Regulation 18 Consultation
12 weeks from 30 April – 23 July 2024
We are preparing the new Rother Local Plan. It will guide development and land use in our district over the period 2020 – 2040. We want to work with our communities to shape Rother’s future and we are seeking your views.
The draft Local Plan has two overall priorities: “Green to the Core” and “Live Well Locally”:
- Green to the Core emphasises the need to consider the impact of our planning decisions on the climate emergency, biodiversity crisis and the High Weald National Landscape.
- Live Well Locally recognises that in all planning decisions, the goal is to create healthy, sustainable and inclusive communities.
With these two overall priorities in mind, the draft Local Plan includes proposed strategic policies relating to the distribution and delivery of housing, employment floorspace, community facilities and supporting infrastructure across the district. The Plan’s policies will also help to ensure that the district’s unrivalled natural and built heritage are enhanced and protected, while the matter of climate change is central throughout. When adopted, the Plan’s policies will be used to determine planning applications.
The consultation on this draft (Regulation 18) version of the new Local Plan ran from 5pm on Tuesday 30 April to 5pm on Tuesday 23 July 2024. The comments made at this stage will be important in shaping the Local Plan as it is further developed into the Proposed Submission Plan next year before the final version is submitted to the Planning Inspectorate for independent examination and adoption by the Council.
Comments were not accepted which in the Council’s opinion were deemed to be potentially libellous, defamatory, threatening, abusive or contravene the provisions of the Equality Act 2010.
Public Exhibitions
During the Regulation 18 Consultation period, between May and July 2024, we held 13 public exhibitions around the district to promote the draft Local Plan. You can view the public exhibition boards here.
April 2025 Update
Following the publication of a new National Planning Policy Framework by the Government in December 2024, we have published a new timetable for preparing the new Rother Local Plan. This is set out in detail in our Local Development Scheme, which was approved by the Council’s Cabinet in March 2025. We now intend to submit the Local Plan to the Government for public examination in December 2026. This will follow a further public consultation around January 2026 which will be focused on proposed site allocations, and publication of the final proposed Local Plan for public comment around Summer 2026.
Call for sites
To inform our evidence base for the new Local Plan we have invited landowners, agents, developers and other interested parties to put forward sites for consideration for housing and economic development, and also sites for Gypsy and Traveller pitches.
Our initial assessment of those sites that have been submitted for housing or economic development is contained in the draft Housing and Employment Land Availability Assessment (HELAA) which has been published as part of the public consultation on the draft Local Plan and can be found in the Supporting Evidence Base Documents.
Sites that have been submitted for gypsy and traveller pitches are listed within the Identifying sites for Gypsies, Travellers and Travelling Showpeople in Rother – Interim Report (April 2024), also published as part of this public consultation, although these have not yet been assessed.
The HELAA does not identify enough ‘potentially developable’ housing sites to accommodate the Government’s objectively assessed need for Rother, and the interim report on gypsy and traveller pitches does not identify enough land to accommodate the assessed need for pitches. Therefore, the Call for Sites remains open. Sites not included within this first version of the evidence will still be assessed, and conclusions detailed in a later version.
For further information or to submit a site, please visit the Call for Sites and Gypsy, Traveller and Travelling Showpeople Accommodation Needs pages.
The Call for Sites is being extended, to now include a call for sites for nature. We are seeking to identify land that could contribute to nature recovery and meet Rother’s off-site Biodiversity Net Gain requirements. Farmers, land managers, communities and conservation groups are invited to put forward possible sites where new wildlife habitats could be created.
The Call for Sites is being extended, to now include a call for sites for nature. We are seeking to identify land that could contribute to nature recovery and meet Rother’s off-site Biodiversity Net Gain requirements. Landowners, developers, site promoters and individuals are invited to put forward possible sites where new wildlife habitats could be created. For further information or to submit a site, please visit the Call for Nature Sites page
Privacy Policy Statement
Rother District Council is committed to ensuring that your privacy is protected and will only use and store your personal data in line with the General Data Protection Regulation 2016 and the Data Protection Act 1998. We collect and use your personal data in order to provide services you have requested from us or to carry out our legal obligations to you. We will not disclose your personal data to any third parties, unless we need to do so to provide a service to you or we are legally required to do so. We may share your personal data with other Council departments in order to provide the service you have requested and to ensure that the information we hold about you is accurate and up to date. Our Privacy Policy sets out how we collect, use and securely hold your data and can be viewed on our privacy policy page. If you want more information on how a particular Council service uses your personal data, please view the Privacy Notices at the bottom of the above privacy policy page.
Please be aware that any comments you submit cannot be treated in confidence as the Town and Country Planning (Local Planning) (England) Regulations 2012, as amended, requires copies of all representations are required to be made publicly available. The Council will publish names and representations on its website, but will not publish personal information, such as telephone numbers, emails or private addresses. By submitting a representation you are accordingly confirming that you agree to this and accept responsibility for your comments.
