Rotherham Local Plan - Call For Sites 2026

The call for sites process is an early-stage information-gathering exercise that enables the Council to identify and understand a wide range of potential sites available for various uses across the borough.

It provides an opportunity for landowners, developers and other interested parties to promote land for consideration for inclusion in a new Local Plan.

This process does not allocate sites for development, confirm that any site is suitable for development, or grant planning permission.  All submissions including those within the Green Belt, will be subject to detailed assessment, public consultation and member consideration as part of the plan-making process.

Green Belt land can only be released in exceptional circumstances and through the full Local Plan process, where robust evidence and clear justification are required.

The existing Local Plan covers the period 2013 to 2028. The Council has reviewed the Core Strategy and commenced an update, including public consultation on a Core Strategy Partial Update (Regulation 18) in 2024.

The Government has introduced a new plan-making system through the Levelling-up and Regeneration Act 2023. There have also been ongoing planning reforms, including a new standard method for assessing housing need and changes to national policy priorities.

Due to these government changes, the Council will not progress the Core Strategy Partial Update further and will instead begin preparation of a new Local Plan which, amongst other matters, will need to identify sufficient land to meet Rotherham’s development needs into the 2040s.

This call for sites is being undertaken in advance of the formal plan-making stages, which are expected to commence later in 2026. The Local Development Scheme sets out the programme for preparing the documents that will form Rotherham's Local Plan.

The Council is expected to identify sites for a wide range of uses that may be allocated in the new Local Plan. This includes but is not limited to:

• Residential (market and affordable housing, specialist housing, gypsy and travellers, travelling showpeople)
• Employment and Commercial (Industry, offices, logistics, research and development, specialist employment)
• Retail, Leisure and Tourism
• Environmental (Nature recovery sites, local green space, parks, allotments)
• Infrastructure and Community Facilities (schools, health clinics, place of worship)
• Renewable Energy
• Waste management
• Minerals

Anyone can suggest sites within Rotherham for development, irrespective of whether they own the site or not.

This includes developers, landowners, housebuilders, public bodies and the general public.

Residential

Sites should be at least 0.25 hectares in size or capable of accommodating five or more dwellings. However, we are also interested in smaller housing sites where they may be suitable for alternative uses such as live/work units, custom or self-build housing.

Employment, commercial or retail

Sites should be capable of delivering 500 sqm or more of developable floorspace.

Yes.

The Government has issued updated guidance to standardise the methodology for identifying potential development sites, and to set out the level of site data that the Council is expected to collect in order to make informed site assessments at a later stage.

All sites must be re-submitted to ensure the Council obtains up-to-date and accurate information regarding a site.

When you have completed the submission, a unique customer reference number will be created and you will receive an automatic acknowledgement email. Please keep a record of the customer reference number for any future correspondence with us.

We will assess all submitted sites in due course. We are unable to confirm a definite timeframe for site assessments and you may be contacted via email if the Council need to:

• check general facts and information that you have provided 
• confirm development progress for sites with planning permission 
• understand the type and scale of development for proposed sites 
• gather more detail on deliverability and how any barriers might be overcome 

Submitted sites will be published on an online map at a later stage of the plan-making process. Only key details, such as site names, locations and proposed land uses, would be made publicly available.

All personal data will be held and used by the Council for planning policy purposes only and will not be made public, in accordance with data protection legislation.

The Council will carry out three stages of public consultation throughout the formal 30-month plan-making period. Feedback on the proposed Local Plan strategy, site options and supporting evidence will be sought at the second consultation stage, which is anticipated to take place in mid-2027.

Should you wish to discuss the call for sites process, please contact us via localplan@rotherham.gov.uk

If you have any technical issues completing the survey then contact us and we will provide support to help you complete the process.

Due to the anticipated workload associated with preparing the new Local Plan, the Council is not able to provide updates on individual site submissions. Updates on the progress of the Local Plan will be made available on the Council’s Planning Policy website.