West Suffolk Local Plan: list of 328 sites being assessed is published

30 Sep 2026

Details of all 328 sites put forward by developers and landowners for consideration in the new West Suffolk Local Plan have been published.

West Suffolk Council issued a call for sites earlier this year as part of the first steps toward the creation of a new local plan which will decide where new homes can be built, include land for employment growth to support the needs of new and growing businesses, and set policies such as around affordable housing, sustainability, health and the economy.

The council has to allocate land for the delivery of around 1,200 homes a year to meet the Government’s local housing need assessment.

Having an up-to-date local plan gives the council the power to resist potentially harmful speculative development and to guard against piecemeal development so that the necessary funds for transport, education, health and other infrastructure can be secured.

Sites have been put forward by developers and landowners for consideration for housing, employment, various types of infrastructure, and green infrastructure such as parks, playing fields, allotments and woodland.

Now the council has published these details including maps and a list of the sites 
on West Suffolk Council’s website.  

In line with Government guidance, the council is carrying out an initial assessment on all 328 sites to identify which are potentially suitable, available and deliverable in the timescales of the new Local Plan.

That initial assessment is due to be published by the council later this Autumn as part of a strategic housing and economic land availability assessment. No decisions on allocations for the local plan will be made at this stage.

Public consultation and engagement, due to take place in the middle of next year, will seek people’s views on one of the central building blocks for a local plan, the spatial strategy. This sets out how new housing growth could be distributed across the district over the plan period.

There will then be a further stage of public consultation, currently scheduled to take place in 2028, on a draft version of the new West Suffolk Local Plan.

Cllr Frank Stennett, Cabinet Member for Planning at West Suffolk Council said: “We are still at a very early stage in the preparation of the next local plan. No decisions have been made on any sites. We are listening to residents and there will be a public consultation and engagement next year and in 2028 in which we will be encouraging everyone in West Suffolk to have their say.

“In the meantime, I would encourage resident to register now on the council’s local plan consultation system to make sure they are kept informed and engaged at every opportunity.”
 

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