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Westminster New City Plan

Westminster City Council is beginning to work on a new City Plan.

It will be prepared under the new plan-making system, introduced in March 2026. 

In line with the new system, in July 2026 the council published our 'Notice of intention to commence Westminster's City Plan preparation' and 'Publication of Westminster's City Plan timetable'.

From Friday 30 October to Friday 11 December 2026, we are running a Scoping Consultation which will help us shape the early direction of the new City Plan. 

This will be an exciting opportunity to have your say on the emerging vision, priorities and challenges for future development in Westminster.

We encourage all residents, businesses, community groups and organisations to engage with us through the upcoming consultation stages, as the new City Plan develops.

About the project

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The City Plan is a strategically important planning policy document that guides development in Westminster by providing a framework for how planning applications are determined.

It includes policies to help decide things like:

  • where new homes, offices, retail and leisure uses can be built
  • how new developments should be designed to respect our heritage and respond to climate change
  • what infrastructure is needed to support growth

All councils are requires to have a local plan, which must be reviewed and updated every five years to stay lawful and relevant. Preparing a new plan will ensure our policies remain responsive to Westminster’s needs, and will enable the necessary and sustainable growth in housing and employment space.

Timeline

Notice of intention to commence Westminster's City Plan preparation and timetable

July 2026
On 16 July 2026, the Council gave notice that it intends to prepare a new Local Plan for the City of Westminster, in accordance with the new regulations. Alongside the notice, the Council published the anticipated timetable for the key milestones in the production of the Plan.

Scoping Consultation

October 2026 - December 2026
To pass through Gateway 1, which constitute the first mandatory checkpoint in the new 30-months plan making system, the Council is organising an early scoping stage consultation for the preparation of the City Plan. At this stage, the Council is seeking views on the key issues the Plan should address, the proposed vision and priorities, the evidence needed to support the Plan, and how communities and stakeholders should be involved as the Plan is prepared. The Scoping Consultation builds on the helpful feedback we received during the phase of early engagement we undertook at the end of 2025. It will help us to refine the aspirations, policy options and vision, before more detailed policies are developed.

Call for Sites

October 2026 - 2027
The Council is carrying out a Call for Sites and undertaking other early engagement activities to identify land that has the potential to meet future needs. This may include inviting landowners, developers, public bodies, infrastructure providers, community groups and residents to suggest potential sites or provide information about local opportunities, constraints and priorities. Any sites put forward will be assessed as part of the plan-making process. Where a site will be proposed for allocation, it will be considered through the relevant City Plan consultation stages (Proposed Plan Content and Evidence/Proposed City Plan).

Consultation on Proposed Plan Content and Evidence

March 2028 - April 2028
To pass through Gateway 2, the second mandatory checkpoint, the Council will organise a consultation on the proposed content of the Plan. At this stage, the Council will seek views on more developed elements of the City Plan, including the draft vision, aims and objectives, the emerging spatial strategy, evidence we have already gathered and an indication of any further evidence we intend to prepare. The consultation may also include other proposed content, such as draft policies where appropriate.

Consultation on Proposed Local Plan

October 2028 - November 2028
To pass through Gateway 3, the third mandatory checkpoint, Council will organise a consultation on the Draft Plan. At this stage, the Council will seek views on the full draft City Plan, including the proposed policies, supporting evidence and any site allocations or site-specific proposals where relevant. This will be an opportunity to comment on the detailed content of the Plan before it is submitted for independent examination.

Submission & Examination

February 2029 - August 2029
The submission stage is when the council formally submits the draft local plan and all supporting documents to a government appointed independent Planning Inspector for review. We will submit all of the consultation comments received at the Draft Plan consultation stage for the Inspector to review. This stage will likely include Public Hearings where the Inspector will do a deep dive on issues they consider need public discussion. If they conclude modifications are necessary to make the plan sound, they will recommend them.

Adoption

September 2029 - October 2029
Once the changes recommended are consulted on and agreed with the Inspector, the final version of the plan will be adopted by the council. At that point, the Plan is published and becomes the official guide for shaping the future of the city.

Projects

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New City Plan - Scoping Consultation

Tell us what you think the new City Plan should address.

Project:Westminster New City Plan
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Call for Sites - Residents & Community Groups

Submit a site in Westminster that you think has potential for development or intensification and could make a positive contribution to the local area. This form is intended specifically for residents and communities.

Project:Westminster New City Plan
Participate Now
zoomed-in map with selected sites
Open

Call for Sites - Developers & Landowners

Submit a site in Westminster that you think has potential for development or intensification and could make a positive contribution to the local area. This form is intended specifically for developers and landowners.

Project:Westminster New City Plan
Participate Now

Find out more

New city plan documentation cover

The New City Plan Direction of Travel

Information about the previous early engagement consultation and the Direction of Travel

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News

Meet the team

Westminster City Council
Westminster City Council

Westminster City Council is responsible for running this consultation, analysing its results and presenting them to stakeholders and the public.

Read Westminster City Council privacy policy

Planning Policy Team
Planning Policy Team

The Planning Policy Team, works with internal and external stakeholders to produce the council's planning policy documents and associated guidance.

REPORT IT

Please note these consultations are not for reporting dangerous situations or problems you have seen in Westminster. If you need to report a problem, please raise it here: https://www.westminster.gov.uk/report-it, where it will be reviewed by the appropriate teams.

GDPR DISCLAIMER

Please note that Westminster City Council will capture and store some personal details. We may use this information to contact you if we need more information. These details will be kept by Westminster City Council and will only be used for the purpose set out above. Your personal details will remain with us until we have concluded the process of preparing the new City Plan. To remove your personal details, please email planningpolicy@westminster.gov.uk. If you move to a new organisation and your old email address bounces back, we will remove this email address from our list.

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