Dorset Council Local Plan evidence and background papers

An important part of the planning process is gathering evidence and factual information to help identify the issues and needs of the area.

Evidence can come from reports, strategies, specific pieces of research and from a wide range of sources including organisations that operate at a local level or organisations that operate on a wider level but have specialist knowledge or expertise.

Pieces of supporting evidence which help inform the Dorset Council Local Plan are set out in the table on this page. In addition to these, there are a number of existing reports that have formed part of our evidence base for previous reviews of the adopted former district and borough Local Plans. Where appropriate, these pieces of evidence have also helped inform the production of the Plan, and can be accessed using the links below.

Supporting evidence

The following section lists evidence that has been produced to help develop the Dorset Council Local Plan. Some of the evidence listed was produced separately to support the reviews of the adopted former district and borough Local Plans, but together covers the Dorset Council area as a whole.

There are several pieces of work that are ongoing to inform the development of the Dorset Council Local Plan. They will be used to inform the final draft of the plan which will be consulted on in 2024. These assessments, and their anticipated dates of publication, are as follows:

• Economic Needs Assessment 

Please note this is not a comprehensive list, and anticipated dates may change.

Background papers

Please find below background papers produced to inform the Dorset Council Local Plan.

• Functional areas background paper
• Settlement hierarchy background paper
• Second homes background paper
• Green belt background paper

Please be aware that more background papers will be added to this page as they become available.

If you use assistive technology (such as a screen reader) and need versions of the above documents in a more accessible format, please contact the planning policy team using the details below. Please tell us what format you need. It will help us if you say what assistive technology you use.

Statement of Common Ground

A statement of common ground is a written record of the progress made by strategic policy-making authorities during plan making process on addressing strategic cross-boundary matters. It documents what co-operation is happening and where agreement has or has not been reached. It is a way of demonstrating at examination that plans are deliverable and based on effective joint working across local authority boundaries. In the case of local planning authorities, it also forms part of the evidence required to demonstrate that they have complied with the duty to cooperate.

The current Statements of Common Ground are as follows:

• Statement of Common Ground between Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council and Dorset Council
• Statement of Common Ground between Wiltshire Council and Dorset Council

Previous Adopted Local Plan Reviews

Where appropriate, evidence that informed previous reviews of the adopted former district and borough Local Plans has helped inform the Dorset Council Local Plan. This evidence can be found using the following links.