Have your say on West Northamptonshire's new draft Local Plan

Overview

We are in the process of preparing a new Local Plan for West Northamptonshire which will guide development up to 2041, and we would like to know your thoughts on our draft version.

What is the Local Plan?

Our Local Plan is a strategy which allows us to plan for the future of West Northamptonshire positively and sustainably by guiding decisions on future development proposals and creating places where people wish to live, work and visit and will thrive.

The draft Plan sets out a vision and objectives for the area, its ambitions for new development and commitment to dealing with climate change. The Plan allocates land for housing and employment and contains a series of planning policies for these and many other topics such as leisure, transport, health and wellbeing, infrastructure and the environment, and where development can and cannot take place.

Once adopted the new Plan will replace current plans that cover West Northamptonshire and form part of the development plan against which planning decisions are made.

Why your views matter

This consultation is your opportunity to get involved with this stage of the local plan process and will help us consider and address issues before a final draft is produced.

The Plan is still being prepared, evidence gathered, and proposals considered, and we invite comments on the fully developed policies, the partly developed policies and any other parts of the Plan including allocations for housing and employment growth and guidance that applies to your area.

We welcome comments from members of the public, statutory consultees, landowners, businesses, community groups, local organisations and other stakeholders and interested parties.

Public Exhibitions

The consultation period includes a number of drop-in sessions known as public exhibitions, where people can view the draft and ask any questions they may have on the draft Plan. These are being held at the following locations, no appointment required:

Related detail

Documentation:

The following open in a new window. You may wish to have these open when considering your response. 

• Draft West Northamptonshire Local Plan (Regulation 18),(PDF 5.37MB)
• Sustainability Appraisal of the Draft Local Plan (PDF 9.81MB)
• Sustainability Appraisal of the Draft Local Plan - High Level Assessments (PDF 13.5MB)
• Local Plan Policies Maps:
  • Policies Map North East (PDF 10.14MB)
  • Policies Map North West (PDF 8.23MB)
  • Policies Map South East (PDF 9.33MB)
  • Policies Map South West (PDF 8.55MB)
  • Policies Map Inset Brackley (PDF 2.46MB)
  • Policies Map Inset Daventry (PDF 3.75MB)
  • Policies Map Inset Northampton Central (PDF 4.91MB)
  • Policies Map Inset Northampton (PDF 7.16MB)
  • Policies Map Inset Towcester (PDF 3.72MB)
  • Policies Map Inset Legend (PDF 1.45MB)

The draft Plan is accompanied by a number of technical documents and other evidence (evidence base). All can be found on our dedicated New Local Plan for West Northamptonshire page.

The evidence will continue to be updated as the Plan progresses.

Information: 

• Call for Sites: We have opened up applications for our call for sites, this means that if there is land that you consider to be available and able to help deliver development to meet housing and employment needs, or the needs of Gypsies, Travellers, and Travelling Showpeople, you can nominate these sites to the Council. To submit your site/s, please visit the Call for Sites Form 2024 (this will open in another window).
• Local Green Space Nominations: As part of this consultation (within Chapter 4), we are also asking for Local Green Space Nominations. Local Green Spaces are areas that are of special importance to local communities. They must meet certain criteria, and if the Council agrees, they will be designated and protected from development through the Local Plan. You can nominate a Local Green Space within the appropriate chapter of this consultation, alternatively, if you only wish to nominate a Local Green Space you can do so through our Local Green Space Nomination Form 2024 (this will open in another window). 

How to have your say

You can have your say on the draft Plan by completing an online survey using the link below.  

If you need assistance to complete the online questionnaire, would like a copy of it in another format, or respond via an alternative method our contact details are as follows: 

Email: localplan@westnorthants.gov.uk 

Telephone: 0300 126 7000

Postal address:

• Planning Policy - Draft Local Plan
• West Northamptonshire Council
• The Guildhall 
• St Giles' Street
• Northampton
• NN1 1DE

This consultation ends 23:59 Sunday 2 June 2024.

Please note that in accordance with legislation and guidance all comments received will be summarised and made available for the public to view, this will include the name/s. All other personal information will remain confidential. 

If you do not agree, you will not be able take part in the consultation. View our Planning and climate change policy privacy notice.

What happens next? 

Following consultation, any responses received will be considered and inform the next stage of the plan-making process which is known as the Regulation 19 Plan or the ‘Pre-submission’ stage. Further evidence will also be gathered, and this may result in new or revised policies being drafted. 

It is proposed that a final draft of the Plan will be consulted upon in early 2025, where we will ask for further comments before submitting the Plan to an independent inspector for examination.