The Cambridge Local Plan is extremely important as it has a huge influence on how we live, work and enjoy our leisure time. It is the document against which all development proposals are measured and judged. It sets out future land use and planning policies in the area until 2031.
Matters covered include:
- where new development should take place and what should be protected from development
- the number of new homes and jobs that should be planned for
- the services and infrastructure needed to support this change.
Local Plans, along with the national planning policy, are the foundation of decision-making on planning applications.
Adopted Cambridge Local Plan
The Cambridge Local Plan was adopted on 18 October 2018. [PDF, 14MB]
The Local Plan and its adoption documents are published in our document library.
Adopted Policies Map
The Adopted Policies Map (September 2018) shows geographically the policies in the development plan.
Review of Adopted Local Plan Policies
Autumn 2023 marked 5 years since the Cambridge and South Cambridgeshire Local Plans were adopted.
Ahead of the new joint Greater Cambridge Local Plan reviews have been carried out in June 2023 and January 2025. These checked whether there are any relevant changes in national policy that might have influence on the importance given to adopted polices in determining planning applications.
The results of these are published in our document library.
Preparation of the Cambridge Local Plan
There were a number of stages in the preparation of the plan, including:
- evidence gathering
- issues and options consultation
- consultation on the proposed submission local plan
These were all undertaken between 2011 and 2014.
Cambridge City Council submitted the plan for examination in March 2014. An independent examination to test the ‘soundness’ of the plan was undertaken between March 2014 and August 2018.
In August 2018, the Inspectors that conducted the examination issued their Report and Schedule of main modifications. The report concludes that the plan is “sound”, subject to a number of main modifications being made.
The Cambridge Local Plan was formally adopted by the Council on 18 October 2018 during a full Council meeting.
The adopted Cambridge Local Plan 2018 incorporates the main modifications recommended by the Inspectors in Appendix 1 of the Inspectors' Report, as well as some Additional Modifications.