Have your say on Dorset’s next Local Plan: closes Monday

Dorset Council is preparing a new Local Plan. It will guide where new homes, jobs, roads, schools and community facilities go across Dorset for at least the next ten years, including in and around Dorchester. The first consultation closes at midnight on Monday 26 October.

This early “scoping” stage isn’t about specific sites or housing numbers. It asks what the plan should cover, what evidence the council should gather, and how you’d like to be involved. Very few people respond at this stage, so each response carries real weight. If public transport, safe cycle routes, speeding and parking, public spaces or affordable homes matter to you, now is the time to say so.

The Community Association is sending its own response, drawing on the Big Poundbury Conversation and Consultation, and on the questions you raise with us most often. We’ll share it on our website. Your own voice still counts, though, and it only takes a few minutes. You don’t need to answer every question.

Respond online: dorsetcouncil.gov.uk/dorset-council-local-plan-consultation

What comes next (the council’s current timetable, which may change):

• March to June 2027: consultation on the plan’s proposed content and evidence

• Early to spring 2028: consultation on the full draft plan

• Summer to autumn 2028: submission for independent examination

• 2029: expected adoption

  
  

To hear about each stage, sign up for the council’s planning policy updates from the consultation page. In 2027, we plan to run an open community survey, so Poundbury’s experience can feed into the next stage.