Regulation 19
What does Regulation 19 mean?
The Regulation 19 stage is one of the key stages in preparing a Local Plan. At this stage, the Councils publishes the proposed submission version of the plan and invites representations from relevant bodies and persons. The focus of this consultation is different to previous consultations – it focuses on whether or not the plan meets the criteria for being sound and legally compliant. The audience for comments is the independent Planning Inspectorate NOT the councils.
Comments received at this stage are submitted, alongside the plan, to the Planning Inspectorate for independent examination. This will be the final consultation before the plan is submitted. The planning inspector will consider whether the submitted plan complies with the legal requirements and meets the tests of soundness.
Legal Requirements
To comply with the legal requirements, the Proposed Submission Draft must:
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be identified in the Local Development Scheme
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have involved the community
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be published in line with regulations
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have involved the production of a Sustainability Appraisal Report
Tests of Soundness
To be sound the Proposed Submission Draft must be:
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positively prepared: i.e. providing a strategy which, as a minimum, seeks to meet the area’s objectively assessed needs and is informed b 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
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justified: i.e. it is an appropriate strategy, taking into account the reasonable alternatives, and based on proportionate evidence
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effective: i.e. the Plan should be deliverable over its 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
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consistent with national policy: i.e. enabling the delivery of sustainable development in accordance with the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF)
Timetable
Warwick District Council published its proposed local plan on 18th May 2026. In addition a massive amount of technical evidence has already been published on the SWLP website. The technical evidence page will continue to be updated over the coming days and weeks.
The plan that was published on the 18th May was considered by Warwick District Council on 1st June. As a result of issues raised by the Planning Inspectorate (PINS), at an advisory review of the draft plan on 19th May, the Council decided that further work was required to address the issues raided by PINS (see below) and agreed a delay to the start of the consultation period. Stratford Council was not able to consider the draft plan on the 8th June, as originally planned, because of a by-election.
An updated draft plan was published on 3rd July and is available on the SWLP website. This draft was considered at a number of meetings in early July (details below). In summary, the two councils approved the draft and the arrangements for the Regulation 19 public consultation. The public consultation period will start on 21st July and end on 8th September. We will provide information on the format and how to respond as soon as possble.
Full details of the proposed plan and the technical evidence is on the SWLP website:
On 19th and 20th May briefings were held for parish councils about the proposals and the process for making representations. These are the slides from those presentations. A further briefing was held on 10th July - when the slides from that presentation are available they will be added below.
The CPRE View - July 2026
On 13th July, CPRE Warwickshire emaailed all Warwick and Stratford On Avon councillors stating their views on the SWLP in advance of the July Joint Cabinet and Council meetings. CPRE supports reducing the plan period to the standard 15 years and their email shows that this would reduce housing numbers by over 15,000 enabling a number of potential sites to be removed from the proposed plan. KHSR emailed all councillors on 14th July supporting this argument.
July decisions
There were a number of key meetings 13th - 15th July 2026 to discuss the revised draft SWLP. The key documents summarising those discussions and decisions are below. Full details are on the respective council websites and the SWLP website.
Planning Inspectorate Advice - May 2026
Additional information was published on 26th / 27th May for consideration by the Joint Cabinet - the documents are below. This includes a note from the Planning Inspectorate (PINS) following an advisory visit to the councils on 19th May. This additional information raises significant issues about the viability of the draft plan and about meeting the housing need for the area. Warwick District Council at its meeting on 1st June agreed that there should be a short delay to the start of the consultation to allow furthe work to be undertaken to address the issues raised by PINS.
The documents below outline the outcome of the discussions at the key meetings. All the documents can be viewed on the councils' websites.
Next Steps
Even if you don’t live immediately adjacent to the site, you will feel the impact for decades, whether you are competing for essential services or coping with gridlocked roads. If you care about our countryside, if you want to support British farming, if you enjoy strolls along the canal, you will want your voice to be heard.
YOUR parish council will be responding to the proposal for a new town at Hatton on your behalf. It will not be necessary to make an individual representation although you are obviously free to do so.
Representations will be taken seriously if there are sound planning reasons for them. It is not about the number of objections but the quality of them and the Planning Inspectorate has made it very clear that they do not want to be inundated with representations from individuals which all essentially say the same thing.