Local Plan

The Cairngorms National Park Local Plan is the first Local Plan for a National Park in Scotland and plays a key role in collectively delivering the four aims of the Cairngorms National Park. There is a large quantity of background information available on the Cairngorms National Park Local Plan. The most recent and popular documents can be found in the Publications Vault. For document that refer to the Local Plan before 2011 please search the alphabetised Publications Archive.

As the statutory Local Plan for the Park, it replaces all existing local authority plans, and will be used by the Cairngorms National Park Authority and Angus, Aberdeenshire, Moray and Highland councils. All planning applications in the National Park will be assessed against its policies and proposals and the Plan should be referred to when submitting any planning application for development in the Park. (See below for information on the Perth & Kinross area of the Park).

The Cairngorms National Park Local Plan helps to protect the outstanding natural and cultural heritage of the Park from harmful development, and supports new development which is needed for local communities by identifying sufficient land in the right places. It addresses the lack of housing, particularly affordable housing, and ensures that all new development is of the highest quality in terms of design and sustainability.It delivers in the following three key areas:

• Conserving and Enhancing the Cairngorms National Park

• Living and Working in the Cairngorms National Park

• Enjoying and Understanding the Cairngorms National Park

Although separate to the Cairngorms National Park Plan, which sets out the Park's short and long-term future, the Local Plan is one of the key tools in delivering the Cairngorms National Park Plan's objectives for development and land use. The CNPA board formally adopted the Cairngorms National Park Local Plan on 29 October 2010.

Perth & Kinross: Please note that this Plan does not cover the area of Perth & Kinross which was recently included in the boundary of the Park. The relevant local plans produced by Perth & Kinross council must still be referred to for any applications submitted in that area. Visit www.p&k.gov.uk for further information.

Supplementary Planning Guidance

To accompany the Cairngorms National Park Local Plan, the CNPA have produced a number of Supplementary Planning Guidance (SPG) documents. This guidance expands on the detail of some of the policies in the Local Plan. It provides additional information and guidance to help everyone understand the policies in the Local Plan, helping to ensure that all developments meet the requirements of the policies.

CNPA board has formally adopted the following pieces of SPG:

Cairngorms National Park Sustainable Design Guide
Open Space
Natural Heritage
Water Resources
Conversion and Reuse of Existing Traditional and Vernacular Buildings
Housing Development in Rural Building Groups
Newtonmore H1 Development Brief
Newtonmore H2 Development Brief
Grantown-on-Spey Development Brief
Dulnain Bridge Development Brief
Kincraig Development Brief
Wildness
Developer Contributions
General Development and Carbon Sinks and Stores
Affordable Housing - the SPG, along with the Development Appraisal Toolkit and associated guidance notes that support it, are available here.

Local Development Plan

Work has already started on the next Local Development Plan, which will in due course replace the Local Plan. The Development Plan Scheme (DPS) outlines how the CNPA will prepare the new Local Development Plan - including how we intend to engage with the public in this process. The first stage in this process was to compile a Main Issues Report - this was consulted on from 19 September to 9 December 2011.

Contact

Cairngorms National Park Authority Planning Office
Albert Memorial Hall
Station Square
Ballater AB35 5QB

Tel: 013397 53601
Fax: 013397 55334
Email: planning@cairngorms.co.uk