A plan aimed at tackling the shortage of affordable housing in a Scottish National Park has been given the green light
The National Park Authority has formally adopted plans to create an attractive place for people to live.
The ‘LIVE Park’ project covers Loch Lomond & The Trossachs National Park and aims to tackle the shortage of affordable housing, while making the National Park a viable place for businesses to grow.
Following a signification period of consultation, the plan has been given the go ahead by the National Park Authority as its Local Development Plan. This is the legal document that determines planning decisions in the National Park and is updated every five years.
Affordable homes
The Plan lays out an annual target to deliver 75 new affordable homes. These will be smaller, more modest in size and aimed at young people, families and older people. Open market properties will also be built.
Construction will take place around the Park’s towns and villages. This includes 31 homes in Balloch; 54 homes in Arrochar, Succoth, and Tarbet; and 148 new properties in Callander. Development sites have also been identified in some of the Park’s smaller villages to help with the long term sustainability of rural communities.
Gordon Watson, Chief Executive of Loch Lomond & The Trossachs National Park, said: “The National Park is an amazing place and a special landscape with so much to offer and LIVE Park sets out the opportunities for it to continue to thrive and develop sensitively as a place for people to live, invest, visit and experience over the next ten years.
“We’ve worked really closely with people and organisations from across the Park to find out how they want to see that happen.
“I’m delighted that we can now adopt the Plan and look forward to seeing how the Park develops over the next decade.”
Innovative plans
The Park Authority has won awards for the innovative scheme, including the Overall Award for Community Involvement at the Scottish Awards for Quality in Planning in 2015 and this year an award was granted in the Plans category. This was given because of the simplicity, clarity and graphic style adopted for the Local Development Plan.
Stuart Mearns, Head of Rural Development & Planning at the National Park, said: “We are very happy that the Plan is now adopted.
“It provides a firm foundation to help attract and guide inward investment, helping to grow the rural economy and enhance the Park’s towns and villages.
“We are already seeing an increase in development activity and developer interest in key locations including Balloch and Callander as well as some of our smaller communities, such as Luss where new affordable housing is currently being built.
“Strong partnership working established between landowners, developers, public agencies and communities during the process to prepare the Plan has been central to achieving this and our focus next year will be to use the Plan as the basis for securing continued investment in the National Park.”
