Gateway 1 Self-Assessment Summary

How we got ready to prepare a new local plan

We formally started preparing a new local plan for Redditch Borough on 30th October 2026.

Government policy says we should adopt the new plan within 30 months of this date. This is to help ensure we have an up-to-date local plan that responds to the needs of the area and our communities.

This page explains what we did to get ready to meet the 30-month timeframe. It also has links to further information and where you can get updates.

Our Gateway 1 Self-Assessment is also available as a pdf document here.

We published a timetable for preparing the plan

The timetable shows when we expect to carry out the different stages and activities for preparing a plan. It helps us check if and how we can adopt the plan within the 30-month timeframe. We’ll keep this updated as we make more progress.

Our timetable takes into account the statutory requirements as well as anticipated increase in engagement during public consultations as draft policies and potential site allocations are published.

We are in a strong position to deliver the plan within the 30 months due to work undertaken prior to the formal initiation of plan-making under the new system. This includes an Issues and Options style consultation and Call for Sites, the results of which we have already begun to assess. This has helped generate initial ideas and key criteria within the plan.  It also ensured that stakeholders and residents had sight of the plan-making process as early as possible. We will continue to work with these groups through our consultation periods.

View Redditch Borough’s Emerging Local Plan Timetable

We established project management and governance arrangements

Preparing a local plan is a complex process. It involves many people across the Council and from other organisations. Thinking early about how the work is planned, managed and signed off helps us monitor our progress and keep the work on track. It also helps us anticipate and manage any risks to us adopting the plan within 30 months.

Through engagement with councillors via an established Planning Advisory Panel, and clear identification of the decision making process we have effective governance of the Local Plan process. Engagement with relevant teams and other decision makers we have identified the potential risks to the progress of the local plan. We have put in place a clear and robust strategy to manage, govern and resource local plan preparation, to mitigate the potential risks. Our project plan helps us prepare the plan in line with our local plan timetable and we will meet regularly with our key decision makers to monitor how this is going.

We planned how we’ll consult on the plan

Public consultation is essential for the local plan to represent the needs of our communities. It must be easy for people to have their say in a way that works for them, so they can influence the way the area develops. By planning this early, we can ensure people are aware in advance and can get involved from the start.

We have undertaken a scoping consultation to get people’s views on what the plan could contain and how we propose to consult on the plan at key stages.

We have developed an engagement strategy which is informed by the feedback and experience gained from the scoping consultation as well as the preceding issues and options consultation. The strategy describes how we will consult and communicate updates to residents and other stakeholders as we continue to progress the local plan.

The new timeframe for plan preparation is challenging. We also expect levels of engagement to increase as the plan becomes more developed and specific site allocations are proposed. As such we will utilise a digital first approach to aid in analysing responses in a timely manner. Previous consultations supported this proposed strategy. Not only will this aid us in managing and analysing the level of response most effectively, but it should also allow respondents to engage more efficiently. However, we will continue to provide a wide range of engagement opportunities across more traditional means to ensure all residents and stakeholders can have their say.

Information about upcoming consultation activities will be published on our website and social media channels.

We began scoping the content of the plan

Scoping includes considering how well the existing plan is working and gathering baseline information about the area. This helps to identify our future needs and ambitions. Starting this early means we can begin preparing the new plan with a clear vision, making it quicker and easier to consult on the plan and make decisions about it.

Our understanding of the needs for Redditch Borough has been informed by our Scoping and Issues and Options consultations, the collection of baseline evidence, as well as engagement with members and other stakeholders. We will also review our current Borough of Redditch Local Plan No.4 (adopted January 2017) and assess how well it delivered on its objectives to identify what needs changing for the emerging plan.

Using the information we have gathered along with the input from our decision makers, we have:

• begun to draft a vision for the area
• started to understand the development requirements for the area

We have also started:

• to identify where new developments could be located by assessing the available land identified through our Call for Sites and other sources
• looking at what new planning policies, information, or data we will need for decision making about new developments
• to commission supporting evidence base documents 

We began a Strategic Environmental Assessment

We’re legally required to identify, describe and evaluate likely significant effects on the environment of:

• implementing the local plan
• reasonable alternatives, taking into account the plan’s objectives and scope

This process will consider how community, national and international environmental protection objectives and any other environmental challenges are taken into account in the plan. It will help us to predict significant environmental effects and develop ways of preventing, reducing and mitigating these.

It is important we start this work early and are transparent about how we’re doing the assessment when engaging stakeholders and communities.

We have contracted external consultants to start work on the SEA. We have started to develop SEA objectives by collecting baseline information and identifying relevant plans and programmes, to establish how the SEA will ensure we deliver a sound local plan. We will be working closely with the consultants to deliver the environmental report which will underpin the local plan.

Our site assessment methodology includes key environmental designations (such as SSSIs, ancient woodland and Nature Reserves) as major constraints to ensure those areas are safeguarded from inappropriate development.

How to stay up to date

You can find the latest updates on the emerging local plan on our website.

By responding to our consultations or by emailing redditchplan@bromsgroveandredditch.gov.uk you can sign up to get updates on progress and notifications on future consultations and events.

Major updates will also be published on our website front page and through the Council’s social media channels listed below.

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