Community Council resources
Scheme for Community Councils and Community Councils guidance
Community Councils in Edinburgh are voluntary organisations who were first established in Scotland following the . To carry out their important role, Community Councillors are strongly encouraged to familiarise themselves with both the Scheme for Community Councils and Community Councils Guidance.
Community Empowerment and Engagement
The Community Empowerment and Engagement team has put together a Community Engagement Toolkit, to support Community Councils in building their confidence and skills in carrying out community engagement. The toolkit covers a variety of topics, including an introduction to engagement and the national standards, planning your engagement, engagement methods, evaluation and impact, and expressing your views.
If you have further questions about community engagement, please get in touch with the Community Empowerment and Engagement team at
communityengagement@edinburgh.gov.uk
Community Councils and the planning system
Community Councils have a crucial role to play in the planning system. Development happens to allow the city to grow for future needs and by expressing local views, Community Councils can have a real say in how this happens.
by the Scottish Government sets out how community councils can get involved in planning proposals. This includes details of statutory timescales and procedures for consultee status. The Scottish Government has also produced .
The Edinburgh Development Concordat sets out how communities, developers and the Council can work together when development is proposed.
The planning helpdesk is an email service. You can find out more on our webpage and make contact by email to
Community Councillor Induction Pack - May 2025
Community Council inductions were held in May 2025. The in-person induction at the City Chambers on 12 May 2025 was .
The community councillor induction pack is also available to view. We would encourage community councillors to view the induction materials and familiarise themselves with both the Scheme for Community Councils and Community Councils Guidance.
Improvement Service
The contains a wealth of information and resources to support community councils across Scotland.
Improvement Service and Open University Courses
The and the Open University (OU) in Scotland are working together to offer all community council volunteers the opportunity to upskill and reskill using OU courses.
There are courses available to assist community councillors fulfil their roles such as using Microsoft Teams and succeeding in a digital world, finance, fundraising, community and business skills.
The are free and to access, community councillors should register for a free account.
The OU provides many courses to choose from and if community councillors would like to suggest additional topics for training not covered that would benefit Community councils both in Edinburgh and across Scotland please email
scottishccs@improvementservice.org.uk.
Spatial Data Resources for Community Councils
A wide range of map-based information about the location, area and size of Council assets and boundaries is available through the
This portal provides free and open access to map information that can support local planning, community development, and evidence-based decision-making.
Two key feature layer datasets currently available are
- .
Each boundary dataset includes key attributes such as
- ‘STATUS’ – which indicates whether a Community Council is currently active or inactive
- ‘AREA’ – which represents the geographic size of the Community Council in square km
- ‘POPULATION’ – based on Mid-2022 estimates from National Records of Scotland (NRS).
Community Council boundary data is also available via the