Local Plan public engagement overview

We are working closely with communities and stakeholders to prepare the Local Plan, carrying out a range of engagement and consultation throughout its preparation, in line with the Council’s core policy of ‘giving people a bigger say’.

Local Plan engagement during development

We are taking an inclusive and proactive approach to engagement. Our Engagement and Communication Strategy sets out our approach to consulting and engaging the community and stakeholders on the Local Plan. 

The step-by-step process guide below explains when, how and why we consult the public at the different stages of preparing a Local Plan. The stages 1 to 5 correspond with the detailed descriptions in the Engagement and Communication Strategy. Select any item to read in more detail what each stage involves.

This process guide is an overview that applies to all local plans. As we complete each stage of this process, we will add a separate, more detailed account of what we have done, why, and how we are using the output of that stage to progress our development of our own Local Plan (2022 to 42). 

1. Launch of the new Local Plan 1:

   The main aim of the launch consultation is to make people aware of the fact that we are starting to prepare a new Local Plan. This includes creating a Launch Document, which describes the context and scope of the Plan, and highlights how people can be involved in its preparation.

   We use a variety of methods of raising awareness: mailouts, press releases, webinars, consultation questionnaires and public meetings.

   At this stage, we seek people's initial views on the Launch Document, and encourage interested parties to sign up to updates on the project as it progresses. The feedback from this first stage helps to form the questions we want to explore in the second stage of preparation: information gathering and targeted engagement.

2. Step 2:

   1. This stage of engagement aims to result in the formation of policy options for the developing Plan. There are two main parts to this stage of Plan preparation:

      • Building a clear understanding of the most important issues facing people. This includes exploring what evidence we need to understand these issues, and the opportunities that may exist across the district to address them
      • Sharing the information gathered to date, discussing emerging policy priorities, and potential development opportunities to further these policies

      We use targeted meetings and online engagement with community representatives (such as town and parish councils), key stakeholders and landowners. We also aim, at this policy-forming early stage, to ensure that we gather the views of seldom-heard groups, who tend to be under-represented in our public consultation responses. 

3. Step 3:

   The Options consultation is a statutory stage in the development of all Local Plans, and there are regulations about how we conduct it (Regulation 18 of the Town and Country Planning Act).

   The Options consultation aims to get public feedback on the policy and development alternatives which have emerged from the stage 2 information gathering and research. 

   This stage involves a district-wide, open consultation on the Options Document: an initial form of the Local Plan which describes local issues and priorities, and includes policy options and development alternatives which are designed to address those issues.

   The consultation consists of:

   • the Options Document
   • the current evidence base documents
   • an online questionnaire

   We support this consultation with webinars to explain the contents of the Options Document, and how people can respond to the questionnaire. There is also additional support for people who would like to see hard copy documents, or Easy Read versions.

4. Step 4:

   This stage aims to consider and discuss the responses to policy alternatives presented in the Options Consultation (Stage 3). As with the targeted engagement at Stage 2, there are a number of round-table discussions in different parts of the District, bringing together community representatives and key stakeholders. We also ensure that we consult seldom-heard groups.

   Through these discussions, we aim to settle on preferred policy options, and use these to shape the Draft Plan. 

5. Step 5: 

   The Draft Plan consultation is a statutory stage in the development of all Local Plans, and there are regulations about how we conduct it (Regulation 19 of the Town and Country Planning Act).

   The Draft Plan consultation aims to invite the public to comment on the 'soundness' of the Draft Plan and its supporting documents, before it is submitted to the Secretary of State for formal Examination. To be sound, a Plan needs to be:

   • compliant with national legislation
   • prepared positively, co-operating with other regional bodies on strategic planning
   • justified by the evidence in the supporting research documents
   • deliverable within the time period that it covers

   This stage involves a district-wide consultation, and consists of:

   • the Draft Plan document
   • the evidence base documents
   • a formal method of commenting (or making a representation on the Draft Plan)
   • an online questionnaire

   We support this consultation with webinars to explain the contents of the Draft Plan and evidence base documents, and how people can respond to the questionnaire. There is also additional support for people who would like to see hard copy documents, or Easy Read versions.