Every local authority in England should have an up-to-date development plan, usually known as the local plan, to guide development in their area for the next 15 years. The plan will set out how much development is needed (including the number of new homes) and where that development will be located. It will also include policies which explain how other factors - like flood risk, ecology, traffic and design quality - will be taken into account when deciding whether to approve a planning application.
Preparing a local plan takes a number of years and includes a series of fairly standard stages – some of which are required by law - aimed at making sure the final plan can be brought into effect.
Here’s what that process usually looks like.
Decisions about how much development is needed and where the most appropriate locations are must be informed by facts on the ground – and that means the council needs to pull together lots of evidence. This will cover issues like the size and make-up of the population (are there more older people?), the number of local jobs, commuting patterns, important landscapes, shopping needs, historic rates of development and much more besides. The aim is to understand exactly what the borough is like, and what types of development it needs as a result.
The evidence gathering process will usually includes a “Call for Sites” exercise to help identify how much land is available for development. We’ve explained more about call for sites and how landowners can use it to promote their own sites in this post.
Information will start to be collected right at the start of the process, but the evidence base for the plan will be continually updated as circumstances change or new problems are identified.
The first public stage of the plan process is usually a consultation on “issues and options.” Using the evidence they have gathered, the council will identify the issues they believe the local plan needs to address, and the potential options for addressing them. For example, perhaps the population is getting older and there is a growing demand for more retirement accommodation. If lots of people commute out of the borough for work, maybe the council will want to deliver more employment land.
For housing, the minimum number of homes is determined by the “standard method” – a nationally set formula. There will, however, be several options open to the council to meet that housing need. For example, every settlement could expand by the same proportionate amount; the biggest towns could grow a lot with the smaller villages not growing at all; or perhaps an entirely new settlement is the answer.
Local residents, landowners, developers and other interested parties (like the health service and utilities companies) will then be asked for their views on whether the right issues have been identified, and which options for addressing them they believe to be the most appropriate.
With evidence gathered, and feedback on the various development options received, the council will prepare a first draft of the local plan. This will usually include precise development targets and set out how those targets will be met – including identifying specific sites for building (known as “allocations”).
Different councils call this stage different things although a “first draft” or “preferred option” plan are the most common names. Some local authorities even break the consultation into stages, perhaps consulting on the general distribution of development (“this number of homes in these settlements”) but without having identified specific sites for building.
However they do it, the information provided must be sufficient to meet the requirement set out in law to consult interested parties “about what a local plan … ought to contain.” Because this test is set out in Regulation 18 of the Town and Country Planning Regulations, this stage is often referred to as a “Regulation 18 consultation.”
The council will consider all the feedback on their draft plan, make sure their evidence is up-to-date and then prepare a final version of their plan. Taking all of that information into account might mean the plan needs to change compared to earlier versions.
Another public consultation exercise is carried out on this final draft plan, after which it will be submitted to the government’s Planning Inspectorate for the final step in the plan-making process, known as “examination.” For that reason, this is sometimes called a “Pre-Submission” consultation or a “Regulation 19 consultation”, after the part of the Town and Country Planning Regulations that makes it a legal requirement.
The final stage of the plan-making process, examination can be thought of as a public inquiry. It involves a government appointed planning inspector deciding if the local plan meets the requirements of national policy and planning law, and is therefore able to come into effect.
To help guide that decision, inspectors must use the “soundness tests” which require that the plan is:
(a) “Positively prepared,” making a genuine effort to meet development needs;
(b) “Justified” by evidence, having considered sensible alternative strategies;
(c) “Effective,” meaning that it is likely to meet development needs; and
(d) Consistent with national policy.
The inspector’s job isn’t to make the plan better in some way – just to make sure it meets those minimum standards.
To begin the examination, the inspector will review the proposed plan and all the associated evidence, and ask the council for further details on anything that isn’t clear. The inspector will then identify areas they wish to explore in detail, and prepare a list of questions to help them do that. These are usually known as the “Matters, Issues and Questions” – or MIQs, for short – with the council and other interested parties being invited to provide written responses. A series of hearing sessions will then be held - in person meetings where those answers can be discussed and debated more fully.
Finally, and taking into account all of that discussion and debate, the inspector will decide whether the plan is “sound” and can come into force or “unsound.” If the inspector believes the plan is unsound, they can recommend changes that would correct the problems they have identified. If the council are happy to accept those changes, the amended plan would be considered sound. If they are not willing to accept them, or if the flaws are so significant that they can’t easily be fixed, then the inspector will find the plan unsound and the council must start the local plan process again. Whatever the outcome, the inspector will explain their decision in a written report.
If all those hurdles are successfully cleared and the inspector declares the plan sound, all that remains is for the council to vote to bring the plan into effect, a process called “adoption.” Once the plan is adopted, its policies – and development allocations – become the basis for deciding all subsequent planning applications.
As you can see, the plan-making process is far from straightforward – but that means there are many opportunities to influence it. Providing the right information to the council at the right time can significantly increase the chances of your site being earmarked for new development – be that homes, employment space or even a solar farm. The Strategic Land Group works with landowners to do just that, using our knowledge of planning and our financial resources to navigate the planning process on their behalf. We do that at our cost and risk – our fee is a share in the value of the site once it is sold, so if we don’t succeed, it doesn’t cost the landowner anything.
If you know of a site you think could be suitable for development and which could benefit from our approach, get in touch today for a free, no obligation consultation.
