Local Plan Issues and Options (Regulation 18)

What is the Local Plan?

The Local Plan is the key land use planning document for Cheshire West and Chester. It will help decide things like the most sustainable places for homes, shops and workplaces to be built, and how to protect the Green Belt, open space and the natural and historic environment. 

The new plan will be a single Local Plan document that will update and replace the policies in the current Local Plan (Part One) Strategic Policies and Local Plan (Part Two) Land Allocations and Detailed Policies, and will set out how much development is needed in the borough. It may also allocate new sites for development.

Regulation 18 consultation

The Regulation 18 Issues and Options consultation ran from 4 July to 29 August 2025 and was the first stage in producing a new Local Plan. We asked for your feedback on:

• whether we've identified the right issues
• which options are best to address these issues
• our suggested policy changes
• three possible strategy options for how the area could grow

We also asked for comments on the Sustainability Appraisal (SA) incorporating a Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA), Equalities Impact Assessment, Health Impact Assessment, and Rural Proofing , as well as the Habitats Regulations Assessment (HRA).

A Regulation 18 Issues and Options Public Notice (Statement of Availability) was also published.

New site suggestions

We also invited suggestions for new sites to be assessed in the next stage of the Land Availability Assessment.

Supporting and background information

Extra documents are available to help explain the plan and show how decisions are being made. You can also view summaries of past consultations.

• The Places Background Paper provides evidence and information on the relative sustainability of settlements within the borough.
• Issues and Options background data (Excel file) gives details of population, household and dwelling numbers; housing and employment planning permissions, development plan sites and LAA supply; and settlement services and facilities profiles/surveys.

What happens next?

We are currently reviewing all feedback on the Issues and Options document. This will help shape next stage of the Local Plan. You'll have another chance to comment on this next stage.

The formal timetable for the preparation of the new Local Plan and other key planning documents is set out in the Local Development Scheme 2025.