BLS Community Place Plan
Balquihidder, Lochearnhead and Strathyre Community Place Plan
It's Here!
We are very pleased to launch our Community Place Plan for Balquhidder, Lochearnhead and Strathyre.
The BLS Community Trust and BLS Community Council have been working in partnership with the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park Authority's Planning Department since 2019 to deliver the Place Plan. Following several years of consultation and work, in often difficult circumstances, we now have a completed document.
You can find the Community Place Plan at this link: BLS Community Place Plan 2022-2032
You can also find the Place Plan on the National Park's website at this link.
Abbreviations in the Delivery Plan:
LLTNPA: Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park Authority
BLSCC: Balquhidder, Lochearnhead and Strathyre Community Council
BLSCT: Balquhidder, Lochearnhead and Strathyre Community Trust
SC: Stirling Council
FLS: Forestry and Land Scotland
SEPA: Scottish Environmental Protection Agency
SLF: Scottish Land Fund
BVHC: Balquhidder Village Hall Committee
BCBC: Balquhidder Community Broadband Company
TTMG: Timber Transport Management Group
Community Delivery Plans
The Community Trust and Community Council have drawn up Community Delivery Plans for each community and these are available below. Please note that these Delivery Plans are working documents and will be adapted to the practicalities of each action and priority as they are delivered. They are not set in stone.
Now we have completed these plans we will soon be approaching the community to identify immediate priorities and how best to deliver the actions identified - so watch this space!
Balquhidder Community Delivery Plan
Lochearnhead Community Delivery Plan
Thank You! The Community Trust and Community Council would like to issue a massive thank you to everyone who took part in the consultation, without your input this document would simply not exist.
We would also like to thank everyone who helped us deliver this document, we cannot list them all here, but special thanks to Gill Allan for fantastic publishing and going above and beyond.
Thank you too, to Derek Manson from the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park Authority, for all his advice and support.
What is a Place Plan?
Community Place Plans have replaced Community Action Plans, which you might be familiar with, following the new ‘Planning (Scotland) Bill’ from December 2017. This gives more clout to communities. See the graphic to your left.
A Place Plan is very important as it specifies how our community wants to develop, making sure residents and business are heard. It helps us as a community obtain the money and support to develop in the ways we want. The Place Plan feeds into the National Park's Local Development Plan - this is a legal requirement for the National Park. This means the Park must listen to us. This is our chance to have our voice heard and our needs and wants taken account of legally.
How to make a Place Plan?
There are four to five steps to creating a Community Place Plan. This first is to create a Steering Group of local residents; second, to undertake an initial community consultation, often by survey or open day; third to undertake a second consultation based on the results of the first consultation, often through focus groups; and fourth, collating and bringing all the data together to create a first draft of the Place Plan. At this point it is likely there will be a fifth stage - publishing and printing the document.
Who brings the Place Plan to life?
A whole suite of people, including community groups, local businesses, regional agencies and organisations, and even individuals, will play key roles in bringing the Place Plan to life by delivering on the priorities and actions. They might work individually or in partnership.
With so many different local groups, it can often be confusing as to which community group is responsible for which particular element of the Place Plan, or community life in general. The diagram to your left provides an overview of the main groups, their role and how they will be involved in delivering the actions within the Community Place Plan going forward.