Regulation 18 Consultation: Development Strategy and Site Allocations

Ended on 23rd March 2026

Rother District Council is asking residents, businesses and stakeholders to help shape the future of the district by taking part in the Local Plan consultation.

About the Local Plan

The Local Plan is the blueprint for how Rother could develop and change up to 2042. It sets out where new homes, jobs, facilities and infrastructure may be located, while protecting the district’s valued landscapes, heritage and character.

The Government has set higher housing requirements for all Councils. For Rother, this means planning for many more homes than has been the case in recent years and this requires difficult decisions about where development takes place. The draft Local Plan being consulted on provides for 8,427 new homes to 2042.

This consultation focuses on the potential development sites proposed to meet these needs. The proposed new sites for development are grouped by area and settlement so that you can easily focus in on the area that you wish too.

If you are unable to access the Local Plan webpage, a PDF version is available here.

The Process

We are currently working towards the Regulation 19 stage. All comments received from both Regulation 18 consultations are now being carefully considered as the Council prepares the next version of the plan. The final Local Plan will be submitted for examination in December 2026. 

To understand how feedback informs the plan, the Council has published an Interim Consultation Statement how comments received during the previous Regulation 18 consultation (Summer 2024) were summarised, considered, and will be taken forward. 

Next Steps

All comments from the Regulation 18 site allocations consultation (Spring 2026) will be reviewed and used to shape the next version of the Local Plan. The revised Plan will then be published for formal representations at Regulation 19, focusing on legal compliance and soundness.  

The Council expects to consult on the Regulation 19 Plan in late Summer 2026, ahead of submitting it for independent examination in December 2026. 

Previous Consultation

The first Regulation 18 consultation was carried out in Summer 2024. This consultation focused on proposed planning policies (including for the development strategy and thematic topic area policies) but did not include proposed site allocations. The Draft Local Plan (April 2024) can be viewed here.

Timeline: Regulation 18 → Regulation 19 → Submission (Dec 2026)

Supporting Information

Background studies and evidence supporting the draft plan, including the Sustainability Appraisal are available here: