Regulation 18 Consultation: Development Strategy and Site Allocations

Open until 23 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.

Have Your Say

This is an important opportunity to comment on the sites the Council is proposing to take forward for development. Your feedback will help shape the next version of the Local Plan, which will be consulted on again in late summer 2026.

You can comment on any site or part of the plan using the online consultation portal.

If you are unable to use the online consultation portal, you can view the Draft Local Plan here here and submit your comments using the consultation form. Please note that comments received after the consultation deadline cannot be accepted.

The Process

We are currently at the Regulation 18 stage. All comments received will be 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 explaining how comments received during the previous Regulation 18 consultation (Summer 2024) were summarised, considered, and will be taken forward.

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 (Now) → Regulation 19 → Submission (Dec 2026)

Supporting Information

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