Local Development Plan 3 (LDP3)

Preparation of the council’s next Local Development plan for our area – South Lanarkshire Local Development Plan (LDP3) – is progressing. It will replace the existing LDP2 when adopted. It will set out the planning policies and proposals for the use and development of land for the next 10 years. Together with National Planning Framework 4, it will form the statutory development plan for South Lanarkshire.

The plan will set out how our places will look in the future, including where new homes and workplaces could be built and the areas that will be protected. There will be a strong emphasis on improving the quality of places and addressing the challenges of climate change and the protection and enhancement of biodiversity.

Details of the timetable for preparing the plan and the consultation and engagement we will carry out can be found in the Development Plan Scheme and Participation Statement 2025-26.

Evidence Report

The first stage of LDP3 focuses on the preparation of an Evidence Report. This will involve a collection of reports on different themes bringing together data and information and the results of our engagement. The evidence we gather will be used to support the development of our proposed LDP3.

The first stage of LDP3 has focused on the preparation of an Evidence Report. This has involved a collection of reports on different planning policy themes, bringing together data and information and the results of our extensive engagement within one document. It will be used to support the development of our proposed LDP3.

As part of this process, we prepared a series of topic papers and links to the final versions are available below. We carried out consultation on the topic papers between April and July 2025, and the responses we received are summarised in the Evidence Report.

1. Tackling the climate and nature crises and climate mitigation and adaptation
2. Biodiversity, natural places, soils, forestry, trees and woodland
3. Historic places and assets
4. Green belts
5. Brownfield, vacant and derelict land and empty buildings
6. Energy and heat and cooling
7. Zero waste
8. Sustainable transport
9. Design, quality and place
10. Local living and 20 minute neighbourhoods
11. Quality homes
12. Rural homes
13. Infrastructure first and digital communications
14. Blue and green infrastructure, play, recreation and sport, and aquaculture
15. Flood risk and water management
16. Health and safety
17. Economic development (business and industry and community wealth building)
18. City, town, commercial and local centres and retail
19. Rural development
20. Tourism and culture and creativity
21. Minerals

The current version of the Evidence Report is now available to view. It contains evidence for each of the policy areas above, as well as a report summarising the engagement that we carried out.

A report will be presented to the Executive Committee on 5 November 2025 seeking its endorsement. Following this, a further report will be presented to the council meeting on 10 December 2025, seeking formal approval of the Evidence Report. Some updates to the current version may be necessary as a result of the approval process and the revised document will be published on this webpage if that is the case.

Once approved, the Evidence Report will be submitted to the Scottish Government for what is called a Gatecheck. This will involve a Reporter from the Directorate of Planning and Environmental Appeals reviewing the evidence and deciding if it is sufficient to start preparation of the proposed LDP3.

Once we have received clearance, work will start on the proposed plan itself, which will include a Call for Ideas in Spring 2026 when you will be able to formally submit proposals for inclusion in the plan. Further details of how you can do this will be published on this webpage at the appropriate time.

It should be noted that a large number of separate documents that inform the Evidence Report will be published at the same time as it is submitted to the Scottish Government. In the meantime, each of these documents has an (SLCXX) suffix in the Evidence Report, but they will be replaced by individual reference numbers.

If you have any queries about the Local Development plan process, please get in touch with us at LocalPlan@southlanarkshire.gov.uk.

Potential development sites - Expressions of interest

As well as seeking comments on the content of the Topic Papers, the council is keen to establish, at an early stage, what sites landowners, developers or others may be considering promoting through LDP3. This dialogue can assist in shaping LDP3’s Spatial Strategy, potentially highlighting issues such as infrastructure capacity, cumulative impacts and consideration of current or future designations which may need to be addressed in advance of development.

There is no requirement for any great level of detail at this stage, simply a site boundary and general indication of proposed or preferred uses. The deadline for submitting Expressions of Interest is 30 September 2025.

If you wish to promote a proposal for LDP3 through the Call for Ideas, it will be required to be accompanied by a completed Site Assessment form.  A draft Site Assessment form will be available here soon, which gives an idea of the type and detail of information the council will expect as sites are progressed.