The Local Plan Review 2023-44 is proposed to replace the current Local Plan adopted in 2019. The Local Plan is an important document as it will determine what Peterborough and the surrounding villages will look like in the future. It provides a vision on how our city can become an even better place to live, work and visit.
The Local Plan Review will address a range of issues that include (but not limited to):
- Climate change
- Housing
- Employment
- Retail
- Natural environment
Local Plan update September 2024
In light of the new Government's proposed revisions to the National Planning Policy Framework, published in July 2024, and the anticipated updates to housing figures, we have decided to pause the consultation on the Draft Local Plan, scheduled for September and October 2024, until February 2025. This will allow the necessary time to incorporate any changes to national policy, review site selection work and will ensure the evidence base is up to date.
On 5 September 2024, we approved an updated Local Development Scheme (opens PDF in Microsoft Sharepoint) which sets out the timetable and all the consultation stages involved in the preparation of a new Local Plan for Peterborough.
We carried out an additional call for sites between 9 September and 4 October 2024. A total of 14 sites were submitted. Of these, 9 were completely new sites not submitted previously.
We will consider all of the additional sites alongside the sites submitted during the 2023 Call for Sites. Any sites preferred for allocation will be included in the Draft Local Plan that will be published for consultation in early 2025.
View the sites submitted during the 2024 Call for Sites on our interactive map system.
You can view all sites submitted previously on the interactive map (opens Peterborough ArcGIS system).
Issues and Options consultation
We consulted on the 'Issues and Options Consultation Document' in summer 2023.
In November 2023, we published:
- A Key Issues Report, summarising representations made on the Issues and Options Document. You can view all the responses we received in our Planning Policy Library (opens Microsoft Sharepoint).
We also held a Call for Sites exercise in summer 2023. This sought suggestions for sites proposed for allocation local green spaces and suggestions for changes to the village boundaries during the Issues and Options consultation. In November 2023, we published:
- A Strategic Housing, Economic Land Availability Assessment (SHELAA) which lists all sites suggested as part of the public consultation
- An interactive map showing sites submitted through the Call for Sites exercise, alongside basic site information - you can zoom in and move around the map to located sites. Clicking on a site or other designation will reveal a pop-up providing further information.
Please note: The sites identified in the SHELAA document and shown on the interactive map are not in any way 'approved' or supported by the council. They are merely a collection of sites submitted to us as part of the Call for Sites exercise. At this stage, we have not carried out any assessments or made any decisions.
We are fully assessing all sites against the detailed site selection methodology. Following this detailed site assessment process, we will include the preferred sites in the Draft Local Plan. We will publish an evidence report alongside the Draft Local Plan that will identify all sites suggested to us. The report will include a full reason and justification for the proposed selection of a site or not.
We also published:
- A Suggested Local Green Space Designations report setting out sites suggested for designation as Local Green Spaces
- An interactive map showing sites submitted for consideration as Local Green Spaces
Next stages
The Local Development Scheme (opens PDF in Microsoft Sharepoint) came into effect on 5 September 2024. It sets out the timetable and all the consultation stages involved in the preparation of a new Local Plan for Peterborough.
We also provide a monthly update of progress which you can find alongside the Local Development Scheme (LDS) (opens Microsoft Sharepoint).
Sustainability Appraisal Scoping Report
The Sustainability Appraisal Scoping Report sets out the proposed methodology and framework that includes objectives and indicators to measure progress against. This methodology and framework will then be used for the Sustainability Appraisal of the Local Plan.
Consultee database
If you wish to receive notifications of consultations and progress of the Local Plan preparation, please let us know.
Local Plan Review - document library
As preparation of the new plan progresses, we will update the contents of the library with new documents as we produce them. The Planning Policy Library (opens Microsoft Sharepoint) contains all the Local Plan Review documents, along with relevant evidence and other documents that support the plan.
