Plans and guidance overview

Our plans set out our planning policies, land use allocations, and our strategic vision for development and transportation within the Scottish Borders. Our plans are key considerations when we make decisions on planning applications.

Current plans

Planning policies for the Scottish Borders are set out in the development plan, which currently comprises:

• Local Development Plan - our LDP was adopted in May 2016 and covers the whole of the Scottish Borders. Commonly referred to as the Local Plan, it provides most local planning policies.
• National Planning Framework - produced by the Scottish Government, is the national spatial strategy for Scotland. It sets out Scotland's spatial principles, regional priorities, national developments and national policy.
• National Planning Framework 4 was adopted on 13 February 2023, from that date all strategic development plans (and supplementary guidance issued in connection with them), National Planning Framework 3 and Scottish Planning Policy were superseded.

Plans in preparation

• Proposed Local Development Plan 2 (LDP2) - Proposed LDP2 for the Scottish Borders, as modified following Examination, is currently with the Scottish Ministers for consideration.

Planning Guidance and Briefs

Planning guidance and planning briefs complement our Local Development Plan. Planning guidance documents provide more detailed guidance on specific policy topic areas whilst planning briefs set out the broad vision and requirements for the development of a particular site or collection of sites.

Strategic Environmental Assessment

All of our plans and guidance go through the strategic environmental assessment (SEA) process. Copies of all our screening and environmental reports are available at the Scottish Government's SEA database.