Local Plan

Preparing a new Local Plan

What will Kingston look like in 20 years’ time? We’re in the process of creating a new Local Plan for Kingston.

Our new Local Plan will set the vision and policies for the future and guide what development goes where, from homes and workplaces to schools, medical centres, parks and much more, while protecting and enhancing our heritage and natural environment. 

The Local Plan will replace the Core Strategy (2012) and the Kingston Town Centre Area Action Plan (2008). It will include policies which will be used to decide whether to approve or refuse planning applications in the borough.

Local Plan update - June 2023

Thank you to everyone who has engaged in the development of the Local Plan for the borough. So far, we have carried out three rounds of engagement to seek the views of our communities on the future of the borough and what the Local Plan should contain. Engagement so far has included:

  • Early Engagement (1 May 2019 - 31 July 2019)
  • Further Engagement (1 July 2021 - 30 September 2021)
  • First Draft Local Plan (28 November 2022 - 28 February 2023)

Feedback from the first draft of the Local Plan (Regualtion 18)

Since the consultation on the first draft of the Local Plan closed in February 2023, we have been reviewing all the responses and where possible addressing the points raised. A summary of the key comments has been published on the Local Plan pages on the council’s engagement website Kingston: Let’s Talk. All of the comments are being considered as we develop the next, Publication version of the Local Plan.

We will publish a Statement of Consultation with our responses to the comments and where changes have been made to the Plan and policies, alongside the Publication version of the Local Plan.

Next steps - Publication version (Regulation 19)

We are continuing to prepare the Local Plan for its next formal stage of consultation. This will be the Publication version of the Plan. We will then carry out a consultation under Regulation 19 of the Town and Country Planning (Local Planning) (England) Regulations 2012.

We are currently updating the Local Plan to take into account the comments we have received so far. We are also working on several evidence base documents. This includes working with a market research company called NEMS Market Research, who are carrying out a telephone survey in February and March 2024, and in-person surveys in March 2024, to find out how people are using our town centres. 

We are hoping to finalise the plan and ensure it is aligned with all the evidence-based documents and other strategies by autumn 2024. Following a final phase of consultation on the Publication version we will then prepare to submit the Local Plan to the Secretary of State for public examination in early 2025. For more information you can look at the Local Development Scheme (see Item 8). This was approved (subject to it being called in) at the Place Committee on 8 February 2024. This sets out the timetable for preparing a new Local Plan for Kingston.

If you have any questions please email the team at localplan@kingston.gov.uk

Last Modified: 06/03/2024 11:16:48