Local living and 20-minute neighbourhoods survey

We are currently working on the preparation of our next Local Development Plan and we need your help.

Alongside Scottish Government’s National Planning Framework 4, the plan will set out the rules for development within the National Park. This includes how much new housing needs to be built and where and which areas need to be protected from development.

Local living is one of six spatial principles through which National Planning Framework 4 aims to plan Scotland’s places. The Park Authority has created a model to assess its places against the concept of local living according to the principle of ’20-minute neighbourhoods’. At the core of this model is the provision of key services and facilities, such as schools, shops and General Practitioners, within a walkable distance of where people live. It also considers the cycle times and drive times between the towns and villages in which these facilities are located. The model will inform the preparation of the Local Development Plan and help plan for new development in a way that reduces the need to use unsustainable methods of travel, prioritises quality of life, helps tackle inequalities, increases levels of health and wellbeing and responds to the climate emergency.

We want to hear your views on the model for identifying ’20-minute neighbourhoods‘ in the National Park, and in particular we would like to find out about any facilities that are missing from it. We would also like to hear your views on the weighting given to the different types of facilities by the model. Please click to read the below document and view the interactive web map before completing the survey.

If you would like to email us your response directly, please send it to [email protected]

Check out the following documents

Local living and 20 minute neighbourhoods

Local living and 20 minute neighbourhoods - Engagement version

HTML version

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This document contains information on local living and 20-minute neighbourhoods in the Cairngorms National Park, which is the topic of this engagement version from August 2025. It outlines the requirements addressed in this section of the Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act 1997, including factors like district characteristics, population, public conveniences, water refill locations, and special attention to the National Park Plan. The document also provides links to evidence, such as the National Performance Framework, policy statements on car use reduction, National Planning Framework 4, Local Development Planning Guidance, and various community action plans. Further discussion focuses on the Scottish Government's support for National Planning Framework 4 Policy 15, emphasizing the importance of local context, community engagement, infrastructure, and reducing car dependency. The document highlights the Local Living Framework and its themes, as well as regional assessments and strategies like the Highland Council local living tool and the Aberdeenshire Council Facilities Monitor, and summarises the Cairngorms National Park local living evidence, including the local living map and settlement summaries.

Please be aware that this summary has been generated using AI.

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Your input will help shape our approach and ensure that our next Local Development Plan reflects the priorities of the people who live and work in the National Park. If for some reason we can’t adopt changes you’ve suggested, your comment will be referred to a Reporter in the Scottish Government Directorate of Planning and Environmental Appeals later in 2025 and you may be asked to provide more information to support your position. 

The deadline for responses to this survey is Friday 26 September.

All data collected through this survey adheres to the Cairngorms National Park Authority's Privacy Policy.