Local Plan Timetable and How To Get Involved

The council is required to publish a Local Development Scheme (LDS) which sets out the scope and project timetable for the production of the Local Plan.

The LDS gives dates for key production and public consultation stages as well as outlining the subject matter and the geographical extent.

Update - February 2026

The Council’s Local Development Scheme had anticipated producing a Regulation 19 draft of the Local Plan in early 2026. However, this timetable has proven unrealistic due to several factors.

We are still awaiting the Government’s rollout of the new planning system—particularly the detailed regulations that will set out how Local Plans must now be prepared. These were expected by ‘the end of January’ but have yet to be published. The changes introduced through the Levelling Up and Regeneration Act (2023), combined with the ongoing Stodmarsh constraints, mean we cannot progress the Plan in line with the existing LDS timetable.

Despite this, work on the new Local Plan will continue. Over the summer, we intend to run a series of informal engagement events with Town, Parish, and Community Councils as the plan begins to take shape. A wider public consultation on the next version of the Local Plan is expected in Autumn 2026.

We will provide updated key milestones for the Local Plan 2042 as soon as we are in a position to do so.

2024 LDS

The most recent update to the LDS was adopted in July 2024.

View the Local Development Scheme 2024 [pdf] 1378KB.

How do I get involved?

We want local people and communities, businesses and other interested parties to be involved and have their say.

To get involved and be kept informed on the progress of the emerging Local Plan please sign up to join the Have Your Say Consultation Portal.

You can see more about how we consult and involve local communities, businesses, and organisation in our Statement of Community Involvement [pdf] 1064KB.