In May 2026, our Projects & Training Officer Diane Cassidy spent 10 days travelling across Shetland to meet community groups working on Local Place Plans.

Travelling by campervan gave Diane the flexibility to visit groups across Mainland Shetland, as well as Yell, Unst and Fetlar. Over the visit, she met 10 different groups, along with the Community Development Workers supporting them.

Each group is at a different stage. Some are close to finishing their community engagement. Others are preparing surveys, planning events or thinking through where to begin.

Because Diane had already worked with many of the groups through previous visits, online meetings and training sessions, she was able to get straight into the questions that mattered most to them. For some groups this meant looking at engagement plans. For others, it meant talking through the survey results, mapping, or how local priorities connect with planning policy.

Meeting groups where they are

One of the main things Diane saw during the visit was how different each Local Place Plan journey can be.

In Fetlar and Bressay, groups have almost completed their community engagement phase. In Lerwick and Northmavine, groups are preparing to release surveys and attend community events to speak to local people.

In Dunrossness, Tingwall, Whiteness and Weisdale, Unst and Yell, groups are at an earlier planning stage. They are thinking about how to begin conversations locally, what questions to ask and what support they may need as their plans develop.

This is why flexible support matters. Local Place Plans are shaped by local priorities, local capacity and the time people are able to give. There is no single route through the process, so the support needs to fit the group and the place.

Local effort and practical support

Across the visit, Diane met groups who were enthusiastic about preparing their Local Place Plans and giving people in their communities a chance to have their say about future land use.

There is a lot of volunteer time, local knowledge and practical skill behind this work. Community groups are leading conversations, gathering views, identifying priorities and thinking carefully about what they want their places to be like in the future.

Planning Aid Scotland is supporting that work in practical ways, including guidance on engagement, data analysis, mapping and links to planning policy.

Diane has also delivered three training sessions for Planning Aid Scotland volunteers who are being matched with groups in Shetland. These volunteers will provide additional support with analysing engagement data, producing maps and linking community proposals to relevant planning policy.

What communities are talking about

The issues coming through from community engagement vary from place to place. Each community has its own geography, challenges and ambitions.

There are some shared themes, including the need for affordable housing, questions around the siting of wind farms and mapping areas that communities want to protect.

Other local priorities include flooding, new tunnels between islands, footpaths and play areas.

These are practical, everyday issues, but they also connect to bigger questions about how places change over time. Local Place Plans give communities a way to bring these ideas together and set out what matters locally.

Looking ahead to the next stage

Most groups are planning to hold their required 28-day notice period around September 2026. This will give people a chance to comment on the draft plans before they are finalised.

It also allows time for groups to consider feedback and make changes before the Local Place Plan submission deadline of 31 October 2026.

Planning Aid Scotland will continue to support communities through this next stage, working alongside Shetland Islands Council, Community Development Workers and our volunteers.

Diane’s visit showed how valuable it can be to spend time with groups in their own places. Being there in person meant she could listen, understand the local context and focus support around the questions each group was working through.

Across Shetland, groups are putting time, care and local knowledge into their Local Place Plans. We look forward to continuing to support them as their plans take shape.

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