(Image: City of York Council)
A new Local Plan is being developed to shape the future of York over a 16-year period.
City of York Council launched a public consultation on September 28 to gather feedback on the early stages of its refreshed plan, which will guide growth and development across the city from 2029 to 2045.
The refreshed plan, titled 'York Local Plan 2045: A city where history meets the future,' will set out a vision, spatial strategy, and planning policies to guide the sustainable development of York.
It will provide a framework for decision-making on planning applications.
The council’s executive member for planning, Councillor Dave Merrett, said: "Although we only adopted York’s current Local Plan in February 2025, we've seen major policy changes from Government this year and it's important our plan is updated to reflect them.
"The new National Planning Policy Framework published this year is much more ambitious in supporting new home building and economic growth and is more rules-based about where development should go.
"It sets out a vision for plan-led growth—building sustainable new communities and opportunities with appropriate infrastructure and amenities in planned locations and at the right scale."
A new national process for developing local plans requires councils to meet a strict timetable and complete a series of milestones, including multiple stages of public consultation.
The first stage of City of York Council’s process focuses on defining key development challenges and seeking public input on the scope of the plan.
Councillor Merrett said: "This first consultation is about defining the scope of the new plan.
"We're asking local people and organisations about whether we’ve identified the right challenges, the evidence there is on development needs, and also our ongoing engagement approach.
"This will establish what the new Local Plan will and won't cover to reduce risk, shorten later stages, and support a much faster examination and adoption."
The consultation will remain open until 11.59pm on November 8.
Feedback can be submitted through the council’s Local Plan Scoping Consultation webpage at york.gov.uk/ScopingConsultation.
In addition to the main consultation, the council has launched a 'Call for Sites' process, inviting landowners, developers, community groups, and residents to put forward land that could be suitable for future development.
This could include sites for housing, employment, community facilities, renewable energy, health services, green space, or other infrastructure needs.
The 'Call for Sites' consultation will run until December 18.
More information is available at york.gov.uk/CallForSites.