The Local Plan

Planning policies for development in West Berkshire

The Local Plan is part of the overall Development Plan for West Berkshire, setting out our local planning policies.

In preparing the Local Plan we consult with the local community and key stakeholders as set out in our  Statement of Community Involvement (SCI) [540kb]. We adopted our revised SCI on 9 January 2020.  You can read our  SCI Adoption Statement [79kb] and a summary of the representations we received on our draft SCI [61kb]. Our privacy notice explains more about how we use any data that you give to us.

The National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) sets out the Government's planning policies and must be taken into consideration in the preparation of Local Plans. 

Applications for planning permission must be determined in accordance with the Development Plan unless material considerations indicate otherwise.

The Development Plan is currently made up of a number of different documents:

• Core Strategy Development Plan Document (2006 - 2026) adopted July 2012
• Housing Site Allocations Development Plan Document adopted May 2017
• West Berkshire District Local Plan 1991 - 2006 (Saved Policies 2007) as amended in July 2012 and May 2017
• Stratfield Mortimer Neighbourhood Development Plan adopted June 2017
•  South East Plan Natural Resource Management Policy 6 [114kb] relating to the Thames Basin Heaths Special Protection Area
•  Replacement Minerals Local Plan for Berkshire [23Mb] incorporating alterations adopted in December 1997 and May 2001
•  Waste Local Plan for Berkshire [8Mb] adopted December 1998

Neighbourhood Development Plans, when adopted, will also form part of the Development Plan.  

The timetable for the preparation of further Development Plan Documents (DPDs), which will be included in the Local Plan, is set out in the Local Development Scheme (LDS).

We are currently working on the following documents:

• Minerals and Waste Local Plan
• West Berkshire Local Plan Review to 2036