Local Plan

The Local Plan includes policies for deciding planning applications in Bristol.

The plan is made up of these documents:

• Core Strategy (pdf, 5.5MB) (opens new window) : sets out the overall approach for planning in Bristol
• Site Allocations and Development Management Policies Local Plan (pdf, 999KB) (opens new window) : has policies on sites that can be built on and sites that should be protected from development, as well as general policies to make sure development carried out in Bristol is good quality.
• Site allocations information (pdf, 8.8MB) (opens new window) : has more detail about sites that can be built on
• Site allocations policies map (pdf, 14MB) (opens new window) : shows the site allocations that apply to areas in Bristol
• Bristol Central Area Plan (pdf, 12.6MB) (opens new window) : has policies specific to development in the centre of Bristol
• Bristol Central Area policies map: (pdf, 9.1MB) (opens new window) shows the site allocations that apply to the centre of Bristol
• West of England Joint Waste Core Strategy (pdf, 4.1MB) (opens new window) : sets out where major waste facilities should be built

You can look at an interactive Local Plan policies map. You can search by address or select locations on the map to see what policies apply to them.  

Some areas have neighbourhood development plans, which include other policies for deciding planning applications.

You can also look at supplementary documents, practice notes and other planning guidance that we use to help make decisions on planning applications.

The Government has changed how technical standards are set. Read about the new technical standards at GOV.UK. This means we’re using some of our Local Plan policies in a different way. To find out how we’re using the policies now, read Government's Housing Standards Review: Operation of Bristol Local Plan policies (pdf, 710KB) (opens new window) .

Local Development Scheme

The Local Development Scheme (pdf, 103KB) (opens new window)  explains what policy documents are part of the Local Plan and when they’ll be written.