Planning policy

Planning policies set the framework under which decisions on planning applications are made. They set out what development can happen, where it can take place and how much there can be.

New Forest has significant areas of nature conservation and landscape importance, so our planning policies also protect the natural environment and heritage.

Local planning policies are set out in a group of documents called the Local Plan and Supporting Documents.

As part of our local plan review we recently consulted on an Issues and Scope document.  We invited residents, businesses, and stakeholders to share their views as part of this Local Plan consultation, which ran from Monday 17 February 2025 until Friday 4 April 2025. More information is available here: review of our local plan