Loose Neighbourhood Development Plan
Pre-Submission Consultation (Regulation 14)
Introduction:
Following the closure of the Regulation 14 public consultation period that ran from 10 September until 23 October 2026, the Neighbourhood Plan Working Group will be reviewing all the feedback received. Thank you to everyone who attended the events and responded to the survey to share their views on the plan. Once the team has completed its review and updated the plan where appropriate, it will be submitted to Maidstone Borough Council for a second public consultation which is the next formal stage of the process.
The draft plan is an important document that sets out ambitions for the parish alongside a series of planning policies to guide how land is used locally over the period to 2038. The proposed policies would also be a material planning consideration in the determination of planning applications, together with the policies of the Maidstone Local Plan.
Background:
A Working Group comprising local councillors and volunteers from the community was set up to lead the Neighbourhood Plan project on behalf of the Parish Council. A great deal of work has been undertaken to reach the point of producing this draft Neighbourhood Plan which brings together the existing Loose and North Loose Neighbourhood Plans into one document, updating them where appropriate.
What's in the plan?
The draft plan includes a range of planning policies, covering areas such as the safeguarding of important areas of green space and valued viewpoints from inappropriate development, expectations of how development should be designed, preservation of the parish's built heritage and support for local shops and businesses.
For more information, please see our presentation below from our recent consultation evening.
The formal process:
The Neighbourhood Plan must undergo a rigorous process, including a series of consultations, an independent examination and finally a local referendum. This consultation is a statutory Pre-Submission Consultation in accordance with the requirements of the Localism Act 2011 and Regulation 14 of the Neighbourhood Planning (General) Regulations 2012 (as amended).
The consultation will run from 10 September 2026 to 23 October 2026.