City of York Council (CYC) has launched it’s Scoping Consultation for the new City of York Local Plan 2045

CYC has committed to producing a new Local Plan. A Local Plan is a long-term strategy that guides where development should take place, what it should look like, and how land should be used to meet a local area’s housing, economic, social, and environmental needs.

The council’s Scoping Consultation, is the first stage in the new plan-making process. This Scoping Consultation asks for your views on:

• What the new Local Plan should cover and how York could change and grow;
• What evidence can help us better understand York and its communities;
• How we should engage with you.

The Scoping Consultation takes place between 28 September 2026 and 11.59pm 8 November 2026.

Call for Sites Consultation 

CYC is also opening a ‘Call for Sites’ Consultation as part of work on the new Local Plan. They are inviting landowners, developers, community groups and residents to tell them about land that may be suitable for future development. This could include sites for new homes, employment space, community facilities, renewable energy, health, green space or other forms of development and infrastructure.

This early information-gathering exercise helps us build a clear picture of what land may be available across the Council area. Submitting a site does not guarantee that it will be taken forward in the Local Plan. All sites will be assessed through a detailed evidence‑gathering and public consultation process.

How to take part in the consultation

The law requires you now to opt-in to consultation on the Local Plan.

CYC is changing the way they consult with you to ensure you have opted in to the process and can manage how they contact you. They will be using ‘Placemaker’, an online consultation platform which hosts consultation documents and mapping, making consultation more accessible online and streamlining the process.

Visit the Local Plan Scoping Consultation webpage or ‘call for sites’ consultation to create an account to log in to Placemaker. This will allow you to:

• add your contact details to our database and your contact preferences (you can opt-out at any time),
• comment on the Local Plan Scoping report, and/or
• respond to the Call for Sites.

You will only be updated on the plan-making process, and consulted with, if you let CYC know you want to take part. This is to ensure that only those people who have an interest in the Local Plan process and want to engage with it, will be contacted in the future.

If you need help to sign up to this consultation process you can contact CYC in the first instance by email [email protected]. Alternatively phone (01904) 552255 and leave a voicemail, leaving:

• your name,
• address,
• phone number, and
• email address.

Please note that we will only contact you to inform you of future stages and consultations on the new Local Plan if you sign-up to the process, as outlined above. We will cease using our previous Local Plan database of contacts.

What happens next?

CYC will consider responses received to this consultation to help shape the new Local Plan 2045 and report on these in due course. You can view our Local Plan timetable online, which sets out the milestones and timescales for delivery. This aligns with the new 30-month local plan system announced by the government in November 2025, aiming to introduce a faster and more streamlined plan preparation process.

City of York Council formally adopted its Local Plan in February 2025. However, since the Local Plan was adopted, the Government has made significant changes to the planning system, requiring all local authorities to produce new Local Plans or make changes to existing Local Plans to bring them in line with the revised approach

If you need any further help in relation to this communication or information on the consultations, please contact the Strategic Planning Policy Team. Their contact details are:

Strategic Planning Policy Team

Email: [email protected]

Telephone: 01904 552255

Address: City of York Council, Strategic Planning Policy, City Development, West Offices, Station Rise, York YO1 6GA