Proposed Submission Local Plan Consultation (Regulation 19) 

Help us update your Local Plan

The Local Plan sets out planning policies and proposals for new development to make sure the Rugby Borough is a great place to live, work and do business.

It is prepared in consultation with residents, businesses and other stakeholders.

Councils must review their Local Plan every five years. Rugby borough’s current plan was approved in 2019.

The Local Plan defines many things, including:

  • where housing can be built.
  • which land can be used to provide employment.
  • how vital infrastructure needs can be met, such as schools, green spaces, health care facilities and transport links.
  • how the borough will mitigate and adapt to climate change.

What is the Preferred Option?

The Preferred Option Consultation Document sets out a proposed development strategy for the borough for the period 2024-2045. This identifies what development and land use should go where. It also includes draft development management policies to be used for determining planning applications, including policies to tackle issues we identified in the ‘Issues and Options’ consultation in October 2023.  

This Preferred Option Consultation Document has been shaped by:
  • your feedback to the ‘Issues and Options’ consultation (Oct 23- Feb 24).
  • land submitted to us through the call for sites (Oct 23-Feb 24) or identified from other sources.
  • changes to the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF), the latest being December 2024.
  • new technical evidence on a range of topics.
View the preferred options consultation document
Documents informing the Preferred Options consultation document
The borough's current Local Plan
Information on the Issues and Options consultation

The Proposed Submission Local Plan Consultation (Regulation 19) has now closed. 

The consultation ran for 6 weeks from Friday 30 January to 5:00pm on Friday 13 March 2026. 

What happens next?

The Council will now review all responses received during the consultation period and produce a Consultation Statement summarising the main themes and providing an officer response. This document will be made available to the public and to the Planning Inspector, alongside copies of all consultation responses. 

The Council intends to submit the Local Plan for examination by the Planning Inspectorate in spring 2026. The examination process will include public hearing sessions where those who responded to the consultation may be invited by the Planning Inspector to participate. Hearing sessions are likely to begin in late 2026. Further details will be available closer to the time. 

If you would like to be added to the consultation database to receive email updates on the progress of the local plan, please email a request to localplan@rugby.gov.uk with your name and contact details. Requests will be handled in line with the council’s privacy notice. 
 

Quick links

What is the Proposed Submission Local Plan?

The Proposed Submission Local Plan is the document which the Council intends to submit to the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government for examination by the Planning Inspectorate.

The documents that we intend to submit for examination are:

Hard copies of the Proposed Submission Local Plan with the proposed submission documents (collectively called the proposed submission documents) are also available to view within normal opening hours at:

  • Rugby Borough Council’s offices, Town Hall, Evreux Way, Rugby, CV21 2RR
  • Rugby Library and Information Centre, Little Elborow Street, Rugby, CV21 3BZ
  • Dunchurch Community Library, The Green, Dunchurch, Rugby, CV22 6PA
  • Wolston Library & Information Centre, Manor Estate, Wolston, CV8 3GX

What has changed since the Preferred Option consultation? 

We’ve made changes to the Local Plan based on the feedback received in response to the Preferred Option consultation held in Spring 2025, and based on the latest evidence. The preferred options consultation was a direction of travel but it was always expected that changes would be made. In making changes we used updated evidence on infrastructure needs and have taken advice from infrastructure providers including the local education authority and local highways authority. We also worked with landowners in Rugby to secure more brownfield sites in the town.

The main changes include: 

  •  Addition of several brownfield sites in Rugby town centre for housing
  • Addition of a further housing site at Long Lawford which will support a new walking route to schools in Bilton and Cawston
  • Addition of a further housing site at Wolston for specialist housing for older persons to meet local need 
  • Addition of a new housing site at Binley Woods in Brandon Parish 
  • Removal of housing sites in the Rainsbrook Valley at Hillmorton and inclusion of a new policy regarding the Rainsbrook Valley landscape
  • Removal of housing sites around Dunchurch 
  • Reduction in the number of houses allocated at Brinklow, Wolvey and Stretton-on-Dunsmore 
  • Removal of the employment allocation at Ryton-on-Dunsmore. This is replaced by an alternative employment site at Walsgrave Hill which includes a blue-light route for ambulances to University Hospital Coventry

The video below provides a summary of some of the key changes and points in the Proposed Submission Local Plan.