The Local Plan

Draft Local Plan

Our borough is growing and we need a new statutory local plan to shape and guide future growth and development and set out a vision for more prosperous, inclusive and sustainable communities.

The local plan will form part of the statutory development plan for the borough alongside Places for Everyone and the Greater Manchester Joint Waste and Minerals Plans.

Places for Everyone (PfE) is a strategic plan for 9 of the 10 Greater Manchester districts. It was adopted in March 2024 and provides the framework within which the participating districts need to develop their own local plans.

The Rochdale Borough Local Plan will provide a more detailed set of local planning policies to complement the strategic policies within PfE. Once adopted, it will replace the Core Strategy and saved policies in the Unitary Development Plan.

In 2024, the council gave notice of its intention to prepare a local plan and invited comments on what the plan should contain, the scope of the Integrated Assessment, and issued a call for sites. The responses to the initial consultation have been considered and summarised in a Consultation Report which is published alongside the draft local plan.

How to give your views on the draft local plan

Closing date: Thursday, 5 February 2026

We are now asking for your views on the draft local plan and policies map through a public consultation.

You can comment on the plan through:

You can also download the full draft local plan. You can download the draft local plan policies map as a PDF or view an interactive online version here.

During the consultation, you can also attend any of the following drop-in sessions in any of the townships.

Supporting documents

As part of this consultation, we would also welcome your views on the following documents which have been prepared to support the plan:

Draft local plan topic papers

We have prepared a series of topic papers to provide background information on the policies. We will continue to update these as we gather more information and evidence prior to consulting on the final plan in 2026. Please see below:

Consultation Statement

This Consultation Statement explains how Rochdale Council has undertaken consultation to date in the production of the draft Local Plan and how we will consult going forward. It includes a summary of the initial regulation 18 consultation in June 2024, which has helped inform the draft local plan.

What happens next?

When the consultation has finished, we will review all the comments received and continue gathering evidence. We will prepare a final version of the plan for public consultation in summer 2026. We will then submit the plan for examination by a planning inspector, before adopting the plan in 2027.

How to stay informed

If you want to stay informed about all aspects of the Rochdale Borough Local Plan, you can register your interest by emailing strategic.planning@rochdale.gov.uk.

You can also telephone 01706 924252.

Contact Strategic Planning team

Telephone: 01706 924252

Address: Strategic Planning
Number One Riverside
Smith Street
Rochdale OL16 1XU

Phone:
Monday–Friday, 9.15am–5.15pm