Shropshire Council passes Gateway 1 to start 30-month Local Plan timetable

Shropshire Council has formally started preparing a new Local Plan running to 2046, passing through Gateway 1 of the Government's new plan-making system and starting a 30-month preparation period for the county.

The council said on 2 October that it had completed the step that week. Gateway 1 requires an authority to assess its own readiness to prepare a plan and to publish a summary of that assessment, and the council said publication formally marks the start of the 30-month period.

It follows the statutory scoping stage, which the council carried out over the summer. The council said it received more than 800 responses from residents and organisations to its scoping consultation, and that these are still being assessed and will inform the next stage of plan-making alongside wider evidence.

David Walker, Shropshire Council's Cabinet member for planning, said: "Completing the Gateway 1 process confirms that we are ready to move forward with a clear programme of work to develop a plan that reflects the needs, ambitions and priorities of our communities."

The new plan

According to the council, the new Local Plan will look ahead to 2046 and will also incorporate the Minerals and Waste Plan. It will set the framework for where new homes, jobs and infrastructure should be located across the county.

The council's Cabinet approved a Notice of Intention to Commence Plan Making at its meeting on 6 May 2026. The scoping consultation opened on 20 May and closed on 15 July.

The council described that consultation as an early stage of engagement that did not propose development sites or set out preferred options. By 30 June about 450 people and businesses had responded and 11 drop-in events had been held across the county, it said.

In a June update, the council said it was inviting stakeholders to promote land for development or mineral working. Those sites will go through a site assessment process leading to proposed allocations, which the council said would be consulted on at a future stage.

Walker said: "We are committed to continuing to work closely with our communities throughout the process to ensure the final plan supports sustainable growth while protecting the qualities that make Shropshire such a special place."

The national system

The Government's new local plan-making system came into force on 25 March 2026, according to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG).

MHCLG guidance says Gateway 1 is intended to make sure an authority is ready to prepare and adopt a plan within 30 months, and that authorities are expected to prepare a plan within 30 months of publishing their self-assessment.

For authorities not submitting a plan under the old system by 31 December 2026, the guidance sets a general legal deadline for publishing a Gateway 1 self-assessment of 30 April 2027, or the point at which their plan is five years old, whichever is later.

The current plan

Shropshire's adopted Local Plan is made up of the Core Strategy, dating from 2011, and the Site Allocations and Management of Development (SAMDev) Plan, dating from 2015. Together they cover the period 2006 to 2026.

The council said the adopted plan will remain part of the Development Plan for Shropshire until a new Local Plan is adopted.

What happens next

The council said further consultations would follow as the plan progresses.

A separate consultation on the draft Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) Scoping Report for the Local Plan opened on 11 September. The council said feedback will be used to inform the final SEA Scoping Report. That consultation runs until 21 October.