Rother Local Plan 2025-2042 Regulation 19 (pre-submission) version September 2026

6 weeks period for representations: 12 October – 23 November 2026 (23:59 hours)

Rother District Council is inviting residents, businesses and stakeholders to make formal representations on its Local Plan before it is submitted to the Planning Inspectorate for independent examination.

The Submission Local Plan and all of its supporting evidence base documents can be found and commented on via the Council’s website at www.rother.gov.uk/draftlocalplan2026.

Hard copies of the Local Plan are also available at the Council Offices at Bexhill Town Hall and at the libraries in Bexhill, Battle, Rye, Northiam and Wadhurst.

The Council prefers to receive your consultation responses via our website. You may also respond by email or post by filling in the Representation Form.

This note provides guidance on the representation process.

Introduction

1. The Rother Local Plan (Proposed Submission) version has been published by Rother District Council as Local Planning Authority (LPA), in order for representations to be made on it before it is submitted for examination by a Planning Inspector. The Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act (PCPA) 2004, as amended, states that the purpose of the examination is to consider whether the plan complies with the relevant legal requirements, and is sound. The Inspector will consider all representations on the Plan that are made within the period set by the LPA (12 October 2026 to 23 November 2026).
2. To ensure an effective and fair examination, it is important that the Inspector and all other participants in the examination process are able to know who has made representations on the plan. The LPA will therefore ensure that the names of those making representations can be made available (including publication on the Council’s website) and taken into account by the Inspector. Please see the Council’s Privacy Statement for further information on how we process your personal data.

Legal Compliance

3. You should consider the following before making a representation on legal compliance:

• The Local Plan should be included in the Council’s current Local Development Scheme (LDS) and the key stages set out in the LDS should have been followed. The LDS is effectively a programme of work prepared by the LPA, setting out the plans it proposes to produce. It will set out the key stages in the production of any plans which the LPA proposes to bring forward for examination. If the Plan is not in the current LDS it should not have been published for representations. The LDS should be on the LPA’s website and available at its main offices. The LDS is available on the Council’s website here: Local Development Scheme – Rother District Council.
• The process of community involvement for the Local Plan should be in general accordance with the LPA’s Statement of Community Involvement (SCI) (where one exists). The SCI sets out the LPA’s strategy for involving the community in the preparation and revision of plans and the consideration of planning applications. The SCI is available on the Council’s website here: Statement of Community Involvement – Rother District Council
• The LPA is required to provide a Sustainability Appraisal (SA) report when it publishes a plan. This should identify the process by which SA has been carried out, and the baseline information used to inform the process and the outcomes of that process. SA is a tool for assessing the extent to which the Local Plan, when judged against reasonable alternatives, will help to achieve relevant environmental, economic and social objectives. The SA is on the consultation webpage and also on the Council’s website here: Supporting Evidence Base – Rother District Council
• The Local Plan should comply with all other relevant requirements of the PCPA and the Town and Country Planning (Local Planning) (England) Regulations 2012.

Soundness

4. The tests of soundness are set out in the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF). Local Plans are sound if they are:

• Positively prepared – providing a strategy which, as a minimum seeks to meet the area’s objectively assessed needs, and is informed by agreements with other authorities, so that unmet need from neighbouring authorities is accommodated where it is practical to do so and is consistent with achieving sustainable development;
• Justified – an appropriate strategy, taking into account the reasonable alternatives, and based on proportionate evidence;
• Effective - deliverable over the plan period and based on effective joint working on cross-boundary strategic matters that have been dealt with rather than deferred, as evidenced by the statement of common ground; and
• Consistent with national policy – enabling the delivery of sustainable development in accordance with the policies in the NPPF and other statements of national policy, where relevant.

5. If you think the content of the Local Plan is not sound because it does not include a policy on a particular issue, you should go through the following steps before making representations:

• Is the issue with which you are concerned already covered specifically by national planning policy?
• Is the issue with which you are concerned already covered by another policy in the Local Plan?
• If the policy is not covered elsewhere, in what way is the plan unsound without the policy?
• If the plan is unsound without the policy, what should the policy say?

General Advice

6. If you wish to make a representation seeking a modification to the Local Plan or part of the Plan you should set out clearly in what way you consider the Plan or part of the Plan is legally non-compliant or unsound, having regard as appropriate to the soundness criteria set out in the NPPF and referenced above. Your representation should be supported by evidence wherever possible. It will be helpful if you also say precisely how you think the plan should be modified.
7. You should provide succinctly all the evidence and supporting information necessary to support your representation and your suggested modification. You should not assume that you will have a further opportunity to make submissions. Any further submissions after the Plan has been submitted for examination may only be made if invited by the Inspector, based on the matters and issues they identify.
8. Where groups or individuals share a common view on the Plan, it would be very helpful if they would make a single representation which represents that view, rather than a large number of separate representations repeating the same points. In such cases the group should indicate how many people it is representing and how the representation has been authorised.
9. Please consider carefully how you would like your representation to be dealt with in the examination:  whether you are content to rely on your written representation, or whether you wish to take part in hearing session(s). Only representors who are seeking a change to the plan have a right to be heard at the hearing session(s) if they so request. In considering this, please note that written and oral representations carry the same weight and will be given equal consideration in the examination process.

How to Submit your Representations

10. The Council prefers to receive your consultation responses via our website. The website helps you structure your representation in a way that is most useful for the Inspector. You may also respond by email or post by filling in the Representation Form and returning it by email to: draftlocalplan@rother.gov.uk; or by post to: The Planning Policy Team, Rother District Council, Town Hall, Bexhill-on-Sea, TN39 3JX. Please note that we will not acknowledge forms or letters received by post.
11. The Council is required to publish all representations received. We are unable to accept anonymous representations or representations from those who do not wish for it to be made public. If you make a representation, your name, organisation (if relevant) and representation(s) (or summary of it) will be made public.  
12. Please note, all representations must be received by 23:59 hours on 23 November, we cannot accept late submissions. It is your responsibility to ensure that they are received by the deadline. 

Privacy Policy Statement

Rother District Council is committed to ensuring that your privacy is protected and will only use and store your personal data in line with the UK General Data Protection Regulations 2018 and the Data Protection Act 2018.  We collect and use your personal data in order to provide services you have requested from us or to carry out our legal obligations to you.  We will not disclose your personal data to any third parties, unless we need to do so to provide a service to you or we are legally required to do so.  We may share your personal data with other Council departments in order to provide the service you have requested and to ensure that the information we hold about you is accurate and up to date.  Our Privacy Policy sets out how we collect, use and securely hold your data and can be viewed on our privacy policy page at https://www.rother.gov.uk/data-protection-and-foi/privacy-policy/. If you want more information on how a particular Council service uses your personal data, please view the Privacy Notices at the bottom of the above privacy policy page.

Please be aware that any comments you submit cannot be treated in confidence as the Town and Country Planning (Local Planning) (England) Regulations 2012, as amended, requires copies of all representations to be made publicly available. The Council will publish names and representations on its website, but will not publish personal information, such as telephone numbers or email addresses. By submitting a representation, you are accordingly confirming that you agree to this and accept responsibility for your comments.