Gateway 1 self-assessment
Somerset Council is ready to pass through Gateway 1 and progress the 30-month plan preparation process. We have published a timetable, established project management and governance arrangements, planned and undertaken early engagement, scoped the anticipated content of the plan, and started the Strategic Environmental Assessment. The timetable is challenging but the arrangements in place provide a sound basis for progressing the plan.
How we got ready to prepare a new local plan
We started preparing a new local plan, under the new plan-making system, for the Somerset Local Planning Authority area on 24 April 2026 when we published our Notice of intention to commence.
Government policy expects us to adopt the plan within 30 months of this date. This will help ensure Somerset has an up-to-date local plan that responds to the needs of our communities.
This document explains the work we completed before formally starting the plan-making process. It also signposts further information and ways to stay up to date.
You can find information about the plan on the Somerset Local Plan webpages.
The Somerset Local Plan covers the Somerset Council administrative area, excluding the area within Exmoor National Park, for which the Exmoor National Park Authority prepares its own local plan.
We published a timetable for preparing the plan
The timetable sets out the main stages of plan preparation and when we expect to complete them. It helps us monitor progress and assess whether we can adopt the plan within the 30-month period. We will update it as work progresses.
The timetable is challenging and there is still significant work to complete. Local elections in 2027 mean the Regulation 23 consultation has to move from early 2027 to later in the year. This reduces the time available for the final stages of plan preparation.
We have already published much of the early evidence base, placing us in the strongest possible position to meet the timetable.
We are also consulting on information as early as possible. This spreads work more evenly across the programme and gives residents, stakeholders and statutory bodies earlier opportunities to comment than would normally be available under the new plan-making system.
See the Somerset Local Plan timetable for more information.
We established project management and governance arrangements
Preparing a local plan is a complex process involving many teams across the council and a range of external organisations. Establishing project management and governance arrangements early helps us monitor progress, manage risks and keep the project on track.
We manage the project through programme planning, resource management, budgeting and risk management. We used a Project Initiation Document based on a Planning Advisory Service template to help identify key requirements and risks at an early stage.
The Planning and Transport Policy sub-committee oversees preparation of the local plan and takes delegated decisions on behalf of the Executive. We provide regular Local Plan update reports to the committee and at key stages in the timetable.
We planned how we would consult on the plan
Public consultation is essential to ensure the Local Plan reflects the needs and priorities of Somerset’s communities. Early engagement also helps people understand how and when they can influence the plan.
Between December 2024 and March 2025, we held four early engagement workshops with council members, city, town and parish councillors, Local Community Network representatives, seldom-heard groups and young people.
This was followed by a Regulation 20 Scoping Consultation, which sought views on:
- what the Local Plan should cover
- how we should engage and consult in future
- the proposed vision and outcomes
Although government guidance recommends a minimum 21-day consultation, ours ran for 52 days, from 19 June to 9 August 2026.
We also published emerging work on the Spatial Strategy, Role and Function of Settlements and Sustainability Appraisal, giving people an early opportunity to comment on how the plan is developing.
Overall, respondents broadly supported the direction of the consultation but wanted greater clarity, specificity and evidence of how proposals will be delivered. Key themes included stronger emphasis on infrastructure, brownfield land, climate resilience, landscape and rural communities. Respondents also wanted clearer priorities and measurable outcomes, alongside simpler, earlier, more local and accessible engagement.
The findings will inform the next stages of Local Plan preparation, including how we engage communities and organisations in future consultations.
We began scoping the content of the plan
Scoping helps identify Somerset’s future needs, opportunities and priorities by considering local strategies, evidence and data.
The Somerset Local Plan will cover a much larger area than the former district local plans, following the creation of Somerset Council in 2023. It will therefore be more strategic, with less detailed, place-specific policy than previous plans.
The National Planning Policy Framework, published on 17 August 2026, also introduced national development management policies covering many matters previously addressed through local plans. The Somerset Local Plan will therefore look different from plans residents and stakeholders may be familiar with.
We consulted on the proposed scope through the Regulation 20 Scoping Consultation. Overall, respondents supported the proposed scope and considered that it covered the main issues facing Somerset.
Key messages included the need to:
- coordinate housing and economic growth with infrastructure, transport and services
- give greater emphasis to rural communities and affordable housing
- make effective use of brownfield land
- address climate change, flood resilience and nature recovery
- protect landscape, heritage and local character
- reflect the needs and distinctiveness of Somerset’s different places
- ensure policies are evidence-based, proportionate, viable and deliverable, without unnecessarily repeating national policy
These findings will help shape the scope and content of the Local Plan as it develops.
We began a Strategic Environmental Assessment
We are legally required to identify, describe and evaluate the significant environmental effects of:
- implementing the local plan
- reasonable alternatives, taking account of the plan’s objectives and scope
This process considers environmental objectives and challenges at local, national and international levels. It helps us understand potential impacts and identify ways to avoid, reduce or mitigate them.
In May 2026, we published a draft Sustainability Appraisal Scoping Report. This incorporates the Strategic Environmental Assessment, Health Impact Assessment and Equalities Impact Assessment.
The report reviewed relevant plans and programmes and gathered baseline information about Somerset’s environment. It also identified environmental issues and challenges that may need to be addressed through the plan. We consulted the statutory consultation bodies and updated the report in response to their comments.
The report is available on the Local Plan Evidence base webpage.
We also developed six strategic options for the pattern, scale and distribution of development across Somerset. These options were subject to a high-level Sustainability Appraisal and Strategic Environmental Assessment.
The findings will help refine the options and inform the selection of a preferred spatial strategy. We consulted on these options as part of the Regulation 20 Scoping Consultation.
We will continue work on the Sustainability Appraisal throughout 2026 and 2027, including assessment of policy options, before publishing a draft Sustainability Appraisal report in September 2027.
Evidence base that we have progressed
We have completed or significantly progressed evidence on the following topics to inform the development of Local Plan policies:
- Economic Development Needs Assessment (EDNA) (2025): Assesses Somerset’s current and future economic needs, identifying requirements for employment land and premises to support jobs and business growth.
- Landscape Character Assessment and Landscape Sensitivity Assessment (2025): Provides a comprehensive assessment of Somerset’s landscape character and sensitivity to different types of development, helping to inform spatial planning and site selection.
- Town Centre Health Checks (2025): Reviews the vitality and viability of Somerset’s town centres using a range of indicators to support monitoring and policy development.
- Gypsy and Traveller Accommodation Assessment (GTAA) (2025): Identifies the accommodation needs of Gypsies, Travellers and Travelling Showpeople and informs future pitch and plot requirements.
- Retail and Leisure Needs Assessment (2025): Assesses current and future retail and leisure needs across Somerset and provides recommendations to inform Local Plan policies.
- Local Housing Needs Assessment (LHNA) (2025): Assesses housing needs across Somerset, including affordable housing and the needs of specific groups, providing evidence to support plan-making.
- Level 1 Strategic Flood Risk Assessment (SFRA) (2025): Provides an assessment of flood risk across Somerset and guides the preparation of planning policies and site allocations.
- Habitats Regulations Assessment (HRA) Screening and Scoping Report (2026): Assesses whether the emerging Local Plan could have significant effects on internationally protected habitats and identifies any issues requiring further assessment.
- Housing and Employment Land Availability Assessment (HELAA): Identifies and assesses sites with potential for future housing and employment development, providing evidence to support the site selection process. It draws on sites submitted by landowners and site promoters to the 2025 Call for Sites for consideration for development, which has reopened ahead of the next Local Plan consultation.
- Green Wedge Reviews (2025-2026): Reviews existing Green Wedge designations and boundaries, particularly around Taunton and Wellington, to inform future policy considerations.
- Local Green Space (LGS) (2026): Establishes a consistent methodology for assessing Local Green Space designations and applies the approach to land at Trull Ridge and the Queen’s College sports pitches.
- Employment Land Review (ELR): Assesses the supply of employment land across Somerset, including allocated sites, permissions, vacant plots and promoted sites, and considers whether there is sufficient land to meet future economic needs identified in the EDNA.
These reports can be viewed on our Evidence base page.
Evidence base in production includes: Sustainability Appraisal; Playing Pitch and Built Sports Facilities Strategy; Open Space Audit; Role and Function of Settlements Study; Habitat Regulations Assessment report; Water Cycle and Phosphates Study; Strategic Green Belt Assessment; Infrastructure Delivery Plan; and transport evidence.
Further technical work will be commissioned to help inform decisions about possible site allocations. This could include transport, heritage, landscape and flood risk evidence. The precise scope of future assessments/technical evidence will be determined once the spatial strategy and future growth options have been further developed. This will then inform where we need to do more detailed work. We will not be undertaking detailed work on all sites submitted.
If a site is identified as a reasonable option for further consideration through the Local Plan process, it will have been informed by technical evidence and we will work closely with the statutory consultees on the scope of these technical studies, given their specific expertise. These technical studies will be published as part of the evidence base for the draft Local Plan in September 2027.
We will publish a series of topic papers alongside the Regulation 23 consultation in September 2027. These will explain how evidence, consultation feedback, sustainability appraisal findings and policy options have informed the proposed Local Plan content.
Our conclusion
We are satisfied that the preparatory work completed across the five Gateway 1 areas gave us a clear and credible basis on which to start preparing the Somerset Local Plan. We will keep the timetable, resources, risks, governance and evidence programme under regular review, consider consultation and assessment findings, and take early action where delivery pressures arise. On this basis, we consider the plan to have been appropriately prepared to move beyond Gateway 1, while recognising that sustained programme management and timely completion of the remaining work will be essential to adoption within 30 months.
How to stay up to date
Our Somerset Local Plan webpages contain all the current information on the progress of the local plan.
You can also sign up for our Plan-it Newsletter which provides updates direct to your inbox.