UPDATE On 20 August 2025 the Community Led Nairnshire Local Place Plan passed the validation checking process with the Highland Council. On 26 August the Community Led Nairnshire Local Place Plan was published on The Highland Council’s LPP Register – it is available in the Local Place Plan Register directory https://www.highland.gov.uk/directory/78/local_place_plan_register and via the LPP Register Map https://highland.maps.arcgis.com/apps/instant/sidebar/index.html?appid=01a0cf2180c64c2cb8dc71dc22bbbfe1. Under Section 16(2)(a)(iii) of the Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act 1997 as amended reads: “In preparing a local development plan the planning authority – are to take into account…… any registered local place plan […..] that is for the part of their district to which the local development plan relates”. The Council must now take the LPP into account when creating their LDPs. Many Thanks to all contributors and to the delivery team. Great Work.
UPDATE March 2025 The Local Place Plan has been completed and published on-line. It has been submitted to the Council for evaluation. The next step is it will be presented at the Area Committee for acceptance by the four Nairnshire Councillors: Cllr Barbara Jarvie, Cllr Paul Oldham, Cllr Michael Green and Cllr Laurie Fraser. The Plan is the result of many months of work gathering the views of the Community, of the People of Nairnshire and it is the People of Nairnshires work, their desires, their hopes and their dreams. Let us all hope that the four Councillors that the People voted onto the Council to represent the Peoples views support the Peoples Plan.
Nairn River CC has joined colleagues from Nairn West and Suburban CC and Nairnshire rural CCs, and Nairn BID representing the local business community to form the Steering Group led by NICE (Nairnshire’s Community Development Trust) to develop a community led Local Place Plan for the Nairn area.
NICE has been working with and on behalf of local communities across Nairnshire to facilitate preparation of a Local Place Plan for this community, in its role as a constituted community-controlled body for the purposes of the Town and Country Planning (Local Place Plans) (Scotland) Regulations 2021.
The proposed Nairnshire Local Place Plan was published for public consultation at 4pm on 18th July 2024. It can be viewed and commented on online for public consultation at ournairnshire.org. Hard copies will be available to view at Nairn Library, Nairn Community Arts Centre and rural community hubs in Cawdor, Auldearn, and Fornighty. Please do share the proposed Plan with your local networks across Nairnshire and encourage people to take a look and respond.
The draft Plan covers the 5 Nairnshire Community Council areas: Nairn River; Nairn West and Suburban; Auldearn; Nairn West and Cawdor; and East Nairnshire
NICE, as the constituted community body which will ultimately submit the Plan to the Council, is legally required to send all elected members for the Plan area an Information Notice by virtue of Section 4 of the above Local Place Plan Regulations. Similarly, all 5 community councils encompassed by the Nairnshire Local Place Plan, and all neighbouring community councils, are required to be provided an Information Notice. Those statutory Information Notices have all been served. Public consultation was launched today immediately following the issue of the Information Notices, which can be viewed at ournairnshire.org, nicenairn.org.uk, and on NICE’ Facebook page. This is your notice and invitation to review the proposed Nairnshire Local Place Plan. If you wish to respond, please note that the Regulations give 28 days to respond. Your last date for responding is by close of business on Friday 16th August 2024.
1. Proposed Local Place Plan:
The proposed Plan, and feedback form are available online at ournairnshire.org.
2. Brief description of the content and purpose of the proposed Local Place Plan:
The proposed Plan covers the 5 Nairnshire Community Council areas: Nairn River; Nairn West and Suburban; Auldearn; Nairn West and Cawdor; and East Nairnshire.
The primary purpose of the Plan is to provide an up-to-date statement of the community’s aspirations for the next 5-10 years, to help public bodies, landowners, businesses and funders consider how they can best support positive change. More specifically, the Plan aims to:
– focus on long term strategic challenges facing the whole of Nairnshire;
– keep the best of what we value about Nairnshire, and shape it for the better;
– inform local and national decision-making about public services, budgeting, planning policy and other policy areas;
– support community action, for example as supporting evidence for funding bids;
– provide a framework for individual local communities to prepare their own more detailed plans should they wish; and
– build on the good work that is already happening across Nairnshire, making the most of opportunities such as the Green Freeport while also protecting local natural and environmental assets which underpin our tourist industry and the quality of life of local people.
The proposed Plan contains a vision, with overarching outcomes that Nairnshire becomes a centre for jobs and business, whilst developing a zero-carbon, sustainable and resilient community with opportunity and health and wellbeing for all.
To achieve that, the proposed Plan contains five priority themes generated through community engagement:
Sustainable Future
Jobs and Business
Getting Around
Town and Village Centres
Green Spaces and Leisure
3. Information as to how and to whom any representations on the content of the proposed Local Place Plan should be made and the date by which they should be made:
If you have comments on the proposed Local Place Plan, please email them to LPP@nicenairn.org.uk or submit them via the online feedback form available at ournairnshire.org. The deadline for submission of your feedback is Friday 16th August 202
The initial community survey yis now closed. It was open to everyone in the Nairnshire area till 22 September 2023 and gave you a chance to share what your priorities are for the future of Nairn and Nairnshire. There were return mail boxes at Nairn Community and Arts Centre and Nairn Library, Tradespark Shop and Cawdor Shop. The Survey is now Closed.
More information will be posted soon on community drop in events across Nairnshire during August 2024 where you can join this conversation in your neighbourhood to have your say in the creation of a Local Place Plan for this area.
Nairn River Community Council 