Self-assessment of readiness summary

Gateway 1: Self-assessment of readiness

The Government introduced a new system for preparing local plans through the Levelling Up and Regeneration Act 2023, supported by new regulations and guidance. A key part of this new system is a series of 'Gateway' assessments, which check how well a plan is progressing and help make sure local plans are prepared efficiently and follow national policy requirements.

Gateway 1 takes place early in the local plan process. It gives local planning authorities a chance to show they have the right arrangements in place to prepare a robust local plan. This includes having suitable governance, staff resources, evidence, stakeholder engagement, and project management processes.

North Norfolk District Council is currently preparing a new Local Plan and is required to complete a Gateway 1 self-assessment. This assessment looks at the extent to which the Council has the capacity and arrangements needed to produce the Plan successfully. It also helps identify areas where more work, additional evidence, or stronger project management may be needed.

The Government expects local plans to be prepared within 30 months. For North Norfolk, this 30-month period begins once the Plan has successfully passed the Gateway 1 self-assessment stage.

As part of Gateway 1, the Council is required to publish and make available a self-assessment summary. The self-assessment must set out details relating to the following:

• Local Plan timetable
• Project management and governance arrangements for the preparation of the Local Plan
• Proposed approach to consultation and engagement in preparing the Local Plan
• Anticipated content of the Local Plan
• Any obligation arising under the Environmental Assessment of Plans and Programmes Regulations 2004.

Our Local Plan timetable indicates we will publish and make the self-assessment summary available by 30 October 2026.

Preparing for a new Local Plan

On 30 June 2026, the 'Notice of intention to Commence Local Plan Preparation' was published. The new Local Plan will be called 'North Norfolk Local Plan 2029 to 2045'.

On 30 October 2026, the Council formally began preparation of the new Local Plan for the North Norfolk District Council administrative area, excluding those parts of the district that fall within the Broads Authority Executive Area, where planning functions are exercised by the Broads Authority.

Government policy says a new plan should be adopted within 30 months of this date. This is to help make sure an up-to-date local plan that responds to the needs of the area and communities is created.

View below how North Norfolk District Council prepared to get ready to meet the 30-month timeframe. Links to further information and updates are also included.

Published a timetable for preparing the Local Plan

Our Local Plan timetable shows when the Council expects to carry out the different stages and activities for preparing a Plan. It helps us check if and how we can adopt the Plan within the 30-month timeframe. This will be updated as more progress is made.

The timetable shows a credible, structured route to adoption within the Government's mandatory 30-month plan-making timetable. The plan-making process formally began on 30 October 2026 when we passed through Gateway 1. We anticipate adopting the new Local Plan before 30 April 2029.

Key statutory stages are identified and sequenced throughout the programme, including preparation of a vision and strategy, consultations, draft and final plan preparations, Gateways 2 and 3 (Government mandatory testing stages), independent examination and adoption. Significant preparatory work, including the commissioning of evidence, governance arrangements, the call for sites process and early engagements activities, has been undertaken prior to Gateway 1. This front-loading of activity helps reduce pressure during the formal 30-month period and supports the Government's expectation that local planning authorities enter the new system with much of the groundwork already in place.

The timetable allows around 6 months for independent examination of the Proposed (or 'final draft') Local Plan between the point of submission in October 2028 and adoption in April 2029. While successful delivery will depend on timely completion of evidence, positive outcomes at Gateway 2 and Gateway 3 and avoiding significant examination delays, we have established an appropriately resourced governance and project management framework to maximise the likelihood of adopting the Local Plan within the 30-month statutory timeframe.

View our Local Plan timetable.

Established project management and governance arrangements

Preparing a local plan is a complex process. It involves many people across the Council and from other organisations. Thinking early about how the work is planned, managed and signed off helps the Council:

• check the progress and keep the work on track
• anticipate and manage any risks to adopting the Plan within 30 months.

The Local Plan Project Initiation Document shows that a significant amount of work has already been completed to put the right project management and decision-making arrangements in place for preparing the new Local Plan. The team, resources, budget and programme needed to manage the project have been established, key preparatory work has already been started, including gathering evidence, engaging with stakeholders, and reviewing potential development sites. This means the project starts from a strong position, with many foundations already in place before the formal plan-making process begins.

A high-level Project Plan has been developed (Appendix 1: Project Initiation Document) to visually chart the key workstreams for preparing the Plan. More detailed project planning for key stages of the process will allow progress to be tracked at the individual task level.

A detailed Risk Log and Decision Log will be maintained throughout the process to help us manage events that could affect the success of the project and to record important project-related decisions.

Clear governance arrangements have been introduced to keep the project on track and make sure decisions are made efficiently. The Local Plan & Conservation Task Group has recently been established to provide focused oversight and guide key decisions throughout the plan-making process. Together with oversight from Cabinet and Full Council, this creates a clear decision-making structure that supports accountability while helping the project move forward at pace.

Overall, the governance and management arrangements described in the Project Initiation Document, including sufficient staffing resources, dedicated project management support and an identified budget demonstrate that considerable progress has already been made to deliver a new Local Plan successfully and within the required timescales.

View our Local Plan Project Initiation Document.

View details of the Local Plan & Conservation Task Group.

Planned how the Local Plan will be consulted

Public consultation is essential for the Local Plan to represent our communities' needs. It must be easy for people to have their say in a way that works for them, so they can influence the way the area develops. By planning this early, the Council can make sure people are aware in advance and can get involved from the start.

A scoping consultation has taken place to gather people's views on what the Plan could include and how we propose to consult at key stages.

The Council have used the data from the scoping consultation to help us prepare a new Local Plan Engagement Strategy. The Engagement Strategy explains how, when and who we will consult with as we advance our progress with the new Local Plan. It also sets out how we will try to increase engagement and to reach as many people as possible, including residents, businesses and anyone who has an interest in shaping the future of our district area.

To encourage significant engagement, the Council aim to provide a wide range of engagement opportunities, taking into consideration factors such as location, digital access, age, accessibility, additional needs, gender, language, and any other barriers that may prevent residents from engaging with the Local Plan.

The Council have already undertaken some informal engagement activities, and we are encouraging a digital-first approach. Digital software will be used to analyse the responses in a timely manner.

We have planned a mix of consultation approaches to encourage participation. This includes:

• direct consultation where people have signed up via the Council website
• website updates
• posters in public places such as libraries, shops, GP surgeries, and dentists
• social media updates
• face-to-face events including workshops, webinars and virtual meetings, exhibitions, and drop-in sessions
• use of Town and Parish Councils
• community group events
• stakeholder events
• business events, such as a business breakfast

The Council are committed to the use of digital engagement methods and will be considering new ways to engage with the communities of North Norfolk. However, recognising our district's demographics, including a high proportion of residents over 55 and limited access to digital infrastructure, we will also continue to use more traditional methods when undertaking engagement activities.

View the Local Plan Engagement Strategy.

Began scoping the content of the Local Plan

Scoping includes considering how well the existing Local Plan is working and gathering baseline information about the area. This helps to identify our future needs and ambitions. Starting this early means the Council can begin preparing the new Plan with a clear vision, making it quicker and easier to consult on the Plan and make decisions about it.

The current North Norfolk Local Plan (NNLP) was adopted in December 2025 and along with its supporting evidence, is being drawn upon for the scoping of the new Local Plan, including reflection of the vision, aims and objectives and more broadly, how well the NNLP has been working.

The Council carried out early engagement through a 'call for sites' and a scoping consultation which took place between June and August 2026. The scoping consultation included an up-to-date district overview using baseline demographic, economic, infrastructure, and environmental data. It invited comments and suggestions about a number of key priorities that have been identified for the new Local Plan vision, spatial strategy and possible contents.

Taking account of the baseline information gathered, and the reviews of the adopted Local Plan and consultation feedback, it is currently anticipated that the Local Plan contents will include the following topics:

• Plan period 2029-2045
• Spatial portrait of North Norfolk
• Vision, objectives and measurable outcomes
• Spatial strategy: distribution of sustainable growth
• Climate resilience: strategic flood and surface water management and coastal change adaptation, energy and water efficiency, renewable and low carbon energy.
• Environment: protected habitats, biodiversity and landscapes and local nature recovery strategy integration, local landscape character, local heritage strategy, Recreational Impact Avoidance Mitigation Strategy (GIRAMS).
• Housing: housing requirements, mix and density, specialist and elderly persons accommodation, affordable housing, self-build, Gypsy and traveller provision, accessible and adaptable homes, reuse of rural buildings, local design guide.
• Healthy communities: health and wellbeing, local services and facilities, community-led development, green infrastructure and open space standards and recreation.
• Infrastructure: planning for infrastructure requirements such as education, transport, digital, community facilities and other infrastructure, and enabling those improvements through developer contributions.
• Transport: sustainable transport including active travel, local parking standards
• Economy: employment areas, employment outside settlements, retail and town centres, tourist attractions and accommodation strategy, rural diversification.
• Site allocations: mapped land allocations for residential and employment development.

By drawing on the current Local Plan and its evidence base, the Council have started to develop some ideas about what the vision might focus on. We plan to draft the vision over the next couple of months. This work also means that there is already a clear understanding of the existing high-level capacity and constraints for new development within the district. This is being supplemented by individually commissioned evidence studies and new capacity evidence jointly commissioned across Norfolk, including a Housing Capacity Study, New Settlements Study, Economic Needs Assessment, Water Cycle Study and Strategic Flood Risk Assessment.

The Council have already calculated the housing requirement for the new Local Plan using the Government's Standard Method. A Local Housing Needs Assessment will shortly be commissioned to identify the needs for homes of different sizes, types and tenures, including the needs for affordable homes and Gypsy and Traveller communities.

A summary of the scoping consultation feedback will be published later in 2026 on the Council's website following publication of this Gateway 1 self-assessment summary.

Began a Strategic Environmental Assessment

The Council are legally required to identify, describe and evaluate likely significant effects on the environment of:

• implementing the Local Plan
• reasonable alternatives, taking into account the Plan's objectives and geographical scope

This process will consider how community, national and international environmental protection objectives and any other environmental challenges are taken into account in the Plan. It will help the Council to predict significant environmental effects and develop ways of preventing, reducing and offsetting these.

It is important to start this work early and be transparent about how the assessment is being done when engaging stakeholders and communities.

The Council has recognised the Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) as an integral part of preparing the new Local Plan and has programmed this work from the outset. We are currently in the process of appointing specialist consultants to support the SEA throughout preparation of the Plan.

Our recently adopted Local Plan and associated evidence base, including the previous Sustainability Appraisal (SA), provide a strong starting point for the SEA and have helped inform our current understanding and scope of the likely environmental issues. Our existing internal understanding will increase our timely responsiveness in preparing the SEA Scoping Report once a suitably qualified consultant is appointed.

The early stages of the commission will establish the environmental baseline and develop the scope, objectives and framework for the assessment. This will inform preparation of the SEA Scoping Report and provide the framework for assessing emerging policies, sites and reasonable alternatives as the new Local Plan develops.

Gateway 1 self-assessment conclusion

The Gateway 1 self-assessment concludes that the Council has the right governance, resources, and project management arrangements in place to support preparation of its new Local Plan. It also confirms that good progress has been made in gathering technical evidence, defining the Plan's scope and content, and initial progress in undertaking an SEA of the Local Plan.

The assessment concludes that the Council is prepared to move forward with the Local Plan process. As a result, the Council is ready to begin preparing the new North Norfolk Local Plan within the Government's required 30-month timeframe and can now progress through Gateway 1.

View the Council's self-assessment readiness checker.

How to stay up to date

Further information on how to stay up to date with the Local Plan can be found on Local Plan Review.