The Planning Policy Committee is scheduled to meet to discuss the West Northamptonshire Local Development Scheme, and to review the minutes of their previous meeting. The agenda also allows for the Chair's announcements and any urgent business.

West Northamptonshire Local Development Scheme 2025

The committee will be asked to consider an update to the West Northamptonshire Local Development Scheme 2025, which sets out the timetable for local plan preparation.

Local planning authorities are required to produce and maintain a Local Development Scheme (LDS). The report pack states that the West Northamptonshire LDS was last updated in February 2025, and that the revisions are to ensure that it is up to date with amendments to the timetable for the production of the emerging West Northamptonshire Local Plan (WNLP), and the time period covered by the plan. According to the report pack, the content of the LDS has not changed in any other aspect.

The report pack includes the following recommendation:

It is recommended that the Committee:

a) Approves the updated West Northamptonshire Local Development Scheme (Appendix A) which is to be brought into effect upon the expiry of the call-in period for Planning Policy Committee decisions.

b) Delegates to the Head of Planning Policy and Specialist Services authority to make minor editorial and presentational changes to the Local Development Scheme in its final published form.

The report pack states that the updated LDS confirms that the next stage of consultation on a draft plan will take place in January 2026, and that this consultation shall be a Regulation 18 consultation¹. This is a change from the timetable set out in the Local Development Scheme for West Northamptonshire February 2025, which proposed consultation at Regulation 18 in October 2025, and publication of a draft plan at Regulation 19² in July 2026.

The report pack states that these changes are a consequence of additional time needed to procure updated evidence and reconsider options, including a spatial strategy³, following the publication of the revised National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) in December 2024, and further member engagement following the elections of May 2025. These changes are expected to affect the remaining stages of plan preparation, with submission for examination now expected in December 2026, and adoption in November 2027.

The report pack states that it is a statutory requirement for the council to publish an LDS and ensure that it is up to date, and that failure to approve an LDS is not an option.

The report pack also notes that although there is no requirement to formally consult on the LDS and timetable for local plan preparation, the document itself is key to future consultation and engagement activities by ensuring that local communities, businesses, developers, service and infrastructure providers are engaged, and know when they will be able to participate in the process.

Minutes

The agenda includes the minutes of the previous meeting held on 19 November 2025.