Still time to have your say on Local Plan – consultation ends 13 October

Ashford Borough Council is preparing a new Local Plan for the borough and there is still time for residents to have their say – with the consultation ending on Monday 13 October. 

The council has been consulting on a draft version of the Plan, known as a Regulation 18, for eight weeks, with the consultation live on the council’s website, and a series of public in-person events have been held in various locations throughout September and October.

A Local Plan provides the opportunity to shape the places that we live, work and socialise.  It addresses housing and employment needs and provides a series of planning policies covering many other topics such as community facilities and infrastructure, the natural and historic environment, adapting to climate change and achieving well designed places.

Although the general principle of the plan is to encourage growth within the economy of Ashford and plan housing delivery, our Local Plan will also seek to protect Ashford’s valued assets including our landscapes, heritage, and open spaces for leisure and nature. 

Once adopted, the policies within a Local Plan are used as the starting point to decide planning applications for future development.

This consultation is the first formal consultation stage of the plan-making process and follows a series of community engagement events held last year entitled ‘Our Local Plan Explained’. These events were held to engage the community at the earliest stage of the process so that the community could find out what the Local Plan is, how to get involved and to understand the plan-making process. 

Cllr Linda Harman, Portfolio Holder for Planning, Housing Delivery & Communications said: “We have received well-over 100 written responses and officers have taken away a lot of feedback and comments raised by people attending the in-person consultation events. The events have been well attended, especially in venues such as Mersham, and it has been useful to hear the thoughts and comments on the draft Local Plan proposals and talk to a wide range of members of the local community.

“The next steps are to review the comments received after the close of the consultation, and where appropriate the comments will help to inform the next iteration of the Local Plan. Site assessment work and the preparation of evidence documents will also be taking place ahead of the next consultation in 2026 to underpin the proposed approach in the Local Plan.”

All comments must be provided by 5pm on Monday 13 October 2025. To find out more about the Local Plan please visit our Local Plan webpage.