Swindon Local Plan 2026 and New Local Plan

The council is currently in the process of developing a New Local Plan.  This will build upon work undertaken on the Local Plan Review and include an update to plan evidence, site information and other supporting documents.  

Once adopted, the New Local Plan will propose a number of updated strategies and policies, including site allocations, to provide sufficient housing, employment and town centre sites to meet the Borough’s future needs and guide decisions on planning applications.

The most recent timetable for the production of the Local Plan is set out in an updated Local Development Scheme (LDS)  which was endorsed by the Council’s Cabinet on 13 December 2023. 

Background information - Local Plan Review Stages

The review of the Swindon Local Plan went through a number of stages: 

• Regulation 18 (part i) - Issues and Options

  • To help prepare for the Local Plan review, the Council sought comments on the issues that should be addressed in order to plan for the period to 2036. An ‘Issues and Options’ paper was produced and made available for public inspection from 7 November to 19 December 2017.

• Regulation 18 (part ii) - Emerging Strategies

  • Following feedback to the ‘Issues and Options’ paper, the Council prepared a range of potential strategies for addressing the Borough’s development needs within its ‘Emerging Strategies’ document. This document was made available for public inspection from 29 July to 23 September 2019.

• Regulation 19 (part i) - Swindon Local Plan 2036 (draft)

  • Following feedback to the ‘Emerging Strategies’ document, the Council published a draft Swindon Local Plan 2036.  This document set out the Council’s preferred spatial approach and development management policies. The draft Swindon Local Plan 2036 was presented for public inspection from 17 December 2019 to 31 January 2020.

• Regulation 19 (part ii) - Swindon Local Plan 2036 (revised draft)

  • Following consultation feedback and legislative changes, we prepared a revised draft Swindon Local Plan 2036 and made this document available for public inspection from 29 July 2021 to 7 October 2021

On 20 January 2022, Councillors decided to remove the proposed Highworth Golf Course allocation from the revised draft plan. This allocation was for approximately 350 houses, together with a Primary School, and its removal constituted a ‘major’ change with impacts to both strategy and soundness. 

Following this change, a wider internal and external review of the plan was undertaken and a decision made to progress with a new Local Plan rather than the continuation of the Local Plan Review programme. 

This would put the plan on a sound foundation and ensure that the strategy is fully up-to-date with growth ambitions, addressing environmental challenges and enable full community engagement on its next stage of development.