Page Updated 12th June 2026
The Government’s new housing planning requirements, which now apply to South Tyneside’s new Local Plan process is intended to be more structured and take less time to reach a conclusion, however as there may be overlap with the current plan, it could result in confusion, unless the council and its members address all of the risks and issues that this process will bring.
You the Residents and other campaign groups need to be alert and check which plan is being consulted on and make sure your responses go to the right stage.
Many mistakes were made during the development of the previous Local Plan and running two Local Plans side by side will be difficult.
Click here to see South Tyneside latest publication on the New Local Plan
South Tyneside is entering a new Local Plan process with clearer stages, more formal public engagement, and earlier oversight from the Planning Inspectorate.
This matters because planning decisions on housing, sites, infrastructure, and place-shaping will increasingly depend on how well the council manages the transition between the old and new systems.
In a worst-case scenario, the planning decision may well rest with the Planning Inspectorate and not the local planning department.
Why this is important locally?
It has been published that the council will continue with the existing Local plan and will run the new Local plan at the same time. With the new council administration, many councillors are new to their role, many have limited or even no experience in how such processes work, a lot to lean with the legal requirements and implications, more importantly the pressures that they may face when communicating with their electorate.
This creates a greater risk of mixed messages regarding what land should be developed on and where.
It can also stretch officer time, consultants work, and member decision-making.
To ensure that councillors and council officers follow the rules and the law, residents and campaigners will have to track more than one consultation at once.
What residents should watch for:
- Which Local Plan is being consulted on.
- Whether a site is being treated as confirmed, emerging, or still under review.
- Whether the council as a whole clearly explains how one plan affects the other.
- Whether there is enough time and clarity for you to understand what is proposed, its implications, the effect on your local area and allowing you to comment properly.
- Clear separation of the legacy plan issues from the new plan risks and issues.
It is mandatory that clear and transparent updates are provided via a communications facility that is available to everyone, is easy to navigate, provides a clear and concise document naming and history management, and a facility with extensive search facilities. Based on the issues attributed to the previous on-line web-site and social media service, this new or update facility does not exist.
It must not repeat the complexity of the old system that created duplication, lack of a document history timeline, the lack document inter-relationships and user help-line service that was not fit for purpose. These and other failures of the services, confused many residences, who just gave up as they were stonewalled by council officials. (in reality public facing council officials were not in a position to help the public as it was clear that they were just as confused).
The council must provide clarity on all contested sites, housing numbers, housing classification, and infrastructure provision / assumptions and specific requirements
For South Tyneside Council members:
The biggest risk is confusion.
Residents should expect clearer publication, clearer explanations, and better signposting from the council so that public is informed throughout the process, allowing for clear representations, which are properly recorded and timely actioned where required.
Watch this space, as we will provide a detailed process map, actions and expected outputs. Further information on the new Local Plan will be published on this page in due course.
If you want to make a comment or ask any related questions, please click here and fill in the form.