Harborough Local Plan 2011-2031

Adopted Local Plan

Harborough Local Plan 2011-2031

On Tuesday 30 April 2019, Harborough District Council resolved to adopt the Local Plan 2011-2031 at its Full Council Meeting.

The Local Plan is the Council's principal planning policy document and sets out the vision, objectives, spatial strategy and planning policies for the entire District area, for the period up to 2031. The Local Plan replaces the Council's Core Strategy 2006-2028 and Saved Policies from the previous 2001 Local Plan.

A copy of the Harborough Local Plan 2011-2031, the Sustainability Appraisal, the Policies Map and Adoption Statement are all available online. The Leicestershire Mineral and Waste Local Plan to 2031 now forms part of the Development Plan for Harborough District (adopted 25 September 2019). Further information is available in the following index of links:

Further information regarding the Local Plan Submission and the Examination process is contained on the Council's dedicated webpage, 'Local Plan Submission and Examination'.

Further information relating to Local Plan evidence documents is contained on the Council's dedicated webpage, 'Local Plan - supporting evidence'.

Neighbourhood Plans

Any ‘made’ Neighbourhood Plans in the Harborough District administrative area, form part of the Local Development Plan and are therefore a material consideration in the determination of planning applications. For further information regarding Neighbourhood Plans in the Harborough District, including maps, status updates, referendum results and ‘made’ documents are available on the Council’s dedicated webpage, 'Neighbourhood Planning'.

Supplementary Planning Documents

Planning Obligations SPD

The Planning Obligations SPD was adopted on 20 June 2022. It provides detailed guidance on a policies in the Local Plan and has replaced the January 2017 Planning Obligations Supplementary Planning Guidance (SPG).

The adopted SPD is supported by a Monitoring Fee Paper and a Schedule of Charges

The Planning Obligations SPD reflects changes to adopted policies, notably:

  • The adoption of the Harborough Local Plan in April 2019 
  • The publication of Leicestershire County Council’s new Planning Obligations Guidance in July 2019
  • National reforms to developer contributions, including the ending of pooling restrictions and clarification around seeking monitoring fees
  • Changes to National Policy including the introduction of Biodiversity Net Gain and First Homes

Consultation on the SPD was undertaken between 11 December 2020 and 5 February 2021 with a further re-consultation undertaken between 5 November 2021 to Friday 17 December 2021. The Consultation Statement sets out how responses received influenced the document.

Related Documents:  SA/SEA statement

Development Management SPD

The Development Management SPD was adopted on 13 December 2021 and replaces the previous Supplementary Planning Guidance Notes. 

The Development Management SPD provides guidance to assist with the interpretation and implementation of planning legislation and the Local Plan.  It covers guidance on design principles of new residential housing estates, extensions to homes, running a business from home, converting disused buildings in the countryside, economic development, shop fronts and adverts. There is also a chapter on Conservation Areas and Listed Buildings, as well as how to address climate change and incorporate landscaping into development.

The Supplementary Planning Document (SPD) is not policy, but offers useful guidance for people submitting planning applications as to what could be acceptable (or not), before time and money is spent on drawing up plans or investing in a site, and how and when developer contributions (section 106 agreements) may be sought.

Infrastructure Funding Statement

The Community Infrastructure Levy (Amendment) (No.2) (England) Regulations came into force on 1 September 2019. Under the regulations, Infrastructure Funding Statements (IFS) replace CIL Regulation 123 Lists as the mechanism through which infrastructure projects are identified.

The IFS is required to be published annually and provide a summary of all financial and non-financial developer contributions relating to S106s within the District. It will include a statement of infrastructure projects that the Council intends to, wholly or be partly funded by planning obligations. The Government has introduced a requirement for councils to prepare an annual Infrastructure Funding Statement (IFS) which is to be published by 31 December each year and thereafter, at least annually. 

Going forward, it is intended to publish the Council’s IFS each year to provide a statement of the planning obligations received and spent/used for each preceding financial year. It is also a requirement of the IFS to report on the obligations not only secured and spent by the Council’s own services, but also obligations passed to external stakeholders, for example, the police and the health/CCGs.

The Government considers that the Infrastructure Funding Statement (IFS) is an important and useful tool for wider engagement, for example, with local communities, infrastructure providers, and that it can inform Statements of Common Ground. It is intended to add transparency, about how contributions have been used to fund infrastructure improvements and make spending on infrastructure improvements more accountable too.

Local authorities can also report this information in authority monitoring reports but the authority monitoring report is not a substitute for the Infrastructure Funding Statement (IFS). 

Core Strategy Archive

We have archived Core Strategy 2006-2028 and 2001 Local Plan documents, which were superseded on 30 April 2019, by the Harborough Local Plan 2011-2031.