Gateway 1 Self-Assessment Summary
As we prepare the new Joint Local Plan, we need to pass through three gateways. These help us show our progress and check that we are ready to move to the next stage.
Gateway 1 is a self-assessment of the work we have done to prepare for the new Local Plan.
How we got ready to prepare a new local plan
We started preparing a new Joint Local Plan for Babergh District Council and Mid Suffolk District Council areas on Wednesday 21 October 2026, to cover the plan period from 2026 to 2045.
Government policy says we should adopt the new plan within 30 months of this date. This is to help ensure we have an up-to-date local plan that responds to the needs of the area and our communities.
Our Joint Local Plan webpage explains what we did to get ready to meet the 30-month timeframe. It also has links to further information, and where you can get updates.
We published a timetable for preparing the plan
We first published our timetable for key stages in preparing a New Joint Local Plan on 3 June 2026. The timetable shows when we expect to carry out the different stages and activities for preparing a plan. It helps us check if and how we can adopt the plan within the 30-month timeframe. We’ll keep this updated as we make more progress.
In preparing for the 30-month timeframe, we have worked to develop our evidence base, working with our neighbouring authorities across Suffolk and Suffolk County Council, and we have sought to broadly align the Joint Local Plan timetable with that of other local plans being produced in Suffolk.
We established project management and governance arrangements
Preparing a local plan is a complex process. It involves many people across the Councils and from other organisations. Thinking early about how the work is planned, managed and signed off helps us monitor our progress and keep the work on track. It also helps us anticipate and manage any risks to us adopting the plan within 30 months.
We have developed a Project Initiation Document, which sets out what the Joint Local Plan is trying to achieve, the governance approach and responsibilities, resources and risks.
The Cabinets and Full Councils will be responsible for making decisions as the Plan preparation progresses as set out in the Local Plan Timetable. In May 2026, the Councils approved delegated authority to update the Local Plan Timetable and Engagement Plan, publication of consultation summaries following consultations, and the submission of Gateway Reports. A cross party, cross district, Babergh and Mid Suffolk Joint Local Plan Member Working Group has been long established, which will work with officers in development the Joint Local Plan.
Joint working across Suffolk is being undertaken to support the preparation of the Joint Local Plan and ensure broad alignment with the other local plans being prepared in Suffolk, to address cross-boundary strategic issues and to prepare certain joint evidence studies.
We planned how we’ll consult on the plan
Public consultation is essential for the Plan to represent the needs of our communities. It must be easy for people to have their say in a way that works for them, so they can influence the way the area develops. By planning this early, we can ensure people are aware in advance and can get involved from the start.
From 5th June 2026 to 31st July 2026, the Councils’ ran a scoping consultation to obtain views on what the plan could contain and how we propose to consult on the plan at key stages. We received over 1,000 responses to our survey, and we intend to publish a summary of key findings on our Joint Local Plan webpage.
We have published an engagement strategy which sets out how we intend to consult and engage with our stakeholders through the plan-making process.
Further information on upcoming consultations can be found on our Joint Local Plan webpage.
We began scoping the content of the plan
Scoping includes considering how well the existing plan is working and gathering baseline information about the area. This helps to identify our future needs and ambitions. Starting this early means we can begin preparing the new plan with a clear vision, making it quicker and easier to consult on the plan and make decisions about it.
Through our Scoping Consultation between 5 June and 31 July 2026, we invited comments on local priorities and challenges to inform the content of the plan.
The consultation intended to:
• identify the key issues and challenges facing the districts
• understand what matters most to local communities, businesses and stakeholders
• seek views on the scope and priorities of the Local Plan
• understand how stakeholders would like to be consulted throughout the plan-making process
As required by Regulation 22 of the Town and Country Planning (Local Planning) (England) Regulations 2026, we will publish a summary of the responses to the Scoping Consultation after the publication of this self-assessment.
A new National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) was published on 17 August 2026, which will also inform the scope and content of the Local Plan. This document altered the minimum length of a local plan post adoption from 15 years to 10 years in Policy PM2. The plan period for the new Joint Local Plan is set out as 2026 to 2045, and this will be kept under review in light of the publication of the NPPF, as the Councils consider the implications of a shorter plan period to 2040 if deemed appropriate, before the next stage of consultation.
The anticipated content of the Joint Local Plan will be a vision supported by objectives with specific measurable outcomes, a spatial strategy and settlement hierarchy, together with a set of planning policies and site-specific policies to guide the future development of the districts, to meet identified needs.
We began a Strategic Environmental Assessment
We’re legally required to identify, describe and evaluate likely significant effects on the environment of:
● implementing the local plan; and
● reasonable alternatives, taking into account the plan’s objectives and scope.
This process will consider how community, national and international environmental protection objectives and any other environmental challenges are taken into account in the plan. It will help us to predict significant environmental effects and develop ways of preventing, reducing and offsetting these.
It is important we start this work early and are transparent about how we’re doing the assessment when engaging stakeholders and communities.
In February 2026 we consulted on our Sustainability Appraisal (SA) Scoping Report.
The SA incorporates the requirements of Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA). You can read the Babergh and Mid Suffolk Sustainability Appraisal Scoping Report - January 2026. Sustainability Appraisal incorporating SEA will be undertaken alongside the preparation of the Joint Local Plan.