Local Development Scheme

In this section we give more detail about the local plans (i.e. development plan documents) we aim to prepare and the key stages they will go through.

Our key priority is to continue working on the Local Plan for Buckinghamshire. Below, we briefly describe what the new local plan will cover and the timing of the steps we will take to prepare them.

In December 2024, the government released a request for all local planning authorities to produce an updated LDS within 12 weeks of the publication of the revised NPPF, giving a deadline of 6 March 2025.

The LDS was updated at this time. A further Government requirement was received on 13 February 2026 requiring the Council to publish a revised Local Development Scheme to include specific dates for Regulation 19 and submission of the plan for examination. The updated local plan programme reflects these specific dates.

This local plan will cover the whole of the Buckinghamshire Council area, for the period up to 2045. It will be part of the development plan.

The local plan will contain;

• a vision and ambitions/objectives for the development of the area
• a spatial development strategy
• allocations for where and how future development should take place (including housing and employment)
• requirements for infrastructure that is needed to support new development

Below sets out the stages of the plan making process and timeframes for each stage, some of which are already being undertaken.