Local Plan Partial Update 2026

Developing Stevenage

The Stevenage Borough Local Plan sets out how Stevenage will develop in the future. The plan seeks to provide around 7,600 new homes, alongside new jobs and community facilities. It provides the basis for the regeneration of our town centre, which includes plans for new homes, shops, offices, coffee bars, restaurants and seeks to create a centre people can be proud of. It also protects green infrastructure and historic assets, to ensure people can continue to have a good quality of life in the town.

The Stevenage Borough Local Plan Partial Update was prepared in accordance with the Town and Country Planning (Local Planning) (England) Regulations 2012, examined by an appointed Planning Inspector and amended as per Main Modifications specified by the Inspector to enable the Local Plan to be found sound.

All documentation relating to the examination of the 2026 Local Plan Partial Update can be found on our dedicated examination webpages.

The main documents are:

Inspectors report

The Inspector’s Report was received by the Council on 27 May 2026. The report concluded that with the Main Modifications proposed (as contained in the Appendix to the Report), the Stevenage Borough Local Plan Partial Update can be considered sound and is therefore capable of adoption.

Changes since the 2019 Local Plan

The substantive changes to the Local Plan Partial Update (2026) include:

• Inclusion of new Climate Change Policies, which are effective, justified by the evidence base and are sufficiently flexible to ensure they do not prejudice the delivery of development in the Borough.
• Partial updates to the housing elements of the adopted Plan to make clear that the housing requirement remains unchanged as a result of the partial update.
• Ensure the updated policies and new policies are consistent with national policy, justified and effective.

The adopted Local Plan Partial Update (2026) should be read in the context of:

• Adopted Stevenage Borough Local Plan May 2019.
• Schedule of Changes to the Adopted Local Plan, submitted August 2025.
• Local Plan Partial Update - MMs Schedule of Changes
• AMs Additional Modifications to Local Plan