Dudley Borough Local Plan Scoping Consultation Document

Ends on 10th September 2026 (56 days remaining)

3. Local Plan Timetable

The new Local Plan for Dudley is being prepared in accordance with the new plan-making provisions of the Levelling-up and Regeneration Act 2023 and associated Regulations, namely the Town and Country Planning (Local Planning) (England) Regulations 2026. The Government has published supporting guidance to these legislative requirements to support the new-plan making process which the Council has had regard to.

The new plan-making system provides for a 30-month process, summarised in Figure 4. The official 30-month process is preceded by a period of preparation of at least 4 months (the ‘Get Ready’ phase) which includes the Council giving notice of its intention to commence a local plan, baseline evidence gathering and a scoping public consultation.

Within each broad ‘phase’, there are prescribed steps to be followed, which include statutory public consultations and ‘gateway’ assessments. The Council is required to publish and update its Local Plan timetable at least monthly (sooner if other circumstances apply such as a plan preparation stage occurring). The Council has produced a separate Local Plan timetable, available on the Council’s Local Plan website.

Figure 4. Overview of new plan-making process timescales

The figure outlines the Government’s proposed 30-month plan-making process for preparing and adopting a local plan. Following at least four months’ notice and preparation, the main plan preparation stage takes place during months 1 to 23, followed by submission for examination in months 24 to 29. The plan is then adopted in month 30, after which implementation and monitoring continue. The diagram also indicates that work on a replacement plan should begin five years after adoption of the previous plan, creating a continuous cycle of plan preparation, adoption and review. — Source: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/30-month-local-plan-process-an-overview

The process allows for the commencement notice, local plan timetable and scoping consultation to be carried out at the same time. As noted above, the Council is required to commence the new plan making process by 30 June 2026 (via publication of its notice of intention to commence plan-making) and publish its Gateway 1 self-assessment by 31 October 2026. This ‘Scoping Consultation Paper’ represents the first stage of public consultation in the plan preparation process.

Gateway 1: under the ‘Get Ready’ phase represents a self-assessment by the Council as to how prepared it is for commencing the official 30-month plan preparation process.

Gateways 2 and 3: under the ‘Prepare the Plan’ phase represent independent assessments by an independent assessor appointed by the Planning Inspectorate to consider whether the plan is ready to proceed to the next relevant stage of the plan preparation process.

At the Examination stage: the Dudley Local Plan will be assessed against the national policy tests of ‘soundness’ and legislative requirements, as set out in Section 1 of this document. The Council will be bound by the Inspector’s recommendations in terms of whether the plan can be considered ‘sound’ and adopted.

Following adoption of the plan (month 31 following the 30-month plan making process) the Council is required to undertake annual monitoring against national metrics and the plan’s objectives, and a full plan review must start within five years (i.e. pass Gateway 1 for the next plan), unless an earlier review is triggered by changing circumstances.

As noted above the Council’s Local Plan timetable is available to view here:

Question 4. Do you have any comments to make on the local plan timetable? Comment

For instructions on how to use the system and make comments, please see our help guide.