Proposed Submission Local Plan Consultation (Regulation 19)
Help us update your Local Plan
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?
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.
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:
- Proposed submission local plan
- Policies map and inset maps which can be viewed online or downloaded in PDF format
- Sustainability appraisal report
- Consultation Statement
- Evidence documents
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
Quick links
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.
How to have your say
Rugby Borough Council is consulting on the Proposed Submission Local Plan from Friday 30 January to 5:00pm Friday 13 March 2026.
A Statement of Representation Procedure has been prepared, which sets out further detail on how to respond to the consultation.
The consultation at this stage is different to the previous consultations and has a narrower focus. All responses should be made using the Representation Form, which is based on a template from the Planning Inspectorate.
You can complete the Representation Form using a webform or by downloading a Word document version.
Please also refer to the Planning Inspectorate’s guidance note on submitting representations before submitting your representation. Paragraph 5.3 of the Planning Inspectorate guidance, highlights that it is helpful for groups or individuals who share views to submit a single representation rather than lots of individual responses making the same points. Such representations should state how many people it represents and how the representation has been authorised.
The Representation Form asks respondents three key questions:
- Is the plan legally compliant? Does it comply with relevant legislation and regulations in the way it has been prepared and in its content?
- Is the plan ‘sound’? Has the plan been ‘positively prepared’? Is it robustly justified and evidence-led? Will it be effective in what it sets out to achieve? Is it consistent with the latest regional and national planning policy?
- Does the plan comply with the ‘Duty to Cooperate’? Has the Council engaged constructively, actively and on an ongoing basis with neighbouring authorities and other prescribed bodies during the preparation of the plan?
Please submit your completed Representation Form:
- By email to localplan@rugby.gov.uk with ‘Proposed Submission Consultation’ in the subject line, or
- By post to:
Proposed Submission Consultation,
Development Strategy Team,
Town Hall,
Evreux Way,
Rugby,
CV21 2RR
Please make sure you include your full name and address as part of your form. We cannot accept anonymous responses to the consultation.
Consultation responses will be made available to the public and to the Planning Inspector as part of the examination process. This will include your full name, but not your address or any other personal details. They will be processed in line with the council’s privacy notice.
Everyone who submits a response to this consultation has the right to speak during one of the hearing sessions held as part of the examination process, see Statement of Representation Procedure. Please indicate on your form if you would like to be invited by the Planning Inspector to speak at a hearing session. These are likely to take place in late 2026.
How to find out more
As part of the consultation, a number of in-person events will be held around the borough as outlined below. The events will comprise a short introduction, followed by a question and answer session.
These events are now available to book for free through Eventbrite. The booking system is being used to ensure the capacity of the venues is not exceeded, and tickets are available on a first come first served basis.
Please note, the event for Clifton & Houlton Residents, which was previously due to take place in Houlton School Auditorium, will now take place at Townsend Memorial Hall, Clifton-upon-Dunsmore. This is due to the Houlton School Auditorium booking being cancelled by the school on 02/02/26 because of a school event.
Sessions will last approximately one hour. Two sessions are taking place at Brinklow and Clifton due to venue capacity constraints.
Friday 6 February 7pm
Friday 6 February 8:15pm
Thursday 12 February 6pm
Thursday 12 February 7:15pm