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Stroud District Local Plan Review

Regulation 20 Submission Draft Plan. The Draft Local Plan was submitted to the Planning Inspectorate for examination in October 2021.

Pre-Submission Draft Local Plan for Publication

Examination in Public (EiP)

The draft Local Plan is currently still at Examination. Following submission to the Planning Inspectorate and the appointment of two independent Inspectors to lead the Examination, hearing sessions began in March 2023. The sessions continued up until a 'summer break' in June; and in August the Inspectors wrote to the Council, setting out three specific areas of concern in regard to soundness, which the Council is working to address. 

Please refer to the Examination Webpage for the latest position and up to date information. 

 Frequently Asked Questions about the EiP (January 2023)

Local Plan Submission

On 25 October 2021, following Regulation 19 consultation, the Stroud District Council Local Plan and Evidence Base documents were submitted to the Planning inspectorate for examination.

A dedicated Examination Webpage has been created here:

Local Plan Examination

September 2021 Regulation 20 Representations

The Council is preparing to submit the Draft Plan, all associated documents and evidence base to the Planning Inspectorate this Autumn. As part of this preparation, all representations received at the Regulation 19 stage have now been digitalised and are available to view below.

Regulation 20 Representations

Please note 22 July 2021 The consultation is now closed

The next stages of plan preparation involve submitting the draft plan and all associated documents and evidence base to the Planning Inspectorate. The Council is currently preparing for submission and this is expected to happen late summer/early autumn depending on the volume and complexity of consultation responses received.

This will include appointing an independent Planning Inspector and Programme Officer who will publish all examination documents including the responses to the Regulation 19 Consultation on a dedicated website in due course. Once submitted to the Planning Inspectorate the Council has no control over the timetable, all of those who expressed the wish to be kept updated or attend the Examination in Public will be contacted by the Programme Officer.

 

Pre-Submission Draft Local Plan for publication

Stroud District Local Plan Review: Draft Local Plan for publication

Pre-submission draft plan 2021

  

Policies Map

The Pre-Submission Stroud District Local Plan document sets out proposed changes to the adopted Policies Map in Appendix D. Most of these map changes are set out within the Local Plan document itself. However, the following maps are not contained within the Local Plan itself but are referred to in Appendix D and are therefore set out here for information. You can access the current adopted Local Plan Policies Map here.

 Stroud District Local Plan Review: Policies Map Changes

  

Evidence base

All other evidence base and background documents are also available on the dedicated evidence base page:

View background documentsLocal Plan Review Evidence

 

How to respond

How to respond guidance noteGuidance note: How to respond 

Following the consultation period, the Plan will be submitted for examination by an independent Planning Inspector, appointed by the Secretary of State. The Inspector’s role is to examine whether the submitted plan meets the tests of soundness (as defined in the National Planning Policy Framework) and meets all the relevant legislative requirements, including the Duty to Co-operate. The Planning Inspector will consider representations made during this period of consultation. Any comments on the Plan should specify the matters to which they relate and the grounds on which they are made. Only the following matters will be of concern to the Planning Inspector:

  • Legal Compliance – does the Plan meet the legal requirements for plan making as set out by planning and environmental laws?
  • Soundness – has the Plan been positively prepared, is it justified, effective, and consistent with national policy?
  • Meeting the Duty to Cooperate – has the Council engaged and worked effectively with neighbouring authorities and statutory bodies?

It is important that the Planning Inspector and all participants in the examination process are able to know who has given feedback on the Publication Plan. All comments received will therefore be submitted to the Secretary of State and considered as part of a public examination by the Inspector. In addition, all comments will be made public on the Council’s website, including the names of those who submitted them. All other personal information will remain confidential and will be managed in line with the Council’s Privacy Statement. 

 

In order to make a representation, you will need to fill in an online representation form:

Submit your views via our online questionnaireOnline representation form

Note: You can upload up to a maximum of 6 supporting documents towards the end of the form, following Q161. Please ensure each individual document is no larger than 10mb, in accordance with our website capability. Please ensure that any material you upload is redacted of all personal information, so that it is ready for publication along with all representations on the Pre-Submission Draft Local Plan. If you need to submit more than 60mb of material, please get in touch and we will facilitate a file transfer.

How to respond guidance noteGuidance note: How to respond 

 Statement of Representation Procedure

 

If you need help filling in the representation form or accessing the documents please contact the Planning Strategy Team via local.plan@stroud.gov.uk  or by phoning the Planning Strategy Team on 01453 754143.

 

If you cannot fill in an online form, please download and fill out the following form and send it to us by email to local.plan@stroud.gov.uk or by post to: The Planning Strategy Team, Stroud District Council, Ebley Mill, Stroud, GL5 4UB.

 Word version representation form 

Note: if you wish to attach any supporting documents with your email, please ensure that any material you send is redacted of all personal information, so that it is ready for publication along with all representations on the Pre-Submission Draft Local Plan. Please ensure that no single file you attach is larger than 10mb and please don’t send more than 20mb of supporting documents per email. You may submit more than one email but please label clearly e.g. email 1 of 2. If you need to submit more than 60mb of material, please get in touch and we will facilitate a file transfer. 

 

Request for further notification of Local Plan progress

When making a representation you can ask to be notified of any of the following by responding on the representation form: 

  • Submission of the Stroud District Local Plan to the Secretary of State for examination
  • Publication of the recommendations of the person appointed to carry out the independent examination of the Stroud District Local Plan on behalf of the Secretary of State
  • Adoption of the new Stroud District Local Plan

 

The Examination Process

The Examination is open to the public and subject to the venue’s seating availability and future coronavirus (Covid-19) regulations, anyone can attend to listen to the discussions, but there are strict rules which apply to those who wish to participate. If you wish to appear at the Examination as a participant, such a request must be made as part of the representation on the Publication Plan. The right to appear and be heard by the Inspector at a hearing session is defined in the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004 section 20 (6).

Those who wish to participate at the Examination will have their contact details passed to the Inspector in case they wish to contact them to discuss their comments; and to the Program Officer who will notify them of the time and date of any hearing session(s).

If you have any questions regarding this consultation stage or need help filling in the representation form or accessing the documents please contact the Planning Strategy Team via local.plan@stroud.gov.uk  or by phoning the Planning Strategy Team on 01453 754143. 

 

Sustainability Appraisal

We appointed Land Use Consultants Ltd to support the plan making process by undertaking a Sustainability Appraisal (SA) incorporating Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) of the Local Plan during its preparation. The overall purpose of the SA/SEA is to assess the economic, environmental and social effects of the plan from the outset to allow decisions to be made that will deliver sustainable development.  

 

 

Habitat Regulations Assessment (HRA)

The purpose of the Habitat Regulations Assessment (HRA) is to identify any aspects of the Draft Local Plan that would have the potential to cause a likely significant effect on Natura 2000 or European sites (Special Areas of Conservation (SACs), Special Protection Areas (SPAs) and Ramsar sites), (either in isolation or in combination with other plans and projects), and to identify appropriate avoidance and mitigation strategies where such effects are identified.

Habitats Regulations Assessment (HRA)

  

Why are we reviewing the plan now?

The Government wants all local authorities to review their local plans every 5 years. The current Local Plan was approved in November 2015. New plans can take 5 or more years to finalise and so it is important that we make progress now.

 

What is our programme?

We have built into the timetable plenty of time to discuss issues, options and proposals with local communities. There will be ongoing engagement with organisations, but the main public consultation activities will be... 

 

Issues and options consultation

Autumn 2017

(complete)

An opportunity to discuss emerging issues and identify ways of distributing and managing future development needs

Preferred options consultation ("Emerging Strategy")

Autumn 2018

(complete)

We now know the minimum number of houses that we need to provide for and we have identified a potential strategy for delivery.

Final draft plan consultation

Autumn 2019

(complete)

A chance to check that we have the right draft plan in place

Pre-submission consultation

Spring 2021

(complete)

The formal stages of making representations on the plan

Modifications

2023

Consultation on any proposed modifications to the plan

Adoption

  

2024

It is anticipated that the new Local Plan will be adopted by 2024

 

Previous Stages of the Local Plan Review Process

 

 

Further information

If you would like more information, please contact the Planning Strategy Team.

Email: local.plan@stroud.gov.uk