This Engagement Strategy sets out how Chesterfield Borough Council will engage statutory consultees, communities, partners and stakeholders throughout the process of preparing a new Local Plan.

It explains who we will engage with, when we will engage, and how, ensuring that engagement is meaningful and accessible. The strategy will be reviewed and updated after each stage of the Local Plan preparation, to incorporate feedback and reflect changes in national guidance as the Local Plan progresses.

We want to understand how you would prefer to be kept informed about the plan. We want to know how we should ask you for your views during the Local Plan process.

The early Scoping Consultation is the first opportunity for us to explain the process and for you to share your views. There will be two further stages later in the process when you can also get involved.

We have put together the outline of an Engagement Strategy. It explains our aims for involving as many people and organisations as possible. It sets out how we will engage with people to encourage them to take part. This is only a draft, it can change. We want to know whether you think it is right, and whether there are other ways you would like to be involved.  

Background

The council has transitioned to the 'new style' plan-making system introduced by the Town and Country Planning (Local Planning) (England) Regulations 2026.

Under the new system, the plan-making process is punctuated by three mandatory 'Gateways' - checkpoints where an independent inspector reviews our progress.

A key requirement for passing Gateway 1 in July 2026 is the submission of a new Local Plan Engagement Strategy. This replaces the previous Statement of Community Involvement (SCI).This new strategy will be informed by a Statutory Scoping Consultation (Regulation 20) scheduled for June 2026.

You can view the timetable for preparing the new Local Plan here.

In addition to anything set out in the Engagement Strategy, any consultation exercise we undertake will also have regard to the corporate policies and other legislation including:

The council has signed a Local Digital Declaration and has committed to using new digital tools where available and appropriate. The council has been awarded funding from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (formerly the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities) Digital Planning Improvement Fund, to support the adoption of modern planning practices within planning data, digital capabilities and planning software. This may highlight opportunities to communicate better using digital means and digital tools will be used for planning consultations where available and appropriate.

Plan-making process

The new plan-making system comprises a 30-month plan-making process, with an initial prescribed period of preparatory work and an ongoing monitoring and review period post adoption. There will be a range of statutory steps that will be required in order to prepare a new local plan:

30 month plan-making process diagram

  • at least four months' notice - get ready
  • months one to 23 - prepare plan
  • months 24 to 29 - examination
  • month 30 - adopt
  • month 30 onwards - monitor
  • start preparing a new plan five years after adopting the previous plan

Methods of community involvement

As part of the scoping consultation, we want to find out how our communities and stakeholders would like to be engaged with during preparation of the local plan. We need to make sure whatever methods we use reach most people and are the most effective.

For our Call for Sites we used a company called Urban Intelligence to provide an interactive mobile and tablet friendly platform for people to submit sites (which we will be doing again for the Call for Sites exercise running alongside the Local Plan Scoping Consultation)

As we progress with preparing the new Local Plan, we are considering the best ways to consult with the local community and other stakeholders in future. For example, we could consider the following:

  • hosting virtual events and online presentations to improve accessibility and enable engagement from residents who may be unable to attend in-person events
  • providing YouTube videos so that residents can access material in their own time

A number of different methods can be used depending on the nature of the subject involved, audience and council resources to ensure effective and wide-ranging community involvement.

People to be consulted

The council, in preparing Local Plan documents, will aim to involve a wide range of different stakeholders at the earliest opportunity. In line with best practice the council will seek to follow a process of information, consultation, participation and feedback.

The Town and Country Planning (Local Planning) (England) Regulations 2026 set out relevant and specific consultation bodies that that we are legally required to consult and involve in the preparation of the local plan.

The council has a database with all known consultees and interested parties and if further groups or members of the public express an interest they can be added to the consultee list.

The council’s corporate policy team engage with a wide range of communities as part of the wider targeted consultation on various council initiatives. These include:

Are you an individual, organisation or group and would like to be involved - let us know here.

Resources and risks

The Local Plan process is continuous, and resources need to be planned on this basis to ensure that the stages of the local plan timetable are met.

The Strategic Planning and Key Sites team in the Planning Service of the council is responsible for the production of the Local Plan. With careful prioritisation, the existing budget and staff numbers (if at full strength) should provide sufficient resources to meet the consultation procedures set out above. However, given the current financial pressures facing local government it is possible that circumstances could lead to the council only consulting to the minimum required standards.

Staff shortages, whatever their cause, could also reduce the council’s capacity to engage extensively with the public. However, the council must and will always meet the minimum consultation requirements as laid out in the regulations.

Further information and guidance

If you need more information or assistance, please contact us:

Last updated on 15/06/2026