About the Draft Local Plan - latest news

The council's Local Plan, which was adopted in 2016, is currently being updated to ensure it remains up to date and delivers national and local objectives.

A Local Plan provides the planning policy framework to direct growth and change to appropriate locations and therefore achieve sustainable development to create places people want to live, work and locate their businesses. The plan covers all types of development, from housing to employment, schools, roads, parks, shops and community facilities. A Local Plan also includes planning policies to inform the location, scale and appearance of developments. When adopted it will form part of the Development Plan for the area.

March 2026 Update

The council recently completed a consultation on a Local Plan Draft Spatial Strategy (Regulation 18). This set out a proposed strategy for meeting needs (including housing and employment floorspace) over the plan period up to at least 2042. It was a highly successful consultation with high attendance at a number of exhibitions and around 5,000 representations received.

The process brought to light significant issues concerning the provision of the strategic infrastructure required to support the higher level of growth now required by Government. In particular, the capacity and resilience of the borough’s water supply system has been brought into question. The council is now working closely with the relevant partners to fully understand the implications of the emerging water supply constraints for the borough and the draft Local Plan. Once the scale of the work needed to address the issues is understood, the council’s Cabinet will need to agree a new timetable for the Local Plan.

All the responses to the consultation have been published and can be viewed on the council's CiviQ consultation portal.

Consultation response on proposed National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF)

The government carried out a consultation on a revised NPPF and other changes to the planning system in Spring 2026. The council’s administration responded to the consultation with a letter outlining a number of in principle concerns that they wished to raise with the minister.

Reason why the Local Plan is being updated

National guidance promotes the concept of an on-going cycle of plan making and review, which is reinforced by a legal requirement to review Plans every five years. An updated plan will look further into the future, covering the period up to at least 2042, and will ensure that the borough's needs are met over this longer period.

How long it will take to update the Local Plan

The council published a Local Development Scheme (LDS) in February 2025. This will be updated once the council’s Cabinet agree a new timetable for the Local Plan.

Progress on the Local Plan update

The council has completed a number of initial stages of plan making:

• Issues and Options (2020). Find out more information on the consultation and the responses received - Issues and Options.
• Statutory consultation on a full draft Plan (Regulation 18 consultation) (2024). Find out more information on the consultation and the responses received - Statutory consultations on a full draft Plan
• An additional statutory consultation focusing on the Draft Local Plan Spatial Strategy (Regulation 18 consultation) was held from November 2025 to January 2026. Find out more information on the consultation and the responses received - Additional statutory consultation.

A number of evidence base documents support the evolving plan, covering a variety of issues from landscape impact to water quality. View the published documents online.

Keep up to date

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For further information on how your data will be used please read our Privacy Notice Basingstoke and Deane is the data controller for the personal information you provide on the form on CiviQ. You can contact the council by phone on 01256 844844 or by writing to us at Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council, Civic Offices, London Road, Basingstoke, RG21 4AH. The council’s Data Protection Officer can be contacted at dpo@basingstoke.gov.uk.