New Local Plan to 2041

We adopted Section 1 of the current Colchester Local Plan in February 2021, and Section 2 in July 2022. This plan guides growth and development across Colchester up to 2033.

Local plans must be reviewed and updated at least every five years to make sure they remain effective.

We are preparing a new Local Plan for Colchester. The plan will set the strategy for growth in Colchester up to 2041, including:

• what development will take place
• where development will take place
• policies for protecting and conserving the environment

Once adopted, the new Local Plan will replace existing local planning policies.

Local Plan stages

Issues and Options

We completed the first phase of engagement, known as Issues and Options, between 2023 and 2024. More information is available on the Local Plan Engagement and Consultation page.

Preferred Options

The Preferred Options consultation has now closed. The consultation was carried out under Regulation 18 of the Town and Country Planning (Local Planning) (England) Regulations 2012.

The consultation ran from Wednesday 26 November 2025 and closed on Wednesday 14 January 2026. Overall, 1222 respondents made a total of 3331 representations, you can read all of the comments.

View the summary outlining overall levels of engagement and the key issues raised. 

All comments (representations) have been published on the consultation portal in line with the Data Protection Act 2018 and UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR).

For more information about how we use your data, read our privacy policy.

Colchester Preferred Options Local Plan:

• Colchester Preferred Options Local Plan (PDF, 2.13MB)
• Colchester Preferred Options Local Plan Policies Maps (PDF, 7MB)
• Colchester Preferred Options Local Plan Sustainability Appraisal Report and Sustainability Appraisal Appendices

The Preferred Options Local Plan is supported by new evidence base documents. You can view these on the Evidence Base and Supporting Documents page.

Topic papers that summarise the evidence base and explain how it is reflected in the draft plan are available on the Local Plan Topic Papers page.

Next steps – Submission Plan (Regulation 19)

We will review all comments received and consider what changes are needed before producing the Submission Version of the Local Plan. Another consultation will be held before it is submitted to the Secretary of State. All comments will be considered by the examiner.

The Local Development Scheme sets out the timetable for the local development documents that the council will be producing, including the new Local Plan. View the scheme on the Local Development Scheme page.