The Local plan includes policies for deciding planning applications in Bristol.
The adopted local plan (Core Strategy and other documents) requires updating.
An emerging local plan is in an advanced stage of examination, with expected adoption in late 2026. For more information see our Local plan review (Bristol Local Plan 2022 to 2040) page.
Under the new planning regulations, we began preparation on a new local plan in June 2026. For more information see Bristol Local Plan 2045.
The plan is made up of these documents:
- pdf Core Strategy(5.50 MB) : sets out the overall approach for planning in Bristol
- pdf Site Allocations and Development Management Policies Local Plan(998 KB) : 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.
- pdf Site allocations information(8.93 MB) : has more detail about sites that can be built on
- pdf Site allocations policies map(14.00 MB) : shows the site allocations that apply to areas in Bristol
- pdf Bristol Central Area Plan(12.64 MB) : has policies specific to development in the centre of Bristol
- pdf Bristol Central Area policies map(9.11 MB) : shows the site allocations that apply to the centre of Bristol
- pdf West of England Joint Waste Core Strategy(4.12 MB) : sets out where major waste facilities should be built
Interactive local plan policies map
You can look at an interactive Local Plan policies map Go to https://bcc.maps.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=abcb48787a314076a4dfd2d99f4c2683 (opens new window). You can search by address or select locations on the map to see what policies apply to them.
Neighbourhood development plans
Some areas have neighbourhood development plans, which include other policies for deciding planning applications.
Supplementary planning documents, practice notes and other planning guidance
For some types of development we produce additional documents to help guide planning decisions.