Council set to decide whether to submit local plan to planning inspector

Councillors will decide whether or not to submit the Harborough District Local Plan to the Secretary of State for Examination, along with the associated Policies Map, relevant supporting evidence and associated documentation including all representations received at a meeting of Full Council on Monday 16 March 2026.

The Local Plan is the council's principal planning policy document and sets out the vision, objectives, spatial strategy and planning policies for the entire district area.

Submission of the local plan is an essential stage of local plan preparation, which once adopted will provide Harborough District with a sound basis for the determination of planning applications, providing control over development within the district in the period to 2041.

Cllr Simon Galton, Cabinet lead for Planning said: “In deciding to publish the draft local plan for public consultation in March 2025, Council concluded that the plan was the best plan for the Harborough district and wanted to invite views from the community for future consideration by the planning inspector at examination.

“The council’s published evidence indicates that the plan is viable, deliverable and capable of being found sound by the independent planning inspector at examination.

“At Council on Monday, councillors will be asked to approve submission of the plan for inspection and will get a final chance to approve the plan after inspection.

“The Government is making major changes to the planning system and has significantly increased the council's housing numbers to 735 a year. The council can no longer demonstrate a 5-year supply of housing sites as required by the now mandatory housing requirements and the consequences of this can be seen all over the district in terms of the numbers of speculative planning applications being submitted by developers. Without an up-to-date local plan we face a prolonged period of unplanned speculative development. 

“We have a small window of opportunity to submit the draft plan under the old system. If we do not submit the draft plan to the Planning Inspectorate for Public Examination, we lose the transitional arrangements the council has worked so hard to get. By submitting now we will only have to allocate sites for 534 houses a year as opposed to the 735 the new system requires the council to provide. That's 3,555 fewer houses over the plan period. 

“In my experience of preparing local plans over many years nothing good comes from delay. Having a new local plan in place is the only way to control and manage the mounting pressure from developers to build on green fields across the district.” 

Due to limited capacity in the public gallery, a live broadcast will be available on the ground floor of The Symington Building to provide additional viewing space. All meetings will be livestreamed, and members of the public are encouraged to watch the meeting online if they can.