The Gateway 1 self-assessment for the Bristol Local Plan 2045, how we are preparing the plan, engaging with stakeholders and communities, managing the project, and meeting the Government's plan-making requirements.
The Gateway 1 self-assessment has been prepared to meet the requirements under Regulation 21 in the Town and Country Planning (Local Planning) (England) Regulations 2026.
Preparing the Bristol Local Plan
We’re preparing the Bristol Local Plan 2045 to guide development across the city, potentially including provisions for minerals and waste.
The plan will respond to Bristol’s development needs and the opportunities and constraints of a largely built-up city.
It will bring together decisions about:
- homes
- jobs
- design
- transport
- infrastructure
- climate resilience
- natural environment
We published our notice of intention to commence plan-making on 30 June 2026 and undertook a scoping consultation from 9 to 30 September 2026. This statement records our preparation in the five Gateway 1 readiness areas.
Publication of this statement will mark the start of the formal 30-month plan preparation period. Gateway 1 is our self-assessment; it does not involve approval by the Planning inspectorate.
Local plan timetable
Our timetable was first published on 30 June 2026 and is reviewed monthly. It identifies the consultation stages, gateways, submission and intended adoption date. We expect this plan to be adopted at the end of April 2029.
The next consultation is scheduled for 1 December 2026 to 7 February 2027. We’re reviewing the evidence and policies in the Bristol Local Plan 2022 to 2040 as well as other relevant information to develop our approach.
Preparation will run alongside the preparation of the West of England Spatial Development Strategy (SDS).
We’ll:
- track the timing of regional evidence and decisions
- identify dependencies
- record the assumptions used where strategic matters are uncertain
We’ll keep these assumptions under review and update them when needed. This will help make sure future consultations and decision points use the latest available information.
Our timetable sets out the main stages of preparing the plan. A separate project plan will show who is responsible for each task, what activities depend on each other, and when progress will be reviewed. This will help us identify and deal with any delays or resource issues early.
The timetable includes all the key stages needed to prepare the plan within 30 months. We will keep a record of any changes to the timetable, including when changes were made and the results of monthly reviews.
To help make sure the plan is completed within 30 months, we have worked with stakeholders, community groups and organisations we must consult during an early scoping stage. We have also worked closely with councillors and senior council leaders to support a joined-up approach to preparing the plan.
Our project management and governance arrangements
The Planning Policy Team is responsible for preparing the new plan. The work is overseen by the Deputy Head of Planning (Planning Policy).
Regular meetings are held to coordinate work on different topics, review evidence and gather input from other council services.
Work on the new plan also needs to be coordinated with the remaining work on the Local Plan 2022 to 2040.
The Local Plan Working Group meets every month. This cross-party group of councillors provides advice on the Local Plan. These meetings are used to discuss progress, review evidence and emerging policies, and gather councillors' views to shape the plan.
The programme brings together policy development, evidence gathering, site assessments, spatial planning, environmental assessments and consultation into one process.
Specialist advice and expertise will be needed from, and potentially also others,:
- Research and Monitoring
- GIS
- Transport
- Housing
- Regeneration
- Heritage
- Public health
- Flood risk
- Ecology
The aim is to resolve cross-topic issues while proposals are being developed and provide timely technical support to the team.
When preparing and publishing the timetable and notice, we have factored in the council's decision-making process. This helps us to keep the plan on track and make sure decisions are made in the right way.
We use the council's approval process for key stages of the plan, including discussions at Policy Chair's Briefings for the Economy and Skills Committee.
We also keep a Project Initiation Document up to date. This document sets out who oversees the project, how progress is reported and who is responsible for senior oversight.
It also covers how consultation documents and key decisions will be approved, how risks and progress will be monitored, and what resources are available. This includes staffing, specialist advice, funding for evidence and support from consultants.
These arrangements help us manage the project effectively and keep the plan moving forward on schedule.
Planning consultation and engagement
Our September scoping consultation was open for 3 weeks. It asked what the new local plan should contain and how people would like to be involved.
It used an online survey supported by a background document explaining the issues and the plan-making process.
The consultation’s responses will inform the proposed content and evidence consultation proposals and the approach to subsequent engagement.
At the time of publishing this self-assessment, we’ve carried out a preliminary analysis of the representations by reviewing equalities data, response rates for the different consultation themes, and engagement metrics.
This analysis will continue as we prepare our Summary Response Report for the Scoping Consultation and work to update our Engagement Strategy.
Our intention is to continue building upon our established local plan mailing list and social media presence to further reach under-represented groups in Bristol. It will have ‘lessons learnt’ feeding into the next stages of plan-making.
Communications analysis
Overall, we received good interaction through our social media posts and newsletters:
- 26,938 different people saw the posts (our ‘reach’).
- 42,384 impressions were recorded, meaning the post appeared 42,384 times for people, including anyone who saw it more than once.
- 127 click throughs from our business newsletter
- 450 click throughs through all social media posts, including Facebook, LinkedIn and Instagram.
Response Analysis
We received 314 full responses and 717 partial ones through our online survey.
We recognise that ‘consultation fatigue’ can be a barrier, so we will look further for ways to make engagement easier and continue the use of skip logic in surveys. We also received 38 email representations.
198 people who filled in the survey requested to be added to the local plan mailing list.
At time of publishing, our local plan mailing list contained 1052 contacts for organisations, and 1371 contacts for members of the public.
Our business newsletter has over 3,340 on the mailing list, with approximately 300 new contacts added every year and a relatively high average open rate (the number of times the newsletter is opened) of nearly 45%.
We received responses from specific consultation bodies, community groups, charities, campaigning and specialist groups, businesses and consultancies, as well as representations from individuals.
We will publish a summary of the scoping consultation responses before the next consultation begins. This will cover the key issues raised, how we expect it to inform our proposals and on which issues we propose to gather further evidence or focus consideration.This will help participants follow the development of the plan.
Our proposed approach is to combine accessible digital information with opportunities for people who need other ways to participate.
Clear maps and visual explanations will seek to illustrate the spatial and other choices to be made. In addition, consultation questions will distinguish matters open for discussion from requirements established by national policy.
Scoping the content of the plan
The scoping consultation explored:
- the economy
- health and wellbeing
- housing
- density and design
- heritage
- transport
- climate and nature
- public infrastructure and services
- minerals and waste
These themes provide a starting point for developing a vision, objectives and locally specific approaches. They do not pre-determine the spatial strategy or site allocations.
We are reviewing the Bristol Local Plan 2022 to 2040, including the changes made during its examination. We are comparing it with current national planning policy, feedback from early engagement and any new information that has become available.
This review will help us decide which policies are still relevant, which need to be updated, and which issues are already sufficiently covered by national policy or other legislation.
We are also reviewing the evidence used to support the plan. This will help us understand which studies are still up to date, which need updating and where more work is needed. The Content and Evidence consultation will explain what evidence we have and what further work we plan to carry out.
As the plan develops, we will consider how Bristol can accommodate the development needed, what infrastructure is required and whether proposals can realistically be delivered. We will also take account of regional evidence and the emerging Spatial Development Strategy.
The West of England Combined Authority is leading the work on developing the Spatial Development Strategy in parallel to our new Local Plan. The Spatial Development Strategy will identify housing needs, possible housing supply and how housing should be distributed across the wider city region. This work will help inform the new Local Plan.
We may also update Bristol's minerals and waste planning policies, including policies that affect neighbouring areas. However, it is not yet clear whether this work can be completed within the 30-month timetable, and we will keep this under review.
Strategic Environmental Assessment
A Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) will help us prepare the new Local Plan and consider different options for how it could develop.
The assessment looks at how the plan could affect the environment. It uses information about current environmental conditions, environmental goals and a clear assessment process.
We have identified other plans, programmes and environmental objectives that need to be considered as part of this work.
We’re currently bringing together existing data about the local environment to form the baseline information. This will help build the evidence base for the environmental assessment and support the development of environmental objectives for the Local Plan.
The work will look at all relevant environmental matters in Bristol, including:
- flood risk
- climate resilience
- air quality
- biodiversity
- green infrastructure
- heritage
- the effects of different development locations and densities
The content and evidence consultation stage, expected to take place from 1 December 2026 to 7 February 2027, will include the SEA scoping material. This ensures the SEA covers the likely significant environmental effects of the local plan.
The SEA will be carried out alongside the development and testing of different options for the new Local Plan.
We will also review the existing assessment work completed for the emerging plan to check whether it is still up to date and suitable to support the development of the new Local Plan. Where appropriate, we will update this work and use it to support the environmental assessment of the new Local Plan.
Our next steps and how to stay involved
The immediate next step is the consultation on the proposed new local plan content and evidence. This will explain the developing vision, objectives, spatial approach and proposed policy directions, together with the evidence available and further work required. The feedback from this consultation will then inform the preparation of the new local plan.
Our published milestones can be found on local plan timetable. The dates for future stages may change slightly. However, the 30 months completion expectation set by Government leaves little room for substantial changes.
Our Bristol Local Plan 2045 webpage and Ask Bristol will provide updates and consultation information.
How to stay up to date
It’s important we hear from everyone in Bristol about shaping the future of the city.
If you would like to stay updated on the progress of the new local plan by joining our mailing list, or if you have any questions about the plan-making process, email blp@bristol.gov.uk.