Peterborough Council must build more than 1,000 homes a year due to government planning policy changes
It is expected that Peterborough's Local Plan will be adopted by the council by the end of 2026
Peterborough City Council must build more than 1,000 homes a year to meet its new housing target.
The development of the new Peterborough Local Plan was put on hold last year to incorporate changes to the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) made by the incoming Labour government.
In December 2024, the government published the revised version of the NPPF.
For Peterborough, the changes meant an increased housing target of 70 dwellings per year, resulting in a total need for 1,006 dwellings per year.
The new NPPF also includes more changes around climate change and the need for net zero development.
A public consultation for the draft Peterborough Local Plan was postponed in September 2024 until February this year, when the public will have six weeks to comment on the draft policies and proposed site allocations identified.
The plan will determine what Peterborough and the surrounding villages will look like in the future, covering a range of issues such as climate change, housing, employment, transport and retail.
It is expected that the plan will be adopted by the council by October 2026 following a public examination carried out by an independent planning inspector.
The city council’s growth, resources and communities scrutiny committee will meet on Tuesday, January 28 to discuss the local plan as well as a number of ‘strategically important’ capital projects in Peterborough such as Cygnet Bridge and the Station Quarter.
Reacting to the increased housing target, councillor Nick Thulborn, cabinet member for regeneration, said: “We’ll get responses from the experts and officers at the council and we’ll go from there. Overall, it’s not a huge increase.”
Cllr Thulborn noted the importance of the local plan, and added: “It affects everybody. It’s important that people engage with it because it will highlight areas where developments will be built and enhancements will happen.
“It lays out the parameters of what will happen over the next 20 years or so.”