About the Local Plan Review - Print version

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Overview

Coventry City Council adopted its Local Plan and accompanying Area Action Plan for the City Centre in December 2017. These documents set out how much and what kind of development is needed up until the year 2031, where it should go, and what policies should be applied in order to help the Council decide whether planning applications are acceptable or not. They are known as Development Plan Documents (DPDs) and are prepared in line with a strict legal process.

The Government currently requires that the policies of the adopted Local Plan should be reviewed every five years to see if they are up to date or whether they need changing or even rewriting to reflect changes to national policy or other matters.

This is what we are now doing. We are carrying out a full review which means that we are reviewing every policy to see what needs changing and why, and whether there are any new policies we should be introducing.

In particular we need to be considering the review of the plan in the light of changes to national government planning policy, and the Council’s priorities including the One Coventry Plan and the emerging Climate Change strategy.

Local Plans need to plan at least 15 years ahead, so we are now looking to the year 2041 in terms of what we need.

The adopted Local Plan (and therefore the area subject to review) covers the entire administrative area of Coventry City Council, as shown on the blue line on the map below. The grey area is that covered by the city centre Area Action Plan.

A map showing Coventry and its borders

Key stages of the Local Plan Review

This first round of engagement called Regulation 18 (Issues and Options) took place between Tuesday 18 July and Friday 29 September 2023.

This consultation was on our ideas (the Issues and Options) for the updated Local Plan. Respondents were invited to make comments on a range of proposed changes.

View the consultation documents [https://coventrycitycouncil.inconsult.uk/CLPRIO/consultationHome].

The next stage of the local plan review is the Regulation 19 consultation. This took place between 20 January and 3 March 2025. To find out more visit Have Your Say [https://www.coventry.gov.uk/planning-policy/local-plan-review/4].

The timetable for the local plan review is contained in our Local Development Scheme [https://www.coventry.gov.uk/planning-policy/coventry-local-plan-2011-2031/7] (LDS).

Background Papers and Evidence Base

This is the evidence base, together with explanatory background papers which have informed the review of the Local Plan.

All other information relating to the Issues and Options consultation including topic papers [http://coventrycitycouncil.inconsult.uk/system/home].

Regulation 19 Consultation

Local Plan Review Consultation

We consulted on the Regulation 19 (Proposed Submission) stage of the Local Plan Review between Monday 20 January 2025 and Monday 3 March 2025.

This was a formal, statutory stage in the preparation of the Local Plan. Following the consultation, and subject to approval from Council, all representations will be sent, along with the revised Local Plan to the Planning Inspectorate to be examined by a government-appointed Planning Inspector who will consider if any changes need to be made to the Local Plan before it can be adopted.

During the Examination of the Local Plan the Planning Inspector is only able to assess whether the revised Local Plan has been prepared in accordance with legal and procedural requirements, and whether it is ‘sound’. Therefore, all representations on the draft Local Plan must relate to a matter of legal compliance or a matter of soundness as follows: 

Legal compliance: Does the Local Plan comply with the legal and procedural requirements for its preparation?

Soundness: Is the Local Plan sound? Has it been positively prepared, justified, effective and aligned with national policy? Does it meet the following four tests? It must be:

  • Positively prepared – the Plan has attempted to meet all of Coventry’s housing and employment land needs and discussions have taken place with neighbouring councils to help meet any shortfalls.
  • Justified – the Plan sets out a development strategy that has been informed by up-to-date evidence and consideration has been given to alternative strategies.
  • Effective – the Plan is deliverable, and efforts have been made to address any issues impacting on the broader region.
  • Consistent with national policy.

Duty to Cooperate: Has the plan complied with the Duty to Cooperate? Has the Council engaged and collaborated effectively with neighbouring authorities and other legally prescribed organisations in preparing the Local Plan?

The Sustainability Appraisal, which is an assessment of how the proposals and policies of the plan meet a range of sustainability criteria was also available for comments.

Documents

Local Plan: View our Regulation 19 Consultation and Plan Preparation Documents [http://www.coventry.gov.uk/downloads/download/8060/local-plan-consultation-and-plan-preparation-documents]. They can also be viewed on our Online consultation system [http://coventrycitycouncil.inconsult.uk/system/home].

Evidence Base: View documents which have informed the review, including the evidence base and explanatory background papers [http://www.coventry.gov.uk/planning-policy/local-plan-review/3]. 

Making a representation

The window for representations has now closed. Should you have any questions, please email planningpolicy@coventry.gov.uk [mailto:planningpolicy@coventry.gov.uk]

Webinars

Webinars took place on 5 and 7 February. View the slides [https://www.coventry.gov.uk/downloads/download/8085/local-plan-review-webinar-slides]. 

Previous consultation stage

We consulted on the first stage of the Local Plan Review in summer 2023. This stage was called Issues and Options (Regulation 18) and was about determining the scope of the review and which of the adopted Local Plan policies needed updating. View the consultation documents [https://coventrycitycouncil.inconsult.uk/system/home].

The plan review timetable is set out in our Local Development Scheme [https://www.coventry.gov.uk/planning-policy/coventry-local-plan-2011-2031/7] timetable. We will provide an update to the Local Plan timescale shortly.

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