In this section:
- Proposed submission consultation (Regulation 19 publication)
- Understanding the plan
- Attending webinars and events
- Next steps
- Overview of the Local Plan and plan-making process
Cambridge City Council and South Cambridgeshire District Council are working together to create the first joint Local Plan for Greater Cambridge.
Proposed submission consultation (Regulation 19 publication)
On Monday 3 August 2026 we will launch our final consultation on the Proposed Submission Greater Cambridge Local Plan before it is submitted to government for independent examination. You can have your say from 9am Monday 3 August until 5pm on Friday 25 September 2026.
The Proposed Submission Local Plan shows where new homes and workplaces could be built over the next 20 years, and how essential community facilities and infrastructure would support this expected growth. Once adopted, the joint Local Plan will become the statutory development plan for Cambridge and South Cambridgeshire.
This Local Plan is the version we intend to send to government for examination. Your comments (called ‘representations’ at this stage) should focus on whether the Local Plan complies with relevant legislation and is ‘sound’, which is defined as justified, effective, positively prepared and consistent with national planning policies.
How did we get here
Work on the Local Plan started in 2020. Three consultations were held prior to this one, most recently on the Draft Local Plan from 1 December 2025 until 30 January 2026. 1,286 separate people made over 8,400 comments, which have been carefully considered and have helped to shape the Proposed Submission Local Plan. Nearly 1,000 site submissions have also been assessed since the start of the Local Plan process.
Our Regulation 19 Consultation Statement summarises all of the representations submitted at Draft Plan stage and sets out our responses. For copies of all comments in full, please visit our consultation platform, and look through each Chapter of the Plan to find the comments at the bottom of the pages. Please also refer to our Privacy Notice for further details of how we hold your information.
The cabinets of Cambridge City Council and South Cambridgeshire District Council met on Tuesday 21 July and agreed to the Proposed Submission Local Plan and Policies Map for public consultation, along with a range of supporting documents.
Understanding the plan
We will be consulting on:
- The Proposed Submission Greater Cambridge Local Plan, which sets out our proposed vision, development strategy, site allocations in different parts of Greater Cambridge, and development management policies, organised under 7 key themes.
- The Proposed Submission Greater Cambridge Policies Map, which illustrates where the Plan’s policies, designations and site allocations would apply.
- Two key supporting documents:
- the Sustainability Appraisal (SA), which assesses how the Plan will help to achieve relevant environmental, economic and social objectives
- the Habitats Regulation Assessment (HRA), which test if the Plan could significantly harm legally protected areas for rare nature.
Alongside this, we will publish other relevant supporting evidence and other materials to help you understand the Local Plan and get the most out of the consultation.
Attending webinars and events
We have organised webinars and events to help you understand the Local Plan and its supporting evidence, and support you in preparing your representation in the right way. Some of these will be hosted online and recorded to be viewed afterwards. Others will be held in locations across Greater Cambridge.
Our online consultation launch
Join our consultation launch which will be hosted online via Microsoft Teams on Tuesday 4 August, 5:30pm to 6:30pm.
Join us in person at our Local Plan exhibitions
If you would like to find out more about the Local Plan or to speak to a member of the team about the consultation, join us at one of our exhibitions.
August:
- Monday 17 August, 4pm to 7:30pm: Cathodeon Centre, Horseheath Rd, Linton, CB21 4LU
September:
- Tuesday 1 September, 2pm to 4pm: Arbury Community Centre, Campkin Rd, Cambridge, CB4 2LD
- Tuesday 1 September, 4pm to 7:30pm: Whittlesford Memorial Hall, Mill Ln, Whittlesford, CB22 4NE
- Wednesday 2 September, 4pm to 7pm: Marleigh Community Centre, The Hangar Building, 2 Jubilee Square, Cambridge, CB5 8BX
- Wednesday 2 September, 4pm to 7:30pm: Papworth Village Hall, Ermine St South, Papworth Everard, CB23 3RD
- Thursday 3 September, 2pm to 4pm: Gamlingay EcoHub, Stocks Lane, Gamlingay, SG19 3JR
- Thursday 3 September, 4pm to 7:30pm: Great Abington Primary School, 68 High Street, Great Abington, CB21 6AE
- Friday 4 September, 4pm to 7:30pm: The Old School Hall, St Barnabas Centre, Mill Rd, Cambridge, CB1 2BD
- Monday 7 September, 4pm to 7:30pm: Melbourn Hub, 30 High Street, Melbourn, SG8 6DZ
- Monday 7 September, 3:30pm to 6pm: Bar Hill Village Hall, The Spinney, Bar Hill, CB23 8SU
- Tuesday 8 September, 4pm to 7:30pm: The Salvation Army, 7 Station Road, Waterbeach, CB25 9HT
- Wednesday 9 September, 4:15pm to 7pm: Nightingale Pavilion, Nightingale Ave, Cambridge, CB1 8SQ
- Wednesday 9 September, 4pm to 7pm: Great Cambourne Cricket Pavilion, Back Lane, Great Cambourne, CB23 6DZ
- Friday 11 September, 10am to 5pm: The Cambridge Room, Grafton Centre, Fitzroy Street, Cambridge, CB1 1PS
There is no need to register in advance to attend. However, if you are able to register via eventbrite, it will help us plan staffing and ensure we have enough resources available on the day.
If you have any specific queries on the process or have any other questions about the Local Plan and its preparation to date, please contact the Planning Policy Team via email at localplan@greatercambridgeplanning.org or by phone on 01954 713694.
What happens next
Following the consultation, all comments will be reviewed by officers and reported to the full Council, before being submitted to the government alongside the Local Plan and its supporting documents and evidence. In line with the deadline established by government, we are required to do this by the end of December 2026.
An independent examination of the Local Plan is then expected to commence in early 2027. When submitting your representation, you will be asked whether you wish to participate in the Examination hearings. The appointed Planning Inspector will decide whether participation at a hearing session is necessary and who will be invited to attend.
Previous stages of the Local Plan
More information on the plan-making process and previous stages of the local plan can be found below.
The Proposed Submission Greater Cambridge Local Plan shows where new homes and workplaces could be built over the next 20 years - and how essential community facilities and public services would support this expected growth. Once adopted, the joint Local Plan would become the statutory development plan for the Greater Cambridge area.
The Local Plan sets out the Development Strategy and proposed development within the Cambridge urban area, the edge of Cambridge, new settlements, the rural southern cluster and the rest of the rural area. The plan sets out our vision for Greater Cambridge through development management policies under 7 key themes of:
- climate change
- biodiversity and green spaces
- great places
- wellbeing and social inclusion
- homes
- jobs
- infrastructure
Local Plan preparation follows a set process. The Proposed Submission consultation stage is the final consultation stage before the plan will be submitted to government to be independently verified to check if it is sound before it can be formally adopted. The examination by an independent planning inspector will test whether the Plan is realistic, deliverable and based on good evidence.
Local Plans, along with national planning policy, are the foundation of decision-making on planning applications, and the Plan ensures that a consistent approach is taken to planning across Cambridge City Council and South Cambridgeshire District Council until 2045.
Call for Sites - 2019
In 2019 we held an initial Call for Sites and workshops with a wide range of groups to understand what they felt the big issues for the Plan might be.
A call for sites is a way for landowners, developers and individuals to suggest sites that might be available for development in the future. It is a normal part of plan making.
First Conversation consultation - 2020
In January and February 2020, we held the First Conversation – a big public consultation on the big themes and challenges for the plan. This also included a Call for Sites.
The consultation resulted in over 5,000 visitors to our website, 6,000 people attending events, 30,000 views of our videos, over 8,500 comments and responses to the consultation questions from a huge range of people, and over 650 suggested sites for development and 21 suggested sites for green spaces. This included comments on the Sustainability Appraisal Scoping Report, Habitats Regulations Assessment Scoping Report, and Sustainability Appraisal.
Our Early stages of the Local Plan Document Library includes all the documents related to the First Conversation consultation and the Call for Sites. Documents are also available in the First Proposals document library. You can also view a map of our 2021 proposed allocations, which were consulted on as part of the First Proposals consultation.
Responses to the First Proposals consultation can be viewed on our consultation platform. We also asked for comments using an anonymous quick questionnaire, results are in the form of a spreadsheet, and drawn out some of the key results in our report on the consultation.
2022 to 2025
Between autumn 2022 and spring 2023 we held meetings of the Joint Local Plan Advisory Group where members talked about the consultation feedback received.
In early 2023 Members made decisions about the development strategy and key sites as well as confirming an updated need for jobs and homes, drawing on new evidence. We held a public webinar about the Development Strategy Update where we talked through the report and answered questions.
We also explored key issues which needed to be resolved in order to more the plan forward. Documents regarding these decisions are in our First Proposals document library.
We also held a Site Submissions Update consultation in early 2025 which allowed for updated information to be provided on previously submitted sites, or new sites to be submitted.
Draft Local Plan consultation – Winter 2025
The Draft Local Plan and supporting documents were subject to public consultation from 1 December 2025 until 30 January 2026.
The Draft Greater Cambridge Local Plan, and comments submitted, can be viewed on our consultation platform. You can find PDF versions of the Plan, supporting documents and associated evidence bases in the Draft Plan Document Library.
1286 separate people made over 8400 comments, which have been carefully considered and have helped to shape the Proposed Submission Local Plan. The Consultation Statement published alongside the Proposed Submission Local Plan provides information on how comments were taken into account.