by Civic Engineers with Urban Movement, Icecream Architecture and others for Glasgow City Council, we've just kicked off the first round of public engagement to roll out the...

[Image] I've had the privilege of being involved in almost twenty charrettes in Scotland. And it really is a privilege, because on every occasion I gain a fascinating insight into local life and as...

[Image] Earlier this year, Lockerbie Community Council commissioned a Community Action Plan to support community-led activity aimed at improving the Lockerbie area as a place in which to live, work...

[Image]When I first heard of the Scottish Government’s proposed research into barriers to engagement in planning - linked to the ongoing review of the planning system - I expected the barriers woul...

[Image]Moffat is doing is what I call real town planning: a Community Action Plan that considers how to plan a better community in the round. Not just physical things like land use and buildings, b...

[Image] (This article was originally published on the RTPI Scotland blog and RTPI Scotland LinkedIn page on 21 February 2017.) A constant tension has been present in the Scottish Government’s Pla...

In last week's consultation on the future of the Scottish planning system, the Scottish Government says that it will "bring forward proposals that will require planning authorities to consult more...

[Image] It's not often that we planners get to see a plan being delivered on the ground - not, I hope, because they are undeliverable, but because it can take years for proposals to come to fruitio...

BEFS (Built Environment Forum Scotland) this week organised an evening seminar asking: How can the planning system contribute to wellbeing in a fairer Scotland?    Alongside Alex Neil MSP, Cabinet ...