Dartmoor Local Plan 2026 (emerging) Notice of Scoping Consultation

In accordance with Regulation 20 of the Town and Country Planning (Local Planning) (England) Regulations 2026, Dartmoor National Park Authority gives notice that it is undertaking a Scoping Consultation on the emerging Dartmoor Local Plan 2026.

This is an early opportunity for communities, organisations, businesses and other interested parties to help shape the matters the new Local Plan should address and the way the Authority engages people during plan preparation.

The Authority is seeking views on:

the vision for the new Local Plan;
the scope and content of the new Local Plan, including how well the current Local Plan is performing;
how the Authority should engage with people throughout the plan-making process, and what could be improved.

To help inform this discussion, we have prepared a SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats) analysis based on evidence gathered through the State of the Park Report, Local Plan monitoring, and workshops held during the development of the Partnership Plan.

How to respond

The Scoping Consultation is open for six weeks. Representations must be received by the Authority no later than Sunday 23 August 2026.

The preferred way to respond is by completing the online consultation survey.

Alternatively, the consultation document can be viewed as a PDF online at https://www.dartmoor.gov.uk/emerging-local-plan or at:

Dartmoor National Park Authority, Parke, Bovey Tracey, Newton Abbot, Devon TQ13 9JQ. Opening hours are Monday to Thursday, 9.00am to 5.00pm, and Friday, 9.00am to 4.30pm. Reception is closed for lunch between 1.00pm and 2.00pm.
Haytor Visitor Centre, Haytor Vale, TQ13 9XT
Postbridge Visitor centre, Postbridge, PL20 6TH

Responses can be submitted by email to forwardplanning@dartmoor.gov.uk or by letter to the address above.

Future Notifications

As part of the survey, you may also request to be notified of the following future stages of the Local Plan process:

consultation on the proposed local plan content and evidence
the publication of observations or advice from the Planning Inspectorate after Gateway 2
the consultation on the proposed local plan
the submission of the proposed local plan for independent examination
when details of the independent examination are available
if the independent examination is paused for further work
if additional documents for the independent examination are published
the publication of the recommendations and reasons of the independent examiner
the adoption or approval of the local plan