Evidence Report

The gathering of evidence is the first key stage in the preparation of the Falkirk Local Development Plan 3 (LDP3) and involves the production of the Evidence Report.

Falkirk's Evidence Report was approved by full Council on 03 October 2024 and has been submitted to Scottish Ministers for a 'Gatecheck' review. The Gatecheck will involve a Scottish Government Reporter checking that the evidence is sufficient to provide a sound basis for preparing the Proposed Plan. The reporter will then either inform the Council that the report is sufficient, allowing it to proceed to the preparation of the Proposed Plan, or will send the Council an Assessment Report setting out the reasons why the report is not deemed sufficient with recommendations for improvement. In the latter case, the Council is required to make the necessary revisions and resubmit to Scottish Ministers.

Once the Evidence Report is deemed to be sufficient, the Council can commence work on the Proposed Plan.

Falkirk LDP3 Evidence Report
DOCX file, 2.7 MB

Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA)

The SEA is a legal requirement for preparing the plan, and its main job is to consider how the plan would affect the environment. The first stage of this assessment is a Scoping Report which sets out the scope and level of detail to be included in the future Environmental Report. The Scoping Report was published and consulted as a topic paper in Spring 2024.

A revised Scoping Report was published in October 2024 to address the comments received. You can access this revised report below:

Revised SEA Scoping Report
DOCX file, 1.6 MB

Falkirk Play Sufficiency Assessment (PSA)

The Council has a statutory duty when preparing the Evidence Report to assess the sufficiency of play opportunities in the area for children and young people under the age of 18. The PSA overviews the quality, quantity, and accessibility of our area's open spaces (such as parks, woodlands, grassy amenity spaces, equipped play areas and playing fields) for children and young people to play or hang out. It will help devise future strategies and proposals to improve opportunities for outdoor play in the area. The PSA was produced in September 2024.

Play Sufficiency Assessment
DOCX file, 7.4 MB

Topic papers

Our topic papers covering various areas of evidence have provided the basis for the Evidence Report and helped to establish the views of stakeholders on the evidence. Consultation on the topic papers has now ended but they can still be viewed below:

Economy and Employment Land
PDF file, 6.5 MB
Energy, Climate Change and Resources
PDF file, 14 MB
Green Belt
PDF file, 9.4 MB
Green and Blue Infrastructure
PDF file, 21 MB
Housing
PDF file, 8.8 MB
Infrastructure
PDF file, 13.4 MB
Population, Health and Inequalities
PDF file, 3.9 MB
Town Centres and Retail
PDF file, 15.7 MB
Transport
PDF file, 13.2 MB
Site Assessment Methodology
PDF file, 3.6 MB
Strategic Environmental Assessment Scoping Report
DOCX file, 2.2 MB
Strategic Flood Risk Assessment
PDF file, 9.8 MB
Strategic Flood Risk Assessment Appendix 1 - Local Flood Risk Management Plan Actions
ODS file, 6.9 KB

Place profiles

As well as topic papers we have prepared place profiles for our eight settlement areas. Each place profile gathers together some key local information and statistics that will be used to support the preparation of the Falkirk Local Development Plan (LDP3). Communities may wish to use the profiles as evidence for local place plans, or more generally to do some research on facilities within their local area.

Early engagement

In 2023 we asked people who live and work in the area to complete an online survey to tell us about their places and how they function. The survey was based on Public Health Scotland's Place Standard Tool and was open for 4 months closing on 30 June 2023. We received over 380 responses from the public.

We surveyed Young People and Children separately as it is important to hear from the next generation whose future will be affected by the new plan.

We have now compiled all comments received and produced a Consultation Feedback Report, which summarises all comments by both topic and settlement area.

Consultation Feedback Report (Autumn 2023)
PDF file, 7.8 MB

In addition, we also sought the views of businesses and organisations who have a stake in the area. They were invited to supply information related to their interests which they think should be considered as part of the evidence gathering process.

This early engagement has contributed to the Evidence Report.