Purpose

The Council is in the process of preparing a new Local Plan for the borough. Upon adoption, the new Wigan Borough Local Plan will supersede the saved policies within both the Wigan Local Plan Core Strategy (2013) and the Wigan Replacement Unitary Development Plan (2006) and form a key part of the Development Plan for the borough.
Informed by an emerging evidence base and previous engagement at the ‘issues and opportunities’ and ‘options and preferences’ stages in late 2022 and late 2023, an initial draft of the Local Plan has been prepared for consultation. It is proposed to consult on the plan for 8 weeks and the outcome of this consultation will inform the Publication version of the Local Plan, which will be subject to formal consultation in January 2026, ahead of submission for independent examination in May 2026.