Kirklees Council hopes its new Local Plan will be ready for “imperative” residents’ input by the end of next year.
The Local Plan is a document, required by law, which sets out how much land can be developed and where to meet the needs of local people and businesses. Kirklees Council’s current plan, which was adopted six years ago, is undergoing a full review after being found to be unfit for purpose. It includes some of the borough’s most controversial developments including the 4,000 home Dewsbury Riverside scheme and the 1,500 home development at Chidswell.
The local authority also needs to address its insufficient Housing Land Supply. This is a national requirement designed to ensure that there is enough land suitable for accommodating five years’ worth of housing growth to meet local needs. For the first time since the Local Plan came in, the figure has dropped below this, with Kirklees having a housing land supply of 3.96 years as of 2023. As a result, the pressure is on to get new homes built.
The council says it hopes to have a draft of the new Local Plan ready for public consultation by the end of 2026, with the residents and businesses urged to take part. The first stage of consultation took place from November 2024 to February 2025. Once it is adopted, the plan will continue to guide how planning applications are determined.
Councillor Graham Turner, Cabinet member for Finance and Regeneration said: “The council is currently progressing its Local Plan and has recently updated its timetable that was approved earlier this summer by Cabinet.
“Right now, our Planning Team is gathering evidence to support the plan, making requirements and assessing the sites which have been submitted for consideration as future allocations. We hope to finalise this next year and produce our Draft Local Plan for public consultation by the end of 2026.
“It’s imperative that residents and businesses inform the decision making for the local plan, so prior to the draft local plan consultation, that’s currently planned for later next year, there will be more opportunities for engagement available in the run up. We hope residents and businesses alike will engage and continue to contribute to the Plan making process.”
Last year, the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) reported that potential changes in national planning policy anticipate that the numbers of new homes required in the future will be higher than Kirklees’ current housing requirement of 1,730 new homes per year.
