Events and News

Local Plan Preparation

Mid Devon District Council launched work on a new Local Plan for the district on 26 May 2026, marking the start of an important process that will help shape how the area grows and develops in the years ahead. Plan Mid Devon will go through stages before it is adopted (that is, formally comes into effect). These are required by planning law and include three consultations. 

The Council is encouraging anyone with an interest in the future of Mid Devon to get involved. A new consultation will run until 5pm on Friday 10 July 2026. More information, including how to take part, will be made available on the Council’s website at Let's Talk Mid Devon.

Councillor Keable, Cabinet Member for Planning and Economic Regeneration, said:

“A new local plan is legally required to bring forward sites for new homes, jobs, infrastructure and other uses to meet the needs of the district over the next 20 years. This launch marks an important step to put in place a blueprint for how Mid Devon will be developed, while protecting the natural and built environment and responding to climate change. We urge anyone with an interest in Plan Mid Devon to get involved and we want to hear your views. The scoping consultation will be followed by a further consultation in early 2027 where there will be an opportunity to comment on the draft content of the new local plan and its evidence. This will include potential site options and draft policies. A consultation on the completed draft of the local plan will take place in early 2028 before the draft local plan is finalised and then submitted to the Government for its examination, leading to its expected adoption in the spring 2029.”

Background

The current local plan was adopted in 2020 and has a plan period through to 2033. However, this is now five years old and many of its policies are out of date. A new local plan is needed to provide homes, jobs, infrastructure and other uses in suitable locations across the district to meet the needs of the area for the next 20 years, while responding to climate change and protecting built heritage, nature conservation interests, and protected landscapes.

The Government brought a new local plan system into force in March 2026. This gives a target of preparing a plan within a 30 month timetable. While the Council has previously undertaken some preparatory work for a new local plan, the preparation of Plan Mid Devon must be formally re-started under the new legal requirements. Out of date information about this earlier work has been removed.

Sustainability

The Council recently developed an interim policy statement to reflect its strategic aims and the climate change emergency. This new Planning Policy Statement was adopted on 7 March 2023, following public consultation. Non-Statutory Interim Climate Change Planning Policy Statement: Climate Emergency