Welcome to Local Development Plan 3 (LDP3)

We have now published our first series of Topic Papers for consultation and want to get your thoughts on them!

East Ayrshire Council adopted its current Local Development Plan 2 (LDP2) in April 2024. LDP2 is a 5-year plan and is the key planning policy document for East Ayrshire. It guides future development and is used to determine all planning applications.

Changes to national legislation, brought about by the 2019 Planning Act, mean that we are now starting to prepare a 'new-style' LDP3, which will cover a 10-year plan period.

You can find out more about the purpose and importance of the LDP in our FAQs section.

LDP3 Stage 1: Preparing our Evidence Report

There are various stages involved in preparing the LDP3, which can be viewed in this page's project timeline. More information can also be found in the Council's Development Plan Scheme.

The first thing that the Council needs to do is prepare an Evidence Report. In this report, the Council must show that we have sufficient information and evidence to enable us to prepare our LDP3. The report will therefore summarise the key factual information relevant to the preparation of a deliverable, place-based and people-focused LDP3.

📚Topic Papers:

On 18th December 2025, we published our first tranche of Topic Papers for consultation, covering the following topics:

• Energy
• Heat and Cooling
• Nature and Biodiversity
• Historic Environment
• Tourism, Culture and Creativity

Please go to the "Topic Paper Consultations" section of this page to visit the related project pages and access the consultations.

💭Tell Us About Your Place:

To help us prepare our Evidence Report, we have been asking local people and communities to tell us what they think of their town, place, or area. We have already received a high number of responses to our Tell Us About Your Place survey, including from schoolchildren across East Ayrshire. There is still time to share your views via the survey if you have not yet had the chance to do so.

🗂️Related Projects:

• Local Place Plans: Our local communities are being supported by the Council's Vibrant Communities service to prepare Local Place Plans for their areas. If you are not aware of an LPP in your area and would like to find out more, please visit our Local Place Plans Home Page.
• Play Sufficiency Assessment: The Council is also required to complete a Play Sufficiency Assessment, which will provide valuable evidence to inform our LDP3. We have launched an online survey to learn more about how children and young people play in their local areas, and what people would like to see in the future.