The council says its 22,000-home Local Plan consultation opens on Friday 18 September. Five briefings are left, and its own pages give two closing dates.

The consultation on Bath and North East Somerset’s draft Local Plan opens on Friday 18 September, according to the council’s own emerging Local Plan page (B&NES).

It is the last chance for residents to comment in their own right before a government inspector examines the plan, which allocates land for around 22,000 homes to 2043.

Five public briefings are still to come, starting on Monday 21 September. The closing date is less clear: two council pages give two different dates.

The briefings still to come

The council’s Area Forums and its Parish Liaison Meeting are running a series of briefings on the plan. Two have already taken place, on 15 and 16 September. These five remain (Area Forums, B&NES):

Date Time Event Where
Mon 21 September 12pm to 1pm Bath Briefing Online
Tue 22 September 6pm to 7.30pm Bathavon Area Forum Online
Wed 23 September 6pm to 8pm Chew Valley Area Forum Chew Valley School, in person
Thu 24 September 6.30pm to 8.30pm Keynsham Area Forum Community Space, Keynsham, in person
Wed 21 October 6.30pm to 8.30pm Parish Liaison Community Space, Keynsham, in person

The joining links for the online sessions are on the council’s Area Forums page. The forums are open to anyone who wants to attend, and the council says you can ask questions, give feedback or just listen.

Two closing dates, three start dates

The cabinet decision of 10 September approved the plan for “public consultation commencing in the week of 14th September 2026 for a period of six weeks” (decision notice, B&NES). The officers’ report is more specific. It says the consultation “will take place for six weeks from 14 September to 26 October 2026” (cabinet report E3695, para 10.3).

The council’s plan development timeline page gives a different window: 17 September to 29 October 2026 (B&NES). That page still marked the consultation “not started” when we checked.

The emerging Local Plan page gives a third start date, Friday 18 September.

Draft Local Plan: the dates the council has published Checked on Friday 18 September 2026 WHEN IT STARTS Week of 14 Sep Cabinet decision, 10 Sep 17 September Plan timeline page 18 September Emerging Local Plan page WHEN IT CLOSES 26 October Cabinet report, para 10.3 29 October Plan timeline page Work to the earlier date: 26 October. Sources: B&NES cabinet decision notice and report E3695, 10 September 2026; B&NES emerging Local Plan and plan timeline pages. Graphic by Bath Daily
Three council pages, three published start dates, and two closing dates. A comment has to arrive inside the publication period to count.

The gap matters more than it looks. A comment counts only if it is made inside the formal publication period. Anyone who leaves it to the last day is relying on the later of the two dates being the right one.

Where the documents already are

The consultation portal was not live when we checked early on Friday. The council’s participation platform listed “Draft Local Plan (Regulation-19)” under “Upcoming”, marked “Coming soon”, with no link attached (Consultation hub, B&NES). The older Local Plan portal was still serving the archived 2025 Options consultation (bathnesplaces.co.uk).

The council’s own landing page for the consultation was live but unfinished. It says the page will be updated with information on how to comment, links to the documents and details of events, and it gives the Planning Policy team’s email address and phone number as “[to come]” (Draft Local Plan, B&NES). Those pages may be filled in during Friday.

None of that stops you reading the plan. Every chapter was published with the cabinet papers on 10 September and is there now:

You can also sign up for the council’s planning policy email updates to be told when the portal opens.

The timetable has moved before

The cabinet report’s own purpose paragraph, published on 10 September, still describes a report seeking approval “for public consultation commencing in June this year” (decision notice, B&NES).

The reason the council cannot let it slip much further is a national deadline. Under the government’s transitional rules the plan has to reach the Planning Inspectorate by 31 December 2026. Miss that and it cannot be examined or adopted at all, which would leave the district without an up-to-date plan (cabinet report, para 4.4).

What the plan proposes

We set out the detail when cabinet approved it. In short, the draft plan allocates land for around 22,000 homes between 2025 and 2043, about 80% of the government’s requirement of 27,324, plus 120,600 square metres of office space and 114,500 square metres of industrial and warehouse space.

Meeting the housing figure means taking land out of the Green Belt in nine places: Keynsham, Saltford, Whitchurch, Hicks Gate and Peasedown St John as strategic releases, and Batheaston, Chew Stoke, Corston and Farmborough as smaller ones.

Our fuller reports:

What it means for you

If a site near you is in the plan, this is the round that counts. After it, the inspector decides which issues get debated at examination.

Three practical points.

  • This is not an opinions round. Comments have to argue that the plan is legally compliant and sound. The four soundness tests are whether it is positively prepared, justified, effective and consistent with national policy. “I do not want houses here” is not one of them.
  • Say which policy or site you are commenting on. A representation tied to a specific allocation is easier for an inspector to deal with than a general objection.
  • Do not wait for the last day. Until the council publishes one closing date on all its pages, treat Monday 26 October as the deadline.

If you want to hear it explained before you write anything, the Bathavon, Chew Valley and Keynsham forums next week are the ones to go to.

Our planning news page tracks the plan and the biggest applications across the district, and the roadworks and travel page covers the closures around the city.

Sources