Housing developers often face community opposition to projects

Shelter Scotland has produced a "toolkit" for developers which it hopes will help address community conflict.

A spokesman for the charity said it was a practical pack that included guidance on how to talk to local people.

The Scottish Government's housing task force said community engagement was essential to improve housing supply.

The pack - entitled But Why Here? - is due to be unveiled at a seminar being held in Edinburgh later.

It was designed to look at ways developers can engage with communities so that conflict can be avoided or addressed when dealing with homeless or other social accommodation.

We are going to have to get beyond the pitched battle that currently gets played out Archie Stoddart Shelter Scotland

Shelter believes the lessons learned - how to talk to the local community, dealing with the media, and ideas for troubleshooting - could be used when looking at all new housing developments and wants to see the pack being used by all sorts of developers.

Archie Stoddart, director of Shelter Scotland, said: "Conflict over plans for new housing is widespread across Scotland and disquiet about new homelessness accommodation is simply the sharp end of that.

"But if we are going to move forward and provide homes that meet the needs of both future households and the aspirations of communities, we are going to have to get beyond the pitched battle that currently gets played out."

He added: "This pack has been designed to build better relationships right at the start and to ensure that the accommodation which is really needed gets built in the best places possible."

The charity appointed community engagement specialists Clear Plan UK to produce the toolkit, which was funded by Communities Scotland and developed within the framework of the agency's National Standards for Community Engagement.