What is a Development Plan?

Every Local Authority must produce a Development Plan (or Local Plan) for their area which sets out planning policies to guide development, such as housing or employment, but also restrain development in special areas such as a Special Protection Area.

The current development plan for the Bradford District is the Replacement Unitary Development Plan which was adopted in October 2005.

The Council’s Planning Policy Team is now in the process of preparing a new Local Plan. 

The Local Plan for the Bradford District will be made up of a collection of planning documents that will guide future growth and development for housing, employment, leisure and retail for the next 10-20 years. It will also identify areas of restraint and protection for their environmental or heritage value. Each document has a role to play in delivering the District’s vision for the sustainable development and encouraging good design.

The plan will contain planning policies which will be used, once adopted, in the determination of planning applications.

The Local Plan will affect everyone who lives, works and visits the Bradford District.

What are Local Plan documents?

The documents which make up the Local Plan are listed below. Please click on the links for further information and published documents.

• Bradford District Local Plan
• Area Action Plans (AAPs)
• Authority Monitoring Report (AMR)
• Local Development Scheme (LDS) 
• Statement of Community Involvement (SCI)
• Supplementary Planning Documents (SPDs)
• Sustainability Appraisal (SA)

Why do we need a Local Plan?

The Government requires all Councils to prepare a Local Plan which identifies development needs (such as housing and employment) for at least 15 years and shows broadly how these needs will be accommodated within the area.

When will the Local Plan be adopted?

The new Local Plan will incrementally replace the Replacement Unitary Development Plan (RUDP) and the Core Strategy (2017) over the next few years. The first parts of the plan are already underway with the production of the Bradford District Local Plan. The Statement of Community Involvement (SCI) has been adopted by the Council.

What about the current development plan, the Replacement Unitary Development Plan?

The Replacement Unitary Development Plan (RUDP) was adopted by the Council in October 2005. This is currently the statutory development plan for the Bradford District. All planning applications will be determined in line with this development plan.

Since the RUDP was adopted there have been a number of major changes to the planning system. As a result of these changes some planning policies within the RUDP have been deleted, superseded by the Core Strategy (2017) and others saved until the Local Plan is produced and adopted.