Help us check the Draft Local Plan for Buckinghamshire

Our new local plan will set out how we plan to manage future growth across Buckinghamshire. It will show where development can happen and protect places where it needs to be carefully controlled. 

It will set out what new development must do, such as: 

• building the right number and size of homes 
• allocating land for new jobs 
• creating good places to live, including shops and public open spaces 
• contributing to the infrastructure people need, such as roads, schools and health facilities 
• helping to address climate change, protecting and preserving our most valued landscapes and habitats 

The Local Plan will be a major factor when deciding if any planning application in Buckinghamshire is granted or refused. 

We have already held several consultations and engagement activities that have informed the drafting of the Local Plan for Buckinghamshire: 

• an attitudes survey in 2021-22 on what was important to you in your area 

• a consultation on our draft vision and objectives in 2023, after which the vision and objectives were updated and included in the draft Plan 

• a consultation on the first draft of the Local Plan  in 2025 (Regulation 18), which was followed up with an engagement exercise  to comment on sites that were being proposed for development 

• consultations on the draft Design Code and draft Parking Standards in 2026 which form appendices to the Local Plan 

• in early 2026 we also consulted on the draft Local Transport Plan 5, which aligns with the Local Plan and helps support its outcomes and aspirations 

• additionally, we have carried out several ‘call for sites’ engagement activities through which landowners have submitted sites for potential development – these were followed up through an engagement exercise with landowners to confirm availability before sites were included in the Local Plan 

Once this consultation closes, the Draft Local Plan and consultation responses will be presented to Council in November 2026. Council will make a decision on whether to submit the Local Plan to the government’s Planning Inspectorate. If agreed, we will submit the Local Plan as published to the Inspectorate together with all the responses received to this consultation by no later than 31 December 2026.

The Inspectorate will then appoint an independent planning inspector who will consider the submitted plan, together with all of the responses received in this consultation.

After consideration of the submission the independent inspector will issue a report that includes:

• findings on legal compliance and soundness
• any 'Main Modifications' required to make the plan sound

The inspector's report will be published on the council website.

We will then proceed to amend the Local Plan to incorporate the inspector's ‘Main Modifications’. There may also at this stage be some 'Additional Modifications'. These are minor, non-material changes such as updates, formatting, and factual corrections.

The Local Plan will then go through the process of being prepared for adoption at a meeting of Council.