Call for Ideas extended until March next year
Aberdeenshire Council has extended its Call for Ideas to give local groups and community councils more time to consider their ideas.
The Aberdeenshire Local Development Plan guides land use and planning decisions, and sets out policies and proposals for development, including new homes and green spaces. It works alongside National Planning Framework 4 which provides a broader Scotland-wide strategy.
The Call for Ideas launched in July 2025 and is the principal way in which the council collects information from communities and stakeholders on the content of the Proposed Local Development Plan. This includes highlighting potential land use planning concerns and suggesting policies and ideas, with the consultation having been extended until March 16, 2026.
Feedback is being invited from communities and stakeholders on how the next Plan should address the issues identified in a local context, such as rural development, housing, renewable energy, and open spaces. The additional time will allow communities and local groups to view bid boundaries that were submitted during the Call for Sites, which will be published online by the end of the year.
Cllr Alan Turner, chair of Aberdeenshire Council’s Infrastructure Services Committee, said: “The Development Plan Scheme 2025 reaffirms our commitment to using the national standards for community engagement. The scheme aims to be open and honest in relation to engagement and consultation on the forthcoming Local Development Plan and provides interested parties with clear opportunities to be involved and have their voice heard, with the clear message that this is your Local Development Plan and we need to know what you want it to deliver.
"To support this, we are extending the consultation process until March next year, ensuring that community councils – which meet at specific times throughout the year – have sufficient opportunity to contribute their crucial local insight.”
“The Call for Ideas is the stage in the process where we invite the public to share thoughts on the actions we should take to address high-level land-use planning issues and this extended period will help us gather those views as fully as possible. I would encourage everyone to have their say on the future development of our region through our various consultation activities.”
Further information, guidance and response forms have been produced by the council and forms the main method of putting forward suggested ideas and sites. These can be found at https://bit.ly/AbshireLDP2029