Hart Local Plan 2044 Engagement Strategy - When will we engage?

The process for preparing Local Plans is set out in law (the Town and Country Planning (Local Planning) (England) Regulations 2026). These Regulations set out how and when engagement should take place on Local Plans and set out the bodies and organisations the Council must consult with. 

Appendix 2 sets out a table showing the key stages of the new plan-making process, the purpose of each stage and when stakeholders will be engaged or notified. 

Further information on the process for preparing a Local Plan can be found on the Government’s website. 

The new plan-making process includes three ‘Gateways’. These are points at which either the Council (Gateway 1) or an independent assessor (Gateways 2 and 3) reviews whether the plan should progress to the next stage. The findings of each Gateway Assessment will be published on our website. 

As set out in Section 1 of this strategy, there are three key stages of formal consultation during the Local Plan process. However, there are other parts of plan-making at which we may engage specific stakeholders in preparing the Local Plan. 

Strategic Environmental Assessment and Habitat Regulations Assessment

The new Hart Local Plan will be subject to Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) which will assess the environmental effects of proposed policies, and Habitat Regulation Assessment (HRA) which considers the impacts of the plan on designated sites of European nature conservation importance. In accordance with the government regulations for these assessments, the Council will consult the relevant specific consultees, and more widely when necessary.  Anyone will be able to respond to SEA and HRA documents published at the public consultation stages.

Evidence base

Some stakeholders may be engaged in the preparation of the Local Plan evidence base, for example, infrastructure providers input into the Infrastructure Delivery Plan. Those involved and the timings of that involvement will vary depending on the study.

Anyone can comment on the Local Plan evidence base which is available at each consultation stage.