Local Plan (Regulation 19) consultation

Publication version of the Uttlesford Local Plan 2021 - 2041

The regulation 19 consultation has now closed.

All submitted comments will now be processed and submitted to the Secretary of State by the end of 2024 for independent Examination , expected to take place during 2025. This will involve the appointment of an independent Planning Inspector, who will examine the Local Plan in great detail on issues of soundness, legal compliance and compliance to the duty to cooperate. This normally involves public hearing sessions, the specific timing of these will be announced by the appointed inspector.

All comments received at regulation 19 consultations alongside the Local Plan and supporting documentation, including evidence, will be included in the submission.

In accordance with Regulation 19 of the Town and Country Planning (Local Planning) (England) Regulations 2012 representations were invited on the publication version of the Uttlesford Local Plan 2021 - 2041.

The consultation ran from Thursday 8 August to Monday 14 October 2024.

Representations were invited that focussed on whether the plan is legally compliant and meets the tests of 'soundness' as set out in the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF), paragraph 35.

Find out more about the plan making process, legal compliance and tests of soundness:

Legal compliance

The revised Local Plan has been prepared in accordance with legal and procedural requirements. The plan should have been:

prepared in accordance with our latest Local Development Scheme (PDF, 533 KB);
accompanied by a Sustainability Appraisal and Habitats Regulations Assessment;
subject to consultation carried out in accordance with our Statement of Community Involvement (PDF, 737 KB) and our Community Engagement Strategy (PDF, 476 KB);
compliant with all relevant laws including the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act (PCPA) 2004 and the Town and Country Planning (Local Planning) (England) Regulations 2012.

We should also have worked collaboratively with neighbouring authorities and prescribed bodies on strategic and cross boundary matters, known as the Duty to Cooperate (PDF, 6 MB).

Soundness

Local Plans are considered to be sound if they have been:

Positively prepared

Provides a strategy which, as a minimum, seeks to meet our objectively assessed needs and is informed by agreements with other authorities, so that unmet need from neighbouring areas is accommodated where it is practical to do so and is consistent with achieving sustainable development;

Justified

An appropriate strategy, taking into account the reasonable alternatives, and based on proportionate evidence;

Effective

Deliverable over the plan period, and based on effective joint working on cross-boundary strategic matters that have been dealt with rather than deferred, as evidenced by the statement of common ground; and

Consistent with national policy

Enabling the delivery of sustainable development in accordance with the policies in this framework and other statements of national planning policy, where relevant.

► Uttlesford Local Plan 2021-2041: A Short Guide (PDF, 3 MB)

Public events

A number of drop-in exhibitions were held across the district so that residents and businesses could find out more about the proposals within the new Uttlesford Local Plan.

Event details