The starting gun has fired on the important next stage of the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole (BCP) Council’s new Local Plan.
The local authority’s cabinet has formally agreed to issue a Notice to Commence plan making, publish the timetable and Project Initiation Document, publish a scoping consultation exercise for six weeks and progress the Local Plan through its Gateway stages.
You may remember that the council withdraw a previous draft Local Plan in May 2025 after it was rejected by the Planning Inspectorate.
Now it will draft its new planning blueprint – covering the period 2028/29 to 2043/44 – under the government’s new Local Plan making system which means that it must be completed within 30 months from Gateway 1 to adoption.
Council papers show the timetable as:
June 2026: Scoping consultation to set out what the plan should contain and how the council intends to engage with stakeholders
September 2026: Completion of Gateway 1 (self-assessment to ensure plan readiness)
October to November 2026: Consultation on the plan content and evidence (minimum of six weeks – including draft vision, proposed spatial strategy, summary of evidence and can include draft policies)
February 2027: Publish plan content and evidence consultation summary
April- May 2027: Complete Gateway 2 (progress check with Planning Inspectorate to support resolution of potential soundness issues)
September-November 2027: Consultation on draft Local Plan (minimum of 8 weeks)
January 2028: Publish consultation summary
January-February 2028: Finalise the draft plan
March-April 2028: Gateway 3 (check with the Planning Inspectorate to ensure the plan meets the prescribed legal requirements to enable the council to submit the plan for examination)
May 2028: Submit the plan for examination
June-November 2028: Examination
December 2028/January 2029: Adoption, if successful.
Under the Scoping Consultation due to start this month, the council will ask for views on key issues, what to include in the local plan and how to engage with people going forward.
Government guidance sets out that it must seek the views of general and specific consultation bodies.
The new Local Plan will set out how Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole will grow over the coming years – including where new homes, jobs and infrastructure should be built.
It is critical that the council drafts an ambitious and forward-thinking local plan and takes the difficult decisions – including releasing Green Belt land and giving a broader consideration to a general increase in development densities – to deliver an appropriately aspirational plan that will meet the needs of the local community and economy.
We will make our representations to the council throughout the Local Plan making process. We will also be representing the interests of the planning community and can support anyone with land or a site they wish to promote.
Please contact us to find out more.
