Local Feedback Sought For The Highland Local Living Tool
18th June 2024
Communities and businesses are being called on to help inform an interactive tool which assesses how well Highland places meet the principles of local living.
‘Local living' aims to provide people the ability to meet the majority of their daily needs within a reasonable distance to their home.
The tool, being developed by The Highland Council, works by plotting the location of a variety of services including shops, greenspace, leisure, and learning. It then measures the accessibility to these services within a ten-minute walking distance and presents the findings in an easy-to-use interactive map. Local input is important to help the Council refine the method that the tool uses to assess local living and the tool's accuracy, as well as informing the Council on potential approaches taken to rural areas.
Take part now at www.highland.gov.uk/localliving
The consultation will close on 16 August 2024.
This consultation is being run alongside the Highland Place Standard Survey consultation which has been ongoing since 20 March 2024. The Place Standard survey is gathering feedback on people's lived experiences of Highland and what makes for a good place to live, work, play and visit. The Place Standard and Local Living consultations are complementary to each other.
Responses to the consultation will help finalise the Local Living tool for publication. The tool will then form an important part of the evidence base for the new Highland Local Development Plan.
Further information on the programme of work to prepare the new Local Development Plan, including evidence gathering during 2024 and opportunities to get involved, is available on the Council's latest Development Plans Newsletter and on the Council's Highland Local Development Plan webpage. See https://www.highland.gov.uk/info/178/development_plans/1101/highland_local_development_plan_hldp
Related Businesses
Related Articles
11/12/2025
Exciting Career Opportunities With The Highland Council Now Open For Applications
# 10 December 2025 Career opportunities with The Highland Council The Highland Council is looking to fill a variety of posts relating to civil engineering and flood risk management based in locations across the area. Included are opportunities specifically for civil engineering graduates and technicians, providing the ideal job with career progression for anyone recently qualified and ready for a varied and interesting role.
8/12/2025
What the NC500 Research Projects Are Designed to Do - and Why They Matter for the Highlands
As the North Coast 500 approaches its tenth anniversary, it has become one of Scotland's most well-known tourism success stories. The 516-mile loop around the far north of the Highlands has been celebrated internationally, marketed as a world-class road trip, and credited with transforming visitor numbers in some of Scotland’s most remote areas.7/12/2025
Help Shape the Future of Thurso
The Highland Council is inviting people that live, work, or study in Thurso, to come along to the public consultation events to have their say. This is an opportunity to help shape the future of Thurso, to gather views and ideas.
7/12/2025
Are Scottish Councils Quietly Reversing Outsourcing? A Look at Insourcing, Cuts and the Highland IT Shift
A notable article in the Guardian on 6 December 2025 noted the high sums being paid by London councils outsourcing services to private firms. The article starts with the reduction in council funding by UK government since 2010.4/12/2025
Council welcomes Visitor Levy flexibility plan
The Highland Council welcomes moves by the Scottish Government to introduce greater flexibility on how it could design a Visitor Levy Scheme for consultation. The Visitor Levy (Scotland) Act 2024 currently provides local authorities with discretionary powers to implement percentage-based levies following statutory consultation.4/12/2025
Highland Council is reaching out for views to shape its next 26/27 budget.
As it looks to set out its forthcoming priorities, the council is seeking involvement from members of the public, including businesses, community groups, parents, and young people. All their opinions are going to be crucial in deciding how Highland Council will take on its budget challenge for 2026-2027.4/12/2025
Have your say in Thurso's future £100million investment by attending public consultation events
Thurso is to benefit from £100m investment in education and community facilities and are rolling out the first phase of public consultations on 9 and 10 December 2025. The Highland Council is inviting people that live, work, or study in Thurso, to come along to the public consultation events to have their say; this is an opportunity to help shape the future of Thurso, to gather views and ideas.2/12/2025
Finding new owners for empty homes - Scheme launched to help return more empty homes to active use
A new online portal has been launched to bring empty homeowners together with prospective buyers or developers with the aim of facilitating more properties to be used as homes again. Covering the whole of Scotland, this builds on the success of local pilots, referred to as "matchmaker schemes".1/12/2025
Consideration for short term let control area in Skye and Raasay
Steps towards introducing a short term let control area have been considered by Highland Council's Isle of Skye and Raasay area committee. On Monday (1 December 2025) the committee heard evidence to justify the grounds for the introduction of a Short Term Let Control Area covering all or part of Skye and Raasay.28/11/2025
Workforce North event spotlights Highland economy
EMPLOYERS and educators from across the Highlands have gathered to hear how a new initiative is aiming to transform the region's economy. Workforce North - A Call to Action brought together business leaders and teachers from primary and secondary schools from across the Highland Council area with a wide range of partners geared towards education, learning and skills development at Strathpeffer Pavillion.
Our Social Media
