The long-awaited plan that will map out the development of Rutland for the next two decades has moved a step forward and should go out to public consultation next month. 

The county council's cabinet approved the new draft Rutland Local Plan at its meeting on Tuesday and it will now go to the full council on September 26 for approval before being published for a six-week consultation. 

This is the second attempt by the authority to get a local plan over the line, as the county council aborted a draft back in 2021 after controversially declining almost £30m of government infrastructure funding linked to the redevelopment of St George's Barracks in North Luffenham. This meant the schemes mapped out were no longer viable. 

The cost of putting together a new plan has now reached £2.2m and could rise even further, the council's officers have warned. 

Already costing £2.2 million, the plan could still incur considerably more costs. (Photo: Nub News)

Council leader Cllr Gale Waller said: "You can see from the huge amount of work that's already taken place, this has been a very lengthy and thorough process. 

"We've consulted extensively throughout, whether to identify possible sites for future development, understand people's views on key policy areas like transport, infrastructure and the environment, or to comment on the first full draft of the Local Plan itself. 

"This has brought us to the latest 'Regulation 19' phase, which is a technical consultation testing the plan's compliance with the requirements of the National Planning Policy Framework and other Government guidance." 

The new plan will set out where new homes will be built and new employment and development sites until 2041. 

More than 3,000 people responded to the draft Local Plan when it went out for consultation last November. 

Speaking at the meeting portfolio holder for planning, Cllr Paul Brown said the upcoming consultation was not an opportunity for residents to make new suggestions as this stage had passed.  

"I would like to emphasise that this is not a rerun of the regulation 18 consultation, which invited views, opinions, counter views and suggestions. 

"The emerging plans have taken into account the 3,400 plus points raised and distilled them into the document. 

"This consultation is now limited to consideration as to whether this current version is in the minds of the responding consultees sound, or unsound."  

Once the Regulation 19 consultation ends, responses will be compiled with the Local Plan before being submitted for independent examination by the Planning Inspectorate. If Rutland Local Plan is found to be sound, it will then be presented back to the local authority's full council for adoption next year. 

However, the Labour government's plan to ramp up the number of houses being built across the country could mean any new plan could go under revision almost straight away. The leader of the council fears the number of homes in Rutland to be built over the next 20 years could be forced to more than double under new formulas being proposed and currently consulted on by the government.