Reading an adopted local plan and its saved policies
Section 38(6) requires determination in accordance with the development plan, so you need to know which documents that includes. Saved policies, the policies map and how to cite policy properly.
Before you write a word of a planning statement, you need to know exactly which documents form the development plan for your site, because section 38(6) of the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004 requires the application to be determined in accordance with it unless material considerations indicate otherwise. Learning how to read a local plan starts with that question, and the answer is almost never a single document with a single date.
Most sites are governed by a plan adopted in parts, a policies map, saved policies from an older plan, a neighbourhood plan, and in London a spatial development strategy as well.
What documents make up the development plan
The development plan comprises the development plan documents adopted by the authority, any neighbourhood development plan that has been made for the area, and the spatial development strategy where one applies. Supplementary planning documents are not part of the plan, though they are material considerations and can carry real weight on design and standards.
So the first page of your policy analysis should be a list, with dates:
- the adopted local plan, or the separate core strategy and site allocations documents where the plan was prepared in parts
- any area action plan or minerals and waste plan covering the site
- the policies map, which shows designations and allocations
- any neighbourhood plan that has been made for the parish or area
- the spatial development strategy, in London the London Plan
- saved policies from a superseded plan, where any remain in force
Get this list from the authority's planning policy page rather than from a search engine, and check whether a new plan is at examination, because an emerging plan can carry weight depending on its stage and the extent of unresolved objections. Our note on neighbourhood plans and whether one covers your site deals with that layer in detail.
Saved policies from an older plan
Older-style local plans were replaced by the development plan document system, and some of their policies were saved by direction so they continue to apply until replaced. Twenty years on, few remain, but they do exist, usually where an authority adopted a core strategy without a full set of development management policies.
Saved policies are easy to miss because they sit in a different document from the one everybody cites. Check the adopted plan's introduction, which usually lists which earlier policies are superseded and which survive, and check the authority's saved policies schedule if it publishes one. A planning statement that assesses a scheme against a core strategy and ignores a saved detailed policy on, say, residential amenity standards leaves an obvious gap for an officer to fill.
How to use the policies map
The policies map is the document that tells you what your site is. Settlement boundary or open countryside. Allocated or not. Inside a conservation area, a Green Belt, a National Park. Within an air quality management area, a critical drainage area, an archaeological priority area.
Read it against the national planning data service as a cross-check, because a designation may have been amended since the map was published, and read the key carefully. Boundaries drawn at plan scale can be ambiguous on a small site, and an allocation boundary that appears to clip your site may or may not include it. Where it matters, ask the authority in writing which side of the line they consider the site to fall, and keep the answer.
| What the map shows | Why it changes your submission |
|---|---|
| Inside a settlement boundary | Housing policies generally supportive in principle |
| Open countryside | Restrictive policies and a tighter list of exceptions |
| Site allocation | Allocation policy criteria become the primary test |
| Green Belt | Inappropriate development test, very special circumstances |
| Conservation area | Statutory duty on character and appearance |
| Flood zone or critical drainage area | Sequential test and drainage evidence required |
Strategic against non-strategic policies
National policy distinguishes strategic policies, which set the overall approach and the housing requirement, from non-strategic policies dealing with detailed matters. The distinction has two practical effects.
A neighbourhood plan cannot conflict with the strategic policies of the development plan for its area, so where a neighbourhood plan appears to contradict the local plan's housing strategy, the strategic policy governs. And the question of whether policies are out of date, which drives the presumption in favour of sustainable development, is applied to the policies most important for determining the application rather than to the plan as a whole.
Identify in your submission which policies you consider most important for determining the application. If the authority identifies a different set, you at least know where the argument is.
Spotting policies that are out of date
Age alone does not make a policy out of date. A design policy from 2009 may be perfectly serviceable. A housing supply policy from 2009 probably is not.
The tests to apply, policy by policy: does it rely on a figure or an evidence base that has been superseded, does it conflict with current national policy, has it been overtaken by legislation such as the biodiversity net gain regime, and is the authority able to demonstrate a five-year housing land supply. Our note on housing land supply and what it changes for applicants covers the consequences of a shortfall.
State the conclusion plainly where you reach one. An assertion that "the plan is out of date" without identifying which policies and why carries no weight and signals that the rest of the document may be equally loose.
Supporting text and the weight it carries
Each policy is followed by reasoned justification, and applicants regularly quote that text as though it were policy. It is not. The policy is the policy. Supporting text explains the intention behind it and can legitimately help interpret an ambiguous phrase, but it cannot add a requirement the policy does not contain, and it cannot excuse a breach of one that it does.
The interpretation of development plan policy is a matter of law for the courts rather than a matter of planning judgement, as the Supreme Court established in Tesco Stores Ltd v Dundee City Council in 2012. Policies are read objectively, in context, as a reasonable reader would understand them. That cuts both ways: it stops an authority reading a requirement into a policy that is not there, and it stops an applicant reading one out.
Citing policy in a submission
A policy section that an officer can use looks like this.
- List the development plan documents with their adoption dates, and state the policies map designations for the site.
- Identify each engaged policy by number and title, quoting the operative words rather than paraphrasing them.
- Assess the proposal against each criterion of each policy, in the policy's own order.
- Reach a conclusion on compliance with the development plan as a whole, which is the section 38(6) question.
- Deal with material considerations separately, after the plan assessment, including national policy and any emerging plan.
- Note where a policy is out of date and why, with the consequence for the balance.
Keep step four visibly separate. Compliance with the plan taken as a whole is the statutory question, and a document that assesses twelve policies and never answers it has not done the job. PlanScope drafts the policy structure of a planning statement with the relevant national policy and local plan policies cited, which you then check against the current adopted documents before submission. Enter the postcode to start.
PlanScope provides AI-assisted draft reports for planning applications. Reports should be reviewed before submission. We do not guarantee planning approval. This is general guidance, not legal advice; check the position with your local planning authority or a qualified professional before relying on it.
Frequently asked questions
What counts as the development plan?
The development plan documents adopted by the authority, any made neighbourhood development plan for the area, and the spatial development strategy where one applies, which in London is the London Plan. Supplementary planning documents are not part of the plan, although they are material considerations and can carry real weight.
What are saved policies?
Policies from an older-style local plan that were saved by direction so they continue to apply until replaced. They are easy to miss because they sit in a different document from the plan everyone cites. Check the adopted plan's introduction and any saved policies schedule the authority publishes.
Does supporting text have the force of policy?
No. The policy wording is the policy. Reasoned justification explains the intention and can help interpret an ambiguous phrase, but it cannot add a requirement the policy does not contain or excuse a breach of one it does. Quote the operative policy words in a submission.
How do I tell whether a policy is out of date?
Test each policy individually. Ask whether it relies on a superseded evidence base or figure, whether it conflicts with current national policy, whether legislation such as the biodiversity net gain regime has overtaken it, and whether the authority can demonstrate a five-year housing land supply. Age alone is not enough.
Who decides what a policy means?
The courts. Interpretation of development plan policy is a matter of law rather than planning judgement, as the Supreme Court held in Tesco Stores Ltd v Dundee City Council in 2012. Policies are read objectively and in context, which limits both an authority and an applicant from reading words in or out.
Sources and further reading
This article is general guidance about the planning system in England and, where stated, the rest of the UK. It is not legal or professional advice. Check your local planning authority’s validation requirements and take professional advice for your specific site.