Submission to Secretary of State

The Stevenage Borough Local Plan Partial Update was submitted to the Secretary of State for Independent Examination on 15 August 2025.

The Stevenage Borough Local Plan was adopted on 22 May 2019. The Plan sets out a spatial vision for the town to 2031 and contains detailed land use policies for the borough. It looks to guide development and covers areas like housing, the built and natural environment, infrastructure, businesses, open spaces and more.

The council is partially updating the existing Plan. The main aim is not to replace the existing plan with an entirely new plan, instead focus on areas that we feel need urgent attention.

We held three recent consultations on the Local Plan Review and Partial Update. Firstly, a Regulation 18 Consultation was held from 5 July to 15 August 2024, and a second, Regulation 19 Consultation was held from 21 November 2024 to 14 February 2025. This was followed by a third, an Addendum Consultation (Regulation 19 to Pre-Submission), held from 24 June to 4 August 2025.

We have now submitted the Stevenage Borough Local Plan Partial Update to the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government for examination by an independent Planning Inspector.

You can read the plan along with all the supporting and future examination documents in our Examination Library.

The Programme Officer has contacted representors to explain the arrangements for the Examination and establish the options available to representors should they wish to engage further in the examination process.

What happens next?

An independent Planning Inspector will be appointed to undertake an Examination into the Soundness and Legal Compliance of the Plan.

Programme officer

The Programme Officer, Helen Wilson, will act as the contact for any person who has an interest in the Examination and as a liaison between the Inspector, Council and Representors.

She is an independent officer of the Examination and works on behalf of the Inspector to organise and manage the administrative and procedural elements of the Examination process.

Any matters that anyone wishes to raise with the Inspector should be submitted via the Programme Officer.

Contact details

Helen Wilson Consultancy Ltd
36 Blunden Meadows
Ewyas Harold
Herefordshire
HR2 0PQ

Tel: 01432 639547
Mobile: 07879 443035
E-mail: helen@programmeofficers.co.uk

A Procedural Guide for Local Plans has been prepared by the Planning Inspectorate, along with a short guide aimed at those participating in a local plan examination. This is to help people understand the process behind a Local Plan Examination.