Aberdeenshire Local Development Plan 2029 - Call for Ideas and Sites

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Call for Ideas and Sites

Aberdeenshire Council launched a Call for Ideas on 16 July 2025. The purpose of the Call for Ideas is to help inform preparation of the next Aberdeenshire Local Development Plan.

The Call for Ideas forms two parts:

  • the first being the Call for Sites whereby prospective developers will be invited to submit deliverable development proposals for the period 2029-2039, otherwise known as the ‘bids’ process.

  • the second is the Call for Ideas which provides an opportunity to for communities, stakeholders, and partners share their ideas. Views and suggestions will be used to inform the Proposed Plan.

The Call for Sites will close on 31 October 2025, with the broader Call for Ideas closing on 31 December 2025.

You can download a PDF version of the Call for Ideas survey and the Call for Sites survey. However, please note that submission via the online survey is preferred.


Existing Site Audit

As part of the plan process, we are carrying out an audit of existing sites and assessing their progress with a view to possibly removing sites which are not showing signs of delivery.

Scottish Government’s LDP Guidance (2023) paragraph 154 provides that, “no site should automatically roll forward from one plan to the next without being assessed. All sites proposed to be allocated for development in plans should have been assessed for their deliverability through the site appraisal process”.

Officers have assessed all allocated sites and categorised them into four categories;

  • Grey: now completed and would be retained within the settlement boundary (completed sites would not be in the HLA);

  • Blue: We are aware that your site has live planning permission and is currently under construction, due for completion pre-2029 (the planned adoption date of the next LDP). You are not required to re-submit a bid for the site.

  • Green: We are aware that your site has live planning permission and is currently under construction, due for completion post-2029 (the planned adoption date of the next LDP). You are not required to re-submit a bid for the site. These sites will be carried forward into the next LDP.

  • Orange: We are aware that your site has live planning permission, however, is not yet under construction. For your site to be considered for the next LDP, we strongly recommend you consider submitting a new bid to our Call for Sites process where it will be re-assessed in accordance with National Planning Framework 4 (NPF4) and our site selection criteria.

  • Red: We are aware that the site does not have a live planning permission. For the site to be considered for the next LDP, we strongly recommend you consider submitting a new bid to our Call for Sites process where it will be re-assessed in accordance with National Planning Framework 4 (NPF4) and our site selection criteria.

You can view the list of audited sites.

We have made this assessment based on the information available to us at 1 June 2025 through the 2024 Housing Land Audit (the most recently adopted HLA), Business and Industrial Land Audit, the Delivery Programme and by conducting a desktop review of planning applications, building warrants and completion certificates.

Currently allocated sites can still come forward in accordance with the current LDP until such time as the next LDP is adopted. A further review of sites will be undertaken in preparing the Proposed LDP in late 2026/ early 2027 to understand the status of sites at that time.


Map Companion

To facilitate individuals and communities with engagement on the Call for Ideas and Sites, an interactive map has been created. This map provides details on a variety of constraints and other important factors at both an Aberdeenshire wide level and local level. The map will be regularly updated to reflect ideas spatially as they are received and to also show prospective developments (bids) as they are received through the Call for Sites process running in parallel to the Call for Ideas.


Infrastructure Audit

A mapped version of the Infrastructure Audit - Red, Amber and Green (RAG) Analysis is available. For all types of infrastructure assessed within the audit, the maps show how each Aberdeenshire settlement has been categorised according to the RAG analysis. With regards to the RAG analysis, each of the categories are as follows:

  • Green: indicates that for a certain type of infrastructure, there is capacity, and no constraints exist for future development in a certain place/settlement.

  • Amber: indicates that there may be capacity constraints in a settlement for a certain type of infrastructure, but there may be possible future investment plans to resolve these.

  • Red: categorisation indicates that for a certain type of infrastructure there are major constraints in a particular place, and no or very little capacity exists to support future development in these locations.

Due to the different types of infrastructure evidence being collected, there was some variation in terms of how the RAG analysis was undertaken depending on the infrastructure evidence being assessed.

For further detail, including the tiered approach used and the spatial implications identified, please refer to the Infrastructure First chapter of the Evidence Report.


Consideration of Local Place Plans

Communities who have registered their Local Place Plan with Aberdeenshire Council do not need to resubmit it as part of the Call for Ideas. Ideas, projects and aspirations that can be drawn from registered Local Place Plans will automatically be considered when evaluating all ideas put forward and in assessing prospective development sites submitted as part of the Call for Sites.


Short Films

To better communicate the Local Development Plan processes, a series of short, informative animated films are being produced. These will be available on the Council's YouTube channel.


Opportunities to Meet the Local Development Plan Team

The Policy Team will be in attendance at the following events to discuss the Call for Ideas:

  • Stonehaven Farmer’s Market – Saturday, 2 August 2025 09:00 – 13:30
  • Macduff Market – Saturday, 30 August 2025 10:00 – 13:00
  • Huntly Hairst – Saturday, 6 September 2025 09:00 – 16:00
  • Westhill Market – Saturday, 4 October 2025 09:00 – 13:00

Community Council’s and Community Groups are encouraged to contact the Policy Team should they wish to discuss the Call for Ideas or arrange for officers to attend their meetings. Posters and materials can also be made available to community groups for posting on community notice boards. Please contact the Policy Team to arrange for these to be issued.


What happens next?

During the latter stages of the Call for Ideas we expect that the DPEA will conclude their assessment of the Evidence Report. The Report appointed to assess the Evidence Report can either conclude that it contains sufficient evidence to enable preparation of the Proposed Plan, or where the appointed person is not satisfied that there is sufficient information in the Evidence Report, they are to prepare an “Assessment Report” setting out the reasons for not being so satisfied and recommendations for improving the Evidence Report. Should the latter response be received, we will take stalk of any implications for the progress of the Call for Ideas and Proposed Plan.

Following the close of the Call for Ideas and Sites, officers will formally acknowledge every submission received and begin assessing ideas and sites received. We anticipate this process to take some time and will largely be driven by the number of submissions received.

By Autumn 2026 we anticipate being able to share officers assessment of ideas and sites to Elected Members and community representatives during specially arranged meetings. Anyone participating in the Call for Ideas will be notified of this. Following these sessions, officers will work to bring forward the ‘preferred options’ to prepare the Proposed Plan.

The Proposed Plan is expected to be published in September 2027 however it is hoped that an earlier publication may be possible.


Call for Ideas and Sites

Aberdeenshire Council launched a Call for Ideas on 16 July 2025. The purpose of the Call for Ideas is to help inform preparation of the next Aberdeenshire Local Development Plan.

The Call for Ideas forms two parts:

  • the first being the Call for Sites whereby prospective developers will be invited to submit deliverable development proposals for the period 2029-2039, otherwise known as the ‘bids’ process.

  • the second is the Call for Ideas which provides an opportunity to for communities, stakeholders, and partners share their ideas. Views and suggestions will be used to inform the Proposed Plan.

The Call for Sites will close on 31 October 2025, with the broader Call for Ideas closing on 31 December 2025.

You can download a PDF version of the Call for Ideas survey and the Call for Sites survey. However, please note that submission via the online survey is preferred.


Existing Site Audit

As part of the plan process, we are carrying out an audit of existing sites and assessing their progress with a view to possibly removing sites which are not showing signs of delivery.

Scottish Government’s LDP Guidance (2023) paragraph 154 provides that, “no site should automatically roll forward from one plan to the next without being assessed. All sites proposed to be allocated for development in plans should have been assessed for their deliverability through the site appraisal process”.

Officers have assessed all allocated sites and categorised them into four categories;

  • Grey: now completed and would be retained within the settlement boundary (completed sites would not be in the HLA);

  • Blue: We are aware that your site has live planning permission and is currently under construction, due for completion pre-2029 (the planned adoption date of the next LDP). You are not required to re-submit a bid for the site.

  • Green: We are aware that your site has live planning permission and is currently under construction, due for completion post-2029 (the planned adoption date of the next LDP). You are not required to re-submit a bid for the site. These sites will be carried forward into the next LDP.

  • Orange: We are aware that your site has live planning permission, however, is not yet under construction. For your site to be considered for the next LDP, we strongly recommend you consider submitting a new bid to our Call for Sites process where it will be re-assessed in accordance with National Planning Framework 4 (NPF4) and our site selection criteria.

  • Red: We are aware that the site does not have a live planning permission. For the site to be considered for the next LDP, we strongly recommend you consider submitting a new bid to our Call for Sites process where it will be re-assessed in accordance with National Planning Framework 4 (NPF4) and our site selection criteria.

You can view the list of audited sites.

We have made this assessment based on the information available to us at 1 June 2025 through the 2024 Housing Land Audit (the most recently adopted HLA), Business and Industrial Land Audit, the Delivery Programme and by conducting a desktop review of planning applications, building warrants and completion certificates.

Currently allocated sites can still come forward in accordance with the current LDP until such time as the next LDP is adopted. A further review of sites will be undertaken in preparing the Proposed LDP in late 2026/ early 2027 to understand the status of sites at that time.


Map Companion

To facilitate individuals and communities with engagement on the Call for Ideas and Sites, an interactive map has been created. This map provides details on a variety of constraints and other important factors at both an Aberdeenshire wide level and local level. The map will be regularly updated to reflect ideas spatially as they are received and to also show prospective developments (bids) as they are received through the Call for Sites process running in parallel to the Call for Ideas.


Infrastructure Audit

A mapped version of the Infrastructure Audit - Red, Amber and Green (RAG) Analysis is available. For all types of infrastructure assessed within the audit, the maps show how each Aberdeenshire settlement has been categorised according to the RAG analysis. With regards to the RAG analysis, each of the categories are as follows:

  • Green: indicates that for a certain type of infrastructure, there is capacity, and no constraints exist for future development in a certain place/settlement.

  • Amber: indicates that there may be capacity constraints in a settlement for a certain type of infrastructure, but there may be possible future investment plans to resolve these.

  • Red: categorisation indicates that for a certain type of infrastructure there are major constraints in a particular place, and no or very little capacity exists to support future development in these locations.

Due to the different types of infrastructure evidence being collected, there was some variation in terms of how the RAG analysis was undertaken depending on the infrastructure evidence being assessed.

For further detail, including the tiered approach used and the spatial implications identified, please refer to the Infrastructure First chapter of the Evidence Report.


Consideration of Local Place Plans

Communities who have registered their Local Place Plan with Aberdeenshire Council do not need to resubmit it as part of the Call for Ideas. Ideas, projects and aspirations that can be drawn from registered Local Place Plans will automatically be considered when evaluating all ideas put forward and in assessing prospective development sites submitted as part of the Call for Sites.


Short Films

To better communicate the Local Development Plan processes, a series of short, informative animated films are being produced. These will be available on the Council's YouTube channel.


Opportunities to Meet the Local Development Plan Team

The Policy Team will be in attendance at the following events to discuss the Call for Ideas:

  • Stonehaven Farmer’s Market – Saturday, 2 August 2025 09:00 – 13:30
  • Macduff Market – Saturday, 30 August 2025 10:00 – 13:00
  • Huntly Hairst – Saturday, 6 September 2025 09:00 – 16:00
  • Westhill Market – Saturday, 4 October 2025 09:00 – 13:00

Community Council’s and Community Groups are encouraged to contact the Policy Team should they wish to discuss the Call for Ideas or arrange for officers to attend their meetings. Posters and materials can also be made available to community groups for posting on community notice boards. Please contact the Policy Team to arrange for these to be issued.


What happens next?

During the latter stages of the Call for Ideas we expect that the DPEA will conclude their assessment of the Evidence Report. The Report appointed to assess the Evidence Report can either conclude that it contains sufficient evidence to enable preparation of the Proposed Plan, or where the appointed person is not satisfied that there is sufficient information in the Evidence Report, they are to prepare an “Assessment Report” setting out the reasons for not being so satisfied and recommendations for improving the Evidence Report. Should the latter response be received, we will take stalk of any implications for the progress of the Call for Ideas and Proposed Plan.

Following the close of the Call for Ideas and Sites, officers will formally acknowledge every submission received and begin assessing ideas and sites received. We anticipate this process to take some time and will largely be driven by the number of submissions received.

By Autumn 2026 we anticipate being able to share officers assessment of ideas and sites to Elected Members and community representatives during specially arranged meetings. Anyone participating in the Call for Ideas will be notified of this. Following these sessions, officers will work to bring forward the ‘preferred options’ to prepare the Proposed Plan.

The Proposed Plan is expected to be published in September 2027 however it is hoped that an earlier publication may be possible.


Page published: 16 Jul 2025, 01:26 PM