Local Plans

All Councils need to prepare land-use plans for their council areas. These are called Local Plans.

Local Plans are an essential point of reference for anyone who wants to build in the city. Local Plans give detailed guidance on where the Council will encourage development, for example, where building houses will be supported. They also clearly state where certain types of development will not be encouraged.

The Local Plans divide the city into five areas. There are Central Edinburgh, South East Edinburgh, North East Edinburgh, West Edinburgh and Rural West Edinburgh. All the areas have their own Local Plan.

The Local Plans are regularly updated: a draft West Edinburgh Local Plan was prepared in 2001, an alteration to the North East Edinburgh Local Plan was adopted in 2004, the South East Edinburgh Local Plan was adopted on the 18th August 2005, and work is underway in preparing a new Local Plan for the urban area of the city, to be known as the Edinburgh City Local Plan. A new Local Plan for the whole of Rural West Edinburgh is also being prepared.

Information on the current status/progress of the Structure Plan and the Local Plans is available on the Development Plan Update, which is available at the Enquiry Office at 1 Cockburn Street or on the Council website (see below).

You can view the Local Plans in most libraries and some are available on the Council website (see below).  You can also buy copies of the Local Plans (the cost is usually £10). However, if you want to buy a copy please phone 0131 529 3900 to check the cost of the plan you want to buy.

Please write to us giving the details of the Plan you want to buy and include a cheque (made payable to The City of Edinburgh Council) at:
The City of Edinburgh Council, City Development Department - Planning, 1 Cockburn Street, Edinburgh, EH1 1ZJ.

Phone enquiries should be made to the Strategy and Policy Section.

For Rural West Edinburgh enquiries please phone 0131 469 3613.

For all other areas please phone 0131 469 3412 or 0131 469 3598.

The following files are in Adobe Acrobat PDF format:  Download Adobe Acrobat Reader.

Development Plan Update Sheet
Local Planning Charter
South East Edinburgh Local Plan
Draft West Edinburgh Local Plan
North East Edinburgh Local Plan Alterations – January 2004
Rural West Edinburgh Local Plan
Edinburgh City Local Plan