Getting ready to prepare a new plan
How local planning authorities should get ready to adopt a plan within 30 months.
Applies to England
For plans under the legacy plan-making system
If you are submitting your plan under the legacy system, use the create or update a local plan legacy system guidance.
The legacy system covers plans to be adopted under the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004, excluding the amendments made by the LURA, and The Town and Country Planning (Local Planning) (England) Regulations 2012.
In the new plan-making system, your local planning authority (LPA) will be expected to spend time getting ready before they start to prepare a new plan. LPAs will need to demonstrate what they have done to get ready before starting the 30-month plan making process.
Any time you spend getting ready does not count towards your 30-month period.
This period ends when you pass through the Gateway 1 self-assessment, which is when you confirm you are starting the 30-month plan preparation process.
This guidance refers to a range of tasks to complete. In future, it will link to more detailed guidance pages about how to do each task. We’re working on these and they will be available soon.
Getting ready overview
Getting ready is an important stage of plan-making. Doing this before the 30-month plan preparation process will help you to adopt a plan within the timeframe.
Getting ready means making progress in these 5 areas:
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preparing and publishing a local plan timetable
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establishing project management and governance
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consulting and engaging on the plan
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anticipated content of the plan
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starting your Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA)
These are the areas you must provide details in relation to for the Gateway 1 self-assessment summary.
Before starting the 30-month plan preparation process, you must:
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prepare and publish the first version of your local plan timetable in line with the data standards
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publish your notice of intention to commence at least 4 months before you intend to pass through Gateway 1
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invite early engagement from stakeholders by running a scoping consultation
We set out the recommended progress you should have made in each area before Gateway 1. We based these recommendations on what would best support you to adopt a plan within 30 months.
You’ll also find a readiness checker, which you should use to check your progress towards the recommendations.
We also recommend you prepare a project initiation document (PID) when getting ready. You could use the template provided by the Planning Advisory Service (PAS), which will help you to consider the important questions before you start preparing your plan. Read the section about using a PID to help you get ready.
When to start getting ready
While some required activities must take place in a specific order, we recommend you start getting ready as early as possible, based on our recommended progress, your resources and the internal processes you need to follow.
Recommended progress to make by Gateway 1
Preparing and publishing a local plan timetable
You must publish a local plan timetable in line with regulations and data standards. This will be a legal requirement. The first version of the timetable must be published before or together with your notice to commence.
There is an expectation that this timetable shows how your LPA will prepare and adopt a plan within a 30-month timeframe.
Guidance on preparing and publishing a local plan timetable will be available soon.
Establishing project management and governance
By Gateway 1, we recommend you have:
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a robust approach to manage, govern, resource and finance the preparation of the plan that helps you deliver the local plan timetable
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identified potential risks and have effective processes in place to monitor, manage and mitigate them
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involved all relevant teams and decision makers in designing, testing and signing off your approach
Consulting and engaging on the plan
Before passing through Gateway 1, you must complete a scoping consultation addressing matters including what the plan should contain and how you’ll engage with stakeholders going forward. As part of this you must notify and invite the views of general and specific consultation bodies listed in the regulations.
Additionally, by Gateway 1 we recommend you have:
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a strategy for engaging the community and other main stakeholders in the preparation of the plan, which has regard to government guidance
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clear processes in place to maximise responses from a diverse range of stakeholders, using both digital-first and traditional methods
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sought feedback on and agreed the strategy with key decision makers
Guidance on consulting and engaging on your local plan will be available soon.
Scoping the anticipated content of the plan
By Gateway 1, we recommend you:
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understand the proposed scope of the local plan – you know the main areas or locally specific subject matters it will address, based on data from the existing local plan, as well as information gathering, baselining and early engagement
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have used early baselining and engagement activities to draft a vision and have begun identifying measurable outcomes to monitor your progress towards that vision
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have mostly identified and scoped your evidence needs and have a plan for how you’ll deliver this
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have calculated a housing requirement for the plan area using the government’s standard method and started to identify the need for homes of different sizes, types and tenures
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have made some early considerations for high-level and conceptual spatial options to deliver identified development needs as well as topics that may require specific policies
Read guidance on the following aspects of preparing the content for your plan:
Guidance on other aspects will be available soon.
Progressing the Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA)
We expect SEA will be required for local plans. By Gateway 1, if you need one, we recommend you have identified:
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relevant environmental protection objectives for your SEA at international, national or community level
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other relevant plans or programmes baseline information against which to assess the environmental impact of the plan, including the environmental characteristics of the area likely to be significantly affected, existing environmental problems and key receptors
Guidance on SEA will be available soon. When considering SEA, refer to the relevant regulations.
Using the readiness checker to track your progress
You should use the to track your progress towards the recommendations.
The checker breaks the 5 areas into activities you will be doing to get ready. For each activity, you can select one of three statements about your progress, set out as red, amber and green.
If you select only green statements, this indicates you have made the recommended progress and are ready to start preparing the plan.
If you select any amber statements, this indicates you may need to make more progress before you start. You could still decide to start if you have a strategy for addressing the gaps. You should use your own judgement to consider what is appropriate for you.
If you select any red statements, this indicates you might have significant work to do before you should start.
In this case, you are not likely to adopt your plan within 30 months. We recommend you consider your circumstances and think about what you need to do before you start preparing your plan. It may be possible to proceed at risk, but this will depend on how critical the issues are and the amount of work needed to address them.
There’s also space for you to write an explanation for each selection, if you wish. For example, you could make note of:
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any risks to being ready you’re aware of
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evidence you have for selecting the green, amber or red statement
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whether you feel something is a barrier to starting for you
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which teams you’re working with to make the recommended progress
You can rename the notes column or add more columns to make the checker meet you and your team’s needs
Track your progress early and often
We recommend you track your progress early and often. This would support you to pass through Gateway 1 efficiently by finding and resolving issues early.
Using a PID to help you get ready
Use your PID to help you organise and plan early preparatory work for your local plan. We recommend you:
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use it to record your preparations in a structured way
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consider it as a “living document” that you update as you prepare your plan
As a minimum, we expect the PID to include detailed information about:
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the scope of the plan and relationship with other plans
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your strategy for engaging your communities and other key stakeholders
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detailed project planning to underpin your local plan timetable
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your governance and decision-making arrangements
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the resources and skills you need to oversee and deliver the plan
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how you will fund work on the plan
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details of the main risks to finalising the plan and suitable mitigations
You do not have to publish your PID in full, its main purpose is to help you manage and track progress of work within your team. We recommend using elements of your PID to help you communicate at main points, such as:
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internal engagement with your decision makers and politicians
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informal external engagement with key stakeholders critical to plan delivery
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drafting your Gateway 1 self-assessment summary
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presenting important information about your approach at formal consultations, for example your strategy for engaging the community and other main stakeholders
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demonstrating ongoing progress throughout the 30-month plan making process, for example at other gateways
We have worked with PAS to design a suggested template for your PID, including guidance to support you. We recommend you use this as your starting point, but you may design your own if you wish.
Deciding when to pass through Gateway 1
Before you pass through Gateway 1, you must give at least 4 months’ notice of your intention to begin plan-making.
After giving notice, you should aim to pass through Gateway 1 only when you’re satisfied you will be able to adopt a plan within 30 months. Use the readiness checker to help you make this assessment.
However, you must still pass through Gateway 1:
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no later than 5 years after adopting your existing plan, if that plan was prepared under the new plan-making system
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at least 4 months after you gave notice of your plan-making, or the day after your scoping consultation ends, whichever comes later
Read our guidance on transitional arrangements for when to pass through Gateway 1 for your first new-style plan.
This means you may need to pass through Gateway 1 without being fully satisfied you will meet the 30-month timeframe. For example, if you cannot make the recommended progress before your deadline.
Getting ready early and checking your progress often should help you be ready and satisfied on time.