Draft Local Plan: Submission

Richmond’s Local Plan (Publication or ‘Regulation 19’ Version), along with all representations received at the publication stage and the evidence supporting it, was submitted to the Secretary of State for independent examination in public by a Planning Inspector on 19 January 2024.

The Local Plan sets out a 15 year strategic vision, objectives and the spatial strategy. The plan includes place-based strategies covering the whole borough, along with accompanying site allocations, as well as the thematic planning policies that will guide future development in the borough. It will inform how growth will be accommodated across the borough. The plan seeks to address future challenges including climate change, health, affordability and liveability.

Examination process

The independent examination is the final stage of the Local Plan process before it can be legally adopted. The Planning Inspectorate will appoint an inspector to lead the examination of the Richmond Local Plan on behalf of the Secretary of State for the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government.

The examination will assess whether the plan has been prepared in accordance with legal and procedural requirements, such as the Duty to Cooperate, and whether it is considered ‘sound’, in accordance with paragraph 35 of the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF). A revised NPPF was published in December 2023 although it confirms this Local Plan will be examined under the previous version of the Framework.

Since March 2020, the Local Plan has undergone three rounds of public consultation with the community, local businesses and other stakeholders. Most recently, consultation on the Publication version (Regulation 19) of Local Plan ran from 9 June to 24 July 2023. The submission to the Secretary of State includes all comments received during Regulation 19 consultation and all earlier rounds of consultation. Submission of the Local Plan forms the fifth stage of the full review of the borough's Local Plan.

For more information on how the examination will be carried out, see the Procedure Guide for Local Plan Examinations (GOV.UK).

Submission documents

Alongside the Richmond Local Plan, a number of other documents were submitted for examination. The submitted documents are available in the examination library.

The key publication and submission documents have been listed below. Please note that some of these documents are very large in size. Contact us directly if you require a high-resolution version of the Publication Draft Local Plan.

View a complete list of the documents submitted to the Secretary of State.