We adopted our current Local Plan in July 2018 meaning it is now more than 5 years old. Government policy, the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) and the National Planning Policy Guidance (PPG) states that a local plan review should take place every 5 years or when policies need updating.
Therefore we are now updating the Local Plan to ensure that future development needs are met sustainability and reflect the changing vision for the area, along with various legislative changes. On 19 July 2023 Full Council agreed on the recommendation by Planning Policy Committee (6 June 2023) to resume this work following a pause in 2021 and 2022.
We have an annual call for sites which we use to gain intelligence about potential land availability and assess its suitability for future development and infrastructure needs which can inform plan-making. This is in line with Paragraph 69 of the NPPF and PPG. We last undertook a call for sites in 2023.
The latest call for sites 2024 process was formally undertaken from 25 July 2024 to 5 September 2024.
The call for sites 2024 process closed on Thursday 5 September 2024. The council is now examining the information submitted within it and the assessments of sites/further information will become available on the website within the next iteration of the HELAA report when this is published. Although the call for sites has now closed, the council continues to welcome the submission of sites for inclusion within the HELAA at any time of the year, however, please be aware that any sites submitted after 5 September will not be included in the next iteration of the HELAA report, but instead in a following publication.
If you would like to submit a site within the HELAA, please see the below information. Please note that sites can be submitted at any time, however, sites submitted outside the call for sites exercise will be assessed against future HELAA updates.
We are interested in receiving submissions for land (including any previously developed land and existing HELAA Sites) that may have the potential for development for:
- housing (sites of 5 or more additional new dwellings)
- economic development (sites of 0.25 hectares or above or able to provide 500 sqm or above of additional floor space)
- gypsy and traveller sites
- custom and self-build housing
- leisure and tourism
- Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG)
- blue/green infrastructure, for example, rewilding, natural flood mitigation, renewable and decentralised energy
Complete the call for sites form
Call for sites 2024 guidance notes
Read our privacy notice to see how we look after your data.