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Supplementary Planning Documents and Guidance

Find out about our Supplementary Planning Documents and Guidance

New Supplementary Planning Documents (SPD)

Planning Obligations and Affordable Housing SPD

The Planning Obligations and Affordable Housing SPD (POAH SPD) was adopted on 7th March 2024 and can be seen below: 

View the council's adoption decision and Adoption Statement: 

Document
Adoption Statement POAH SPD (WCC, March 2024)

Prior to adoption, the council first consulted on the POAH SPD between 18 March 2022 and 29 April 2022. A second round of consultation was held between 15 August 2023 and 29 September 2023. Consultation Statements explaining how consultation comments were considered and an Equalities Impact Assessment were published alongside the Cabinet Member decision to adopt, and can also be viewed on the Decision’s portal

The POAH SPD provides guidance on a range of City Plan policies, supporting our aspirations to create a fairer and greener city. The City Plan and POAH SPD give more prominence and weight to affordable housing and environmental issues than the previous planning framework and represent a game-changer on issues such as prioritising truly affordable housing, creating jobs for local residents, reducing energy consumption, and improving air quality. The POAH SPD also includes guidance on S106 legal agreements, including affordable housing payments in lieu rates and monitoring fees.

The POAH SPD will help ensure that development is acceptable in planning terms and contributes positively to the city.  

Alongside the POAH SPD, the council has also published:

The POAH SPD preparation has been informed by a number of evidence documents, including:

Environment SPD

The Environmental SPD (ESPD) was adopted on 28 February 2022 and can be seen below: 

Document
ESPD Adoption Version.pdf
ESPD Adoption Version.pdf PDF, 9.77 MB, 136 pages

View the council’s decision

Prior to adoption, the council consulted on the ESPD between 17 May 2021 and 28 June 2021. A Consultation Statement explaining how consultation comments were considered and an Equalities Impact Assessment were published alongside the Cabinet Member decision and can also be viewed on the Decision’s portal. 

The ESPD provides guidance on the City Plan’s environment policies, supporting our aspirations to create a greener, cleaner and healthier city. The City Plan and ESPD give much more prominence and weight to environmental issues than the previous planning framework and represent a game-changer on issues such as reducing energy consumption, improving air quality, increasing the amount of green infrastructure in the city, and promoting the sensitive retrofitting of existing buildings. The ESPD will help ensure that we drive emissions reductions and wider environmental sustainability through the city’s built environment.  

The ESPD should be read in conjunction with the following guidance that has been subsequently published by the Mayor of London. Where the guidance listed below supersedes an earlier version of the same document that is referred to in the ESPD, you should instead refer to the latest version listed below:

Published: 26 April 2022

Last updated: 27 March 2024