A NEW plan to shape development in Rugby Borough over the next 20 to 30 years is going out to public consultation.
Councillors have approved the consultation on an update of the Rugby Borough Local Plan.
It covers employment land, the regeneration of Rugby town centre, pitches for Gypsies and Travellers, houses in multiple occupation, climate change, design policy and land for new homes.
The decision to launch the consultation follows the council’s December 2022 decision to update its Local Plan.
Following the local elections in May, the council’s cross-party Planning Services Working Party took external advice on whether to proceed with updating the local plan, or pause to wait for proposed government planning reforms to be completed.
Another option considered was to pause the full update and pursue a partial update in the interim. Based on the advice received, councillors decided to proceed to the next stage of plan-making by launching the consultation.
The council says updating the Local Plan will allow its policies to take account of changes since it was adopted in 2019 – such as the declaration of a climate emergency, the introduction of the requirement for biodiversity net gains, and the council’s town centre Regeneration Strategy.
RBC also wants to introduce policies to address over-concentration of Houses of Multiple Occupation, and respond to new evidence of future employment land and housing needs – as identified in the Coventry and Warwickshire Housing and Economic Development Needs Assessment 2022.
An RBC spokesperson said: “The Rugby Borough Local Plan sets out how the borough will grow and develop in future, so it is important that residents, businesses and community organisations have their say on the issues and options that have been identified. We would encourage anyone interested to review the consultation and provide their feedback.”
The Local Plan Review Issues and Options consultation will run from October 30 to February 2. The consultation and associated documents will be published at www.rugby.gov.uk/localplan, and made available at Rugby, Dunchurch and Wolston libraries and at Rugby Town Hall.
The council will also run drop-in information sessions for residents and key stakeholders including Parish Councils, details of which will be made available on RBC’s website and social media channels.
