26 November 2025
Planning policy
Local Plan review 2025-27
You can have a say in the next stage of our Local Plan review in summer/autumn 2026.
Reviewing our Local Plan
All planning authorities (including national park authorities) must prepare
a Local Plan setting out local planning policies for their area – and keep it up to date.
It’s the principal guide for planning decisions made within the New Forest National Park. We receive and determine over 500 full planning applications each year.
Our current National Park Local Plan was adopted in 2019. We’re conducting a partial review to keep it up to date. We’re looking for your views on this review.
The revised Local Plan will look forward to 2043 and is a key way through which the two statutory National Park purposes and related socio-economic duty are delivered.
Timeline of our Local Plan review
The consultation timeline
Regulation 18 (Part 1) consultation
The Regulation 18 (Part 1) consultation on the scope of the Local Plan Review, including a ‘Call for sites’, took place between February and March 2025. This comprised the following document:
Local Plan Review – direction of travel document
Regulation 18 (Part 2) consultation
Following a resolution by the National Park Authority members at an Authority meeting on 16 October 2025, the Regulation 18 (Part 2) consultation on the draft Local Plan Review will ran from 5 November until 19 December 2025.
It comprised the following documents:
Key documents
New Forest National Park Local Plan Regulation 18 (Part 2)
Habitats Regulations Assessment
Sustainability Appraisal
Proposed Policies Map changes
Regulation 18 (Part 1) Consultation Statement
Duty to Cooperate Statement
Schedule of revised Local Plan Policy numbers
Supporting documents and evidence
New Forest Housing Needs Assessment
Economic Viability Assessment
Strategic Flood Risk Assessment
Strategic Land Availability Assessment
Equalities Impact Assessment
Housing Topic Paper
Climate Change Topic Paper
Local Economy Topic Paper
Health & Wellbeing Topic Paper
Protected Landscapes Duty Topic Paper
Settlement Hierarchy Review Topic Paper
Settlement Boundary Review Topic Paper
Local Plan Review Frequently Asked Questions
