Call for Sites 2026
The 'Call for Sites' will be open between Wednesday 14 October and Friday 6 November 2026. This is an opportunity to tell us about any land/site for potential development that has not been submitted to us previously.
2. Preparing a new Local Plan
Councils must have an up-to-date planning framework to guide development. This is called a Local Plan. The current Cheshire West and Chester Local Plan has two parts:
- Part One – Strategic Policies, adopted in January 2015, sets the overall vision, objectives, development strategy and main policies up to 2030.
- Part Two – Land Allocations and Detailed Policies, adopted in July 2019, identifies sites and provides more detailed policies that support Part One.
What have we done so far?
We began work on a new Local Plan last year. During summer 2025, we consulted on an Issues and Options paper. It asked where new homes and jobs could be located, which policies may need updating and what evidence we would need.
We received more than 16,500 comments from over 2,700 people and organisations. Many of those comments are still relevant. We have used them to help with work on land and site availability, and we will consider them when drafting policies for the new plan. Details of the consultation and responses are available on our website.
The way Local Plans are prepared has changed
In March 2026, the Government introduced a new process for preparing Local Plans. The process is intended to produce shorter plans within a 30-month timetable.
We started the first stage, called “Get ready”, when we published our notice and timetable on 12 June 2026. The timetable says that we plan to submit the Local Plan for examination by May 2028 and adopt it by December 2028.
The 30-month Local Plan process
Before the “Prepare plan” stage begins, we must carry out this scoping consultation. It asks what the plan should cover and how communities and organisations should be involved.
Later consultation stages
- Proposed content and evidence: a six-week consultation on the draft vision, aims and objectives, the proposed approach to policies and the evidence we intend to use.
- Draft Local Plan: an eight-week consultation on the full draft plan, its evidence, proposed site allocations, the policies map and how earlier comments have been addressed.
Full details of the dates are set out in the Council’s Local Plan timetable.