Council to submit Local Development Plan Evidence Report to Scottish Ministers
Further progress has been made in the preparation of a new Local Development Plan (LDP2) for West Lothian.
A meeting of West Lothian Council has approved the submission of an Evidence Report to the Scottish Government, marking a key milestone in the early development of LDP2.
The plan is being prepared under the Planning (Scotland) Act 2019 and will address a wide range of policy issues and guide future development within West Lothian for a ten-year period from when it is adopted.
The first stage of the preparation of a local development plan is to gather the evidence required to prepare the plan and set this out in an Evidence Report.
An Evidence Report aims to clearly inform what to plan for before the proposed plan looks at how the environment of West Lothian should be protected and where development could take place.
The Evidence Report sets out a robust evidence base to ensure LDP2 is based on sound data to inform a deliverable, place-based and people-focused plan. Preparation of the Evidence Report for LDP2 took place between October 2023 and May 2025.
Evidence was gathered through a number of means during this period including direct engagement with key agencies and local communities.
Following approval by West Lothian Council, the Evidence Report is submitted to a 'gate check' by Scottish Ministers who appoint a reporter from the Planning and Environmental Appeals Division (DPEA) to assess whether the report contains sufficient evidence to enable the council to prepare the plan.
Once the Evidence Report has been through the gate check process with the DPEA reporter, a draft LDP2 Plan will be prepared for formal consultation and engagement.
A West Lothian Council spokesperson said: "We would like to thank everyone who engaged in the process that has enabled planning officers to prepare this evidence report. It is important to stress this is an early point in the process of creating a new Local Development Plan for West Lothian.
"Following approval from Full Council, the evidence report will now be submitted to Scottish Ministers.
"Completion of this gate check process will then allow planning officers to prepare the first draft of the new local development plan for West Lothian. This process will once again require extensive engagement with key stakeholders and local communities and the council will once again be calling on members of the public to participate. Details of how you can get involved will be shared in due course."
latest information on LDP2 can be accessed via the West Lothian Council website: https://www.westlothian.gov.uk/ldp2-updates
