Every council in England and Wales is required to prepare a Local Plan to guide development for the foreseeable future. Local Plans identify where development should take place and areas to be protected. They identify sites for housing and employment development.

Local Plans are the starting point for deciding planning applications and councils are required to keep them up to date. If you would like to develop your land or are concerned about how development might affect you, it is important to influence the preparation of Local Plans.

Neighbourhood Plans are not a legal requirement but a right that communities are increasingly using to choose where they want new homes, shops and offices to be built and have their say on what those new buildings should look like. A Neighbourhood Plan has the same status as a Local Plan in making decisions on planning applications.