Arun Local Plan Update

Arun Local Plan update 

The adopted Arun Local Plan 2018 is now more than 5 years old. We are therefore working to prepare a new Local Plan to ensure that future development needs are met sustainably and to reflect the changing vision for the area, along with various legislative changes.

In July 2023 Full Council agreed to resume this work following a pause in 2021 and 2022.  An Issues and Options (Regulation 18) 'Direction of Travel Document' was published for consultation between March and May 2024.  The document (linked below) identified the issues and challenges facing the district and the options that could help to address them.  It should be noted that it did not identify any specific uses of land, potential development sites or draft policies as this will be done through a later stage of the Local Plan process.  The responses received during the consultation were reported to Planning Policy Committee in September 2024.

Update - April 2026

Work is continuing to prepare some key evidence documents that will provide the 'building blocks' upon which the new Local Plan will be prepared. This includes a strategic flood risk assessment; a landscape and gap assessment; a settlement hierarchy study; a biodiversity study; and a further 'call for sites'. 

The government is continuing to roll out reforms to the planning system, including significant changes relating to the preparation of Local Plans. We are reacting to this published and emerging legislation to ensure that the new Local Plan conforms to prevailing guidance. In this regard, the emerging requirements indicate that the council will need to publish its intention to prepare a new Local Plan under the new system by 31st December 2026. 

Given the timeline for Local Plan preparation, an added complexity is local government reorganisation. Once the geography for the new unitary authority is known, and in line with government guidance, consideration will be given to the preparation of a single Local Plan to cover the larger area.