We adopted Section 1 of the current Colchester Local Plan in February 2021 and Section 2 in July 2022.
The current Local Plan guides growth and development across Colchester up to 2033.
Local plans must be reviewed and updated at least every five years to make sure they remain effective.
We are preparing a new Local Plan for Colchester. It will guide growth and development up to 2041, including:
- what development will take place
- where development will take place
- policies for protecting and conserving the environment
Once adopted, the new Local Plan will replace the existing local planning policies.
Local Plan stages
Issues and Options
We completed the first phase of engagement, known as Issues and Options, between 2023 and 2024.
Read more about the Issues and Options engagement.
Preferred Options
The Preferred Options consultation has closed.
The consultation was carried out under Regulation 18 of the Town and Country Planning (Local Planning) (England) Regulations 2012.
It ran from Wednesday 26 November 2025 to Wednesday 14 January 2026.
We received 3,331 representations from 1,222 respondents.
You can:
- read all comments submitted during the Preferred Options consultation
- read the summary of the Preferred Options consultation responses (PDF)
All comments have been published on the consultation portal in line with the Data Protection Act 2018 and UK General Data Protection Regulation.
Read our privacy policy to find out how we use personal information.
Preferred Options documents
- Preferred Options Local Plan consultation draft (PDF, 2.13MB)
- Preferred Options Local Plan policies maps (PDF, 7MB)
- Preferred Options Sustainability Appraisal report (PDF)
- Preferred Options Sustainability Appraisal appendices (PDF)
The Preferred Options Local Plan is supported by evidence base documents.
View the Local Plan evidence base and supporting documents.
Topic papers summarise the evidence and explain how it has informed the draft plan.
Read the Local Plan topic papers.
Next stage: Submission Version Plan
We are reviewing the comments received during the Preferred Options consultation and considering what changes are needed.
We will use this work and further evidence to prepare the Submission Version Plan.
A further consultation will take place before the plan is submitted to the Secretary of State for independent examination.
The Local Development Scheme sets out the timetable for preparing and adopting the new Local Plan.
View the Local Development Scheme.