Share your final thoughts on Hounslow's Local Plan (Regulation 19)

We would like to hear from people living, working and studying in Hounslow to understand their feedback on the legal compliance and soundness of our Local Plan 2020 - 2041 Proposed Submission Version (Regulation 19). We've shared a little more detail about what we mean by 'legal compliance' and 'soundness' below.

Our Local Plan guides decisions on future development proposals and addresses the needs and opportunities of our borough - it includes housing, employment and retail, as well as heritage and nature designations. It also identifies where development should take place and areas where development should be restricted.

How to view documents

Following engagement with residents, we have produced our Local Plan: Proposed Submission Version. The Local Plan is available for you to view in interactive web format via the 'Important Links' panel on the right hand side of the page. There, you will be able to view the entire document.

The Plan, other consultation documents, and supporting documents are also available for download via the 'Documents' linked on the right hand side of this page

The Local Plan: Proposed Submission Version is supported by a number of evidence base studies which are available to view on our website.

During the consultation period, physical copies of the Local Plan: Proposed Submission Version and other consultation documents are available to view at all of Hounslow's libraries (find your local library here), and at the Council's main office, Hounslow House.

The Local Plan: Proposed Submission Version will be published for comment from Friday 6 September 2024 until 23:59 on Monday 28 October 2024.

How to comment on the Local Plan and other consultation documents

We strongly recommend that you make comments through the online consultation form at the bottom of this page , which is quick and easy. You will just need to select the 'Take Survey' button. Please note that we cannot accept anonymous submissions or submissions after the deadline.

Other ways to submit comments are explained, also at the bottom of this page.

Our privacy notice explains how we may collect, use, store, and transfer personal data, and can be viewed here.

Watch the video below to find out more about local plans

Have your say on the 'legal compliance' and 'soundness' of the plan
In accordance Regulation 19 of the Town and Country Planning (Local Planning) (England) Regulations 2012 you are invited to make representations on the legal compliance and soundness (as set out in the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF), paragraph 35) of the Hounslow Local Plan: Proposed Submission Version.

Local Plans are legally complaint if they are:

• prepared in accordance with our latest local development scheme;
• accompanied by a sustainability appraisal and habitat regulations assessment;
• subject to consultation carried out in accordance with our statement of community involvement;
• compliant with all relevant laws including the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act (PCPA) and the Town and Country Planning (Local Planning) (England) Regulations 2012;
• has been prepared in line with the duty to cooperate (see below);
• in general conformity with the London Plan.

Local plans are considered to be sound if they have been:

Positively prepared

Provides a strategy which, as a minimum, seeks to meet our objectively assessed needs and is informed by agreements with other authorities, so that unmet need from neighbouring areas is accommodated where it is practical to do so and is consistent with achieving sustainable development.

Justified

An appropriate strategy, taking into account the reasonable alternatives, and based on proportionate evidence.

Effective

Deliverable over the plan period, and based on effective joint working on cross-boundary strategic matters that have been dealt with rather than deferred, as evidenced by the statement of common ground; and

Consistent with national policy

Enabling the delivery of sustainable development in accordance with the policies in this framework and other statements of national planning policy, where relevant.

What does 'duty to co-operate' mean?

We are required to co-operate on strategic matters with neighbouring boroughs and certain statutory bodies prescribed by government, such as those involved with health, conservation, the environment and housing, when we prepare the Local Plan. These are issues that cross administrative boundaries, so effective and ongoing joint working is integral to the production of a positively prepared and justified strategy. We have set out relevant information on who we have engaged with under the duty to cooperate to date in section 3 of the 'Proposed Submission version Hounslow Local Plan 2020-2041: Consultation Statement and Duty to Cooperate Statement', which you can access in the Documents section on the right hand side of the page.

Consultation Drop in Events

As part of the consultation, we will be holding two drop-in sessions to give you the opportunity to speak to planning officers from the Council to help answer any questions you have about the Hounslow Local Plan 2020-2041: Proposed Submission version. Details of the drop in sessions are as follows:

Hounslow House

• When? Monday 7th October between 16:30 – 20:30

• Where? Room 6.06/6.07, 6th Floor, Hounslow House, 7 Bath Road, Hounslow, TW3 3EB

• How do I attend? Please report to the Main Reception area at Hounslow House and ask an available member of staff where the Local Plan drop in session is located.

Digital Dock, Brentford

• When? Wednesday 9th October between 16:00 – 20:00

• Where? Digital Dock, 205 High Street, Brentford, TW8 8AH

• How do I attend? Please press the intercom button at Digital Dock and ask to be admitted to attend the Local Plan drop in session

Hard copies of the Hounslow Local Plan 2020-2041: Proposed Submission version will be available to view at both events, but we ask that these documents are not to be removed from the venues, as they are for public display, not individual use outside of these events. Please note hard copies of the consultation documents, including the Local Plan, are available at all libraries within Hounslow and at main reception in Hounslow House throughout the consultation period.

How we've engaged with communities so far

In November to December 2023 we asked you to comment on a proposal to progress the Hounslow Local Plan Review as a single Local Plan, rather than as a series of separate documents in different volumes, which was the case until the Local Plans were withdrawn from examination in July 2023. Details of this consultation, including our responses to your comments, can be found in section 2 of the 'Proposed Submission version Hounslow Local Plan 2020-2041: Consultation Statement and Duty to Cooperate Statement' included in the Documents section on the right hand side of the page.

In the process of producing the previous Local Plan Reviews, we conducted extensive consultation events, both statutory and non-statutory. The Local Plan: Proposed Submission Version takes forward much of the content of the previous Local Plan Review documents, with updates and refinement.

What happens next?

Following the close of the consultation period, the Local Plan: Proposed Submission Version, as well as other consultation documents, supporting documents and all of your Regulation 19 responses will be submitted to the Secretary of State for independent Examination. We will update our Local Plan Review webpages and send notifications to those who have responded to this consultation at each step of the process, including when examination hearing dates have been set by the Planning Inspectorate. We hope to adopt the Hounslow Local Plan 2020-2041 by Winter 2025.

Further detail on the Local Plan timetable can be found in the Local Development Scheme.

Other ways to comment

The response form can be downloaded from the Documents section on the right hand side of the page. The completed form can be returned to us by:

Email: spp@hounslow.gov.uk

Post: Spatial Planning, Hounslow House, 7 Bath Road, Hounslow, TW3 3EB