Westmorland and Furness Local Plan

A new Local Plan for Westmorland and Furness

We are starting work on a new Local Plan for Westmorland and Furness (excluding the National Parks). When this is adopted, it will replace all the existing Local Plans that were adopted by the former Councils.

The Local Plan will:

set out how much new development (e.g. homes and employment sites) is needed to support our communities
make sure new development is built in the right places and in a way which is best for people and the environment
allocate sites for new housing and other development
protect some areas and green spaces from development
include policies that are used to decide planning applications
plan for development relating to minerals and waste

We kicked off the process with an ‘early conversation’ with our communities and stakeholders over summer 2024. We’re at the very early stages of plan making and no decisions have been made. It is important that we get everyone involved to identify what kind of place we want to live and work in and how we want to see Westmorland and Furness change over the next 20 years.

As part of the early conversation we also asked people to identify land or sites that are available to be developed for housing, employment, minerals or waste purposes.

Local Development Scheme (LDS)

The Council is required to prepare and maintain a Local Development Scheme which sets out a programme for the preparation of new planning policy documents. The main focus is the production of a new Local Plan for Westmorland and Furness, which will include minerals and waste policies.

The LDS sets out the timetable for the production of the Local Plan, and includes details of other documents which form, or will form, part of the Development Plan for Westmorland and Furness, such as Neighbourhood Plans.

This LDS will be kept under review and updated as Government guidance is provided, therefore dates for consultation periods are subject to change and will be updated.

Westmorland and Furness Local Development Scheme 2025 (PDF 831KB)

Recent Consultations

Call for Sites - Housing, Employment, Minerals and Waste

Consultation closed 30 September 2024.

Following the call for sites exercise the Council have been checking the submissions for accuracy and preparing to publish them on an interactive map, this will just be for information it will not indicate their suitability for housing or otherwise. We are currently bound by the pre-election rules in relation to upcoming Town Council elections within Westmorland and Furness, we will therefore be able to provide an update and publish the interactive map at the beginning of April following the elections.

Next Steps

The Council will invite people to comment on the sites, which are being considered for inclusion in the Westmorland and Furness Local Plan following initial assessment. This is likely to take place in Summer 2025.

For more information please visit our Local Plan Consultations Page

Early Conversation

Consultation closed 9 September 2024.

We wanted to hear your thoughts about where you live, work and visit within Westmorland and Furness, and how you would like to see our area change and develop over the next 20 years.

For more information please visit our Local Plan Consultations Page

Design Code

Consultation closed 9 September 2024.

We are preparing a Design Code to set out the design standards we expect from new development. We asked for your views and preferences on local design, the quality of recent development and the different characteristics of places across Westmorland and Furness in our consultation in July / August 2024. The responses are being analysed and will be used to inform the Design Code.

For more information please visit our Design Code Project Page

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