Gateway 1 self-assessment summary

How we got ready to prepare a new local plan

We started preparing a new Aldershot and Farnborough (Rushmoor Borough) Local Plan on 21 September 2026.

Government policy says we should adopt the new plan within 30 months of this date. This is to help ensure we have an up-to-date local plan that responds to the needs of the area and our communities.

This page explains what we did to get ready to meet the 30-month timeframe. It also has links to further information and where you can get updates.

We published a timetable for preparing the plan

Our Local Plan timetable shows when we expect to carry out the different stages and activities for preparing the Local Plan. It helps us check if and how we can adopt the plan within the 30-month timeframe.  We'll keep this updated as we make more progress.

We published the timetable on 25 March 2026.  It sets out when we expect to hold public consultations and when we expect to submit the Local Plan to the Secretary of State for independent examination.

To help us deliver the plan within 30 months, we have proactively engaged with stakeholders and community groups as part of the scoping consultation.

We are confident we will be able to adopt our plan within 30 months.

We established project management and governance arrangements

Preparing a local plan involves many people across the council and from other organisations. Thinking early about how the work is planned, managed and signed off helps us check our progress and keep the work on track. It also helps us anticipate and manage any risks to us adopting the plan within 30 months.

We have considered the work which we will need to do to help us prepare the plan in line with the Local Plan timetable. The resources for preparing the plan have been approved by the council as part of our normal budget process.

We meet regularly with key decision-makers. In particular, we will meet at each key stage in preparing the plan to monitor how plan preparation is progressing and will keep the project plan under review. The scoping consultation was considered by the Strategic Housing and Local Plan Working Group and Cabinet before public consultation began. The next consultation will also be considered by the Strategic Housing and Local Plan Working Group and Cabinet before public consultation begins. Guidance advises us to consider our governance processes in consultation with councillors to make sure decisions are taken in a timely way. This may include decisions delegated to council officers and Cabinet portfolio holders (known as our Scheme of Delegation).

We have also identified a number of risks to the delivery of the plan. We have reflected on these risks and identified how we can reduce or mitigate them.

We planned how we'll consult on the plan

Public consultation is essential for the Local Plan to represent the needs of our communities. It must be easy for people to have their say in a way that works for them, so they can influence the way the area develops. By planning this early, we can make sure people are aware in advance and can get involved from the start.

We undertook a scoping consultation between 19 June and 31 July 2026 to get people's views on what the plan could contain. We used the scoping consultation to invite feedback on how to engage with the public, statutory consultees and other stakeholders. We also carried out some informal engagement activities during the scoping consultation. This included workshops for community and business groups as well as statutory stakeholders to provide forums for conversational feedback. We also reached out to local schools and met with community groups on a one-to-one basis, which provided a means to inform and explain the plan-making process and to encourage feedback.

We will carry out further consultations on the Local Plan in February 2027 and January 2028.

We began scoping the content of the plan

Scoping includes considering how well the existing plan is working and gathering baseline information about the area. This helps to identify our future needs and ambitions. Starting this early means we can begin preparing the new plan with a clear vision, making it quicker and easier to consult on the plan and make decisions about it.

To understand the area's development needs, we have reviewed the available evidence about both the area and the people that the new plan must support. We have also considered the current Local Plan, including how effectively it has delivered for people who live or work in the area and where changes may be needed.

Using the information we have gathered, along with the responses to the scoping consultation, we have started to consider the development requirements for the area and started to consider a vision for the area.

The content of the new plan may include, but not be limited to, matters to do with housing, the economy and employment, town and district centres and local shops, heritage, the natural environment, infrastructure and community facilities, and climate change and flooding.

We have started to consider where development could be located and to identify the information needed to support decisions about potential new development locations.

We have commenced the technical work listed below and will be commencing further technical work as the preparation of the Local Plan progresses:

• Land Availability Assessment
• Housing and Economic Development Needs Assessment

We are currently commissioning the following specialist technical assessments to support the preparation of the new plan to ensure that its preparation is informed by robust and proportionate evidence:

• Strategic Flood Risk Assessment and Water Cycle Study
• Gypsy, Traveller and Travelling Showpeople Accommodation Assessment

We began a Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA)

We're legally required to identify, describe and evaluate likely significant effects on the environment of:

• Implementing the Local Plan
• Reasonable alternatives, taking into account the plan's objectives and scope

This process will consider how community, national and international environmental protection objectives and any other environmental challenges are taken into account in the plan. It will help us to predict likely significant environmental effects and develop ways of preventing, reducing and offsetting these.

It is important we start this work early and are transparent about how we're doing the assessment when engaging stakeholders and communities.

In accordance with Part 2 and Part 3 of the Environmental Assessment of Plans and Programmes Regulations 2004, we have identified other relevant plans and programmes and collected baseline information, looking at the area's environment and relevant designations to identify potential issues or problems. For example, we are aware that the Thames Basin Heaths Special Protection Area and immediately surrounding areas are unlikely to be suitable for development because of environmental factors.

We're establishing the scope of our SEA and the level of detail we will need to include in our draft environmental report. We published an SEA Scoping Report alongside the scoping consultation for the Local Plan and invited comments on the content.

We have also prepared a Habitats Regulations Assessment Pre-Screening Report to provide background information on designated habitats sites in Aldershot and Farnborough.

The Strategic Environmental Assessment Scoping Report and the Habitats Regulations Assessment Pre-Screening Report can be viewed on our evidence supporting the new Local Plan page.

How to stay up to date

We will provide updates on the progress of the Local Plan through our New Local Plan page.

To receive updates about future consultation activities and local plan progress, you can sign up for email updates using the link above.