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September 2025: On 24 September 2025, the Planning Committee considered a progress report on the Local Plan. This report can be viewed on Planning Committee 24 September 2025 (see agenda item 8). In summary, the Planning Policy Team has prepared the documentation needed to support the first round of public consultation on the local plan, however, the Chief Planner’s newsletter of 19 August 2025 confirms that,
Plans prepared under the new system will need to comply with the new legal requirements from start to finish. LPAs will not, for example, be able to carry out an early statutory consultation under the existing system and a pre-submission statutory consultation under the new system.
Therefore the Council is awaiting the introduction of the new plan making system before plan making in Runnymede is formally commenced.
The Chief Planner’s newsletter sets out the non-statutory plan making tasks that Local Planning Authorities can continue in advance of the new system being introduced. The committee report above confirms the Council’s progress with these activities. The committee agreed that a further Local Plan progress report would be brought back to the Planning Committee at a date to be agreed between the Corporate Head of Planning, Economy and Built Environment and the Chair of the Planning Committee (most likely December 2025 or January 2026).
The Planning Policy Team is in the process of updating large parts of its Local Plan evidence base. Current and planned updates to the evidence base are as follows:
| Evidence base document | Status |
|---|---|
| Strategic partners for cross boundary cooperation document | Consultation recently took place on the Strategic Cross Boundary Scoping Statement. The responses received to this consultation are currently being reviewed, and the Statement will be amended, where necessary, to take into account these responses. The Statement will be published on the Council’s website in the autumn of this year. |
| The Runnymede Open Spaces Study update |
Completed. Published June 2025 Review the 2030 Local Plan Review Evidence Documents. Updated version to align with the HEDNA nearing completion. Publication expected in early October. |
| The Runnymede Playing Pitch Strategy | Underway. Final report expected Autumn 2025 |
| The Green Belt Review parts 1 and 2 and Grey Belt Assessment |
Government funding secured for a joint Green Belt/Grey Belt Assessment with Spelthorne & Elmbridge Borough Councils. Assessment is hoped to commence in Autumn 2025 and will report back in two stages.
|
| 2025 Strategic Land Availability Assessment |
Work commenced and ongoing. An interim version will be available Winter 2025, to include an Urban Area Capacity Study. A second version will be produced taking account of Green Belt Review and Grey Belt Assessment outcomes (see timescales above). An updated 5 year housing land supply position has recently been published and can be viewed at: 2030 Local Plan Review Evidence Base documents – Runnymede Borough Council. This shows that the Council currently has a 2.89 years of supply as of April 2025. The Council is also currently undertaking a Call for Sites for the 2025 SLAA from Wednesday 17 September 2025 until Sunday 19 October 2025. You can find more information about this via the link above. |
| Gypsy and Traveller Accommodation Assessment update | Ongoing. Final report expected Autumn 2025. |
| Housing and Economic Development Needs Assessment (incorporating Employment Land Review) | Project commenced in February 2025. Draft reports for both the Economic and the Housing components of the report have been received and it is expected that the report will be finalised and published in Autumn 2025. |
| Level 1 Strategic Flood Risk Assessment refresh | Amended report expected to be published online and published in Autumn 2025. |
| Runnymede Design Code | On pause as the update to the Local Plan is likely to inform the type of design tools required to improve quality of design in new development. Meeting with consultants planned for October 2025 to discuss next steps and to consider the use of ‘growth area’ design codes. |
| Consultation/Engagement Strategy | Produced in draft form. Report to be taken to Planning Committee on the 24th September with a recommendation to undertake public consultation. |
| Runnymede Retail and Town Centres Study update |
Addendum completed. Published July 2025. Review the 20230 Local Plan Review Evidence Documents. |
| Update to the Council’s Stage 2 Sustainable Places work | Planned. Work will not commence until the Council has completed its site list for testing. This will not happen until the Grey Belt Review/Assessment is complete. Publication date TBC. |
| Boat Dwellers Assessment Planned. | Project on pause. |
| Infrastructure baseline assessment refresh | Planned. Due to commence in Autumn 2025. Timetable for production will be informed by the revised Local Plan timetable. |
| Sustainability Appraisal incorporating Strategic Environmental Assessment | Underway. A SA scoping update report is being prepared with the date of publication TBC. Further iterations of the SA including the appraisal of policy options and policy wording will take place as the Local Plan progresses. |
The Council’s adopted Local Development Scheme for the update of the Runnymede Local Plan can be viewed at: Local Development Scheme (LDS)
The Council has recently updated its housing land supply position. Based on a base date of 1 April 2025, the Council has concluded that it has a 2.89 year land supply. More information can be viewed at: 2030 Local Plan Review Evidence Base documents.
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Review of the Runnymede 2030 Local Plan
In line with Regulation 10A of the Town and Country Planning (Local Planning) (England) Regulations (2012), on 23r October 2024, the Council completed its formal review of the Runnymede 2030 Local Plan within 5 years of the Plan’s adoption date of 16 July 2020.
The committee report which sets out the process followed in reviewing the Local Plan and the conclusions drawn can be viewed within the committee agenda for the 23 October 2024 Planning Committee (agenda item 6) at the link below:
Evidence base documents
The Review of the Runnymede 2030 Local Plan will be underpinned by a range of evidence base documents. These key supporting documents will be made available on our evidenced base documents page once they are finalised.
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