The scoping consultation runs to 11.59pm on 13 October, with about 120 responses so far. Seven pop-ups, three workshops, and a plan adopted in April 2029.
Lambeth Council has opened the first consultation on a new Local Plan, the document that will decide where homes, jobs and community buildings can be built across the borough. It runs from 1 September to 11.59pm on Tuesday 13 October, and it is the earliest point at which anyone can influence what the plan contains (Lambeth Council, Notice of Scoping Consultation).
Four days in, the council’s own consultation platform recorded 139 participants in the project on 4 September (Have Your Say Lambeth). Its two counts of survey responses do not agree: the project page reports 121 and the consultation phase reports 124, read at the same moment. Either way it is around 120, and only one response per person is allowed.
This stage is not about individual sites. It asks what issues the plan should cover and how people want to be involved later. The council lists the themes as housing, community facilities, jobs, climate, getting around, and high-quality design and heritage (Lambeth Council). It is also seeking views on a draft Lambeth Character Study.
Why now, and why it matters for six years
The current Lambeth Local Plan was adopted in 2021. The council says two things have changed since:
- A new National Planning Policy Framework was published in August 2026.
- The Mayor of London published a new draft London Plan for consultation in July 2026.
Both have to be taken into account in whatever Lambeth writes next (Lambeth Council, New Lambeth Local Plan).
The legal footing has changed too. The consultation is being run under Regulation 20 of the Town and Country Planning (Local Planning) (England) Regulations 2026, and under the new system councils must prepare a Local Plan within 30 months.
The whole timetable, to April 2029
The council has published its statutory timetable. It runs to adoption in the spring of 2029, and the dates below are the council’s own (Lambeth Council, Local Plan timetable).
| Stage | Date |
|---|---|
| Notice of intention to commence plan preparation | 30 June 2026 |
| Local Plan timetable published | 30 June 2026 |
| Scoping Consultation opens | 1 September 2026 |
| Scoping Consultation closes | 13 October 2026 |
| Gateway 1 published (self-assessment summary) | 31 October 2026 |
| Notice of plan content and evidence consultation | 1 July 2027 |
| That consultation closes | 12 August 2027 |
| Gateway 2 submitted to the Planning Inspectorate | 31 October 2027 |
| Notice of proposed Local Plan consultation | 3 July 2028 |
| That consultation closes | 14 August 2028 |
| Gateway 3 submitted | 31 October 2028 |
| Local Plan submitted for examination | 30 November 2028 |
| Local Plan adopted | 30 April 2029 |
There are only three points in that list where the public is invited in: now, July and August 2027, and July and August 2028. The council says the timetable will be reviewed and updated as the plan progresses.
Where to turn up
The council has listed ten events on its consultation platform. Seven are drop-in pop-ups where no booking is needed, and three are workshops you sign up for. The nearest one to Clapham is on Clapham High Street on 1 October (Have Your Say Lambeth).
| Date | Event | Where | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Thu 10 Sep | Pop-up | South Lambeth Library, South Lambeth Road | 15.30 to 19.30 |
| Sat 12 Sep | Pop-up | Brixton Market | 11.00 to 15.00 |
| Tue 15 Sep | Community workshop | Lambeth Town Hall, Brixton Hill | 18.30 to 20.30 |
| Thu 17 Sep | Pop-up | Emma Cons Gardens, The Cut | 12.00 to 16.00 |
| Tue 22 Sep | Business workshop | Online | 18.00 to 20.00 |
| Sun 27 Sep | Pop-up | Brockwell Park, Norwood Road | 11.00 to 15.00 |
| Thu 1 Oct | Pop-up | Clapham High Street | 14.00 to 18.00 |
| Sun 4 Oct | Pop-up | West Norwood Library, Norwood High Street | 12.00 to 16.00 |
| Tue 6 Oct | Pop-up | Streatham Tate Library, Streatham High Road | 15.30 to 19.30 |
| Thu 8 Oct | Community workshop | Online | 18.30 to 20.30 |
The council says the in-person and online community workshops cover the same content, so there is no need to attend both. Its news release names the 15 September venue as the Lambeth Assembly Hall, which is inside the town hall building on Brixton Hill that the consultation platform lists.
What the cabinet member said
Cllr Scott Ainslie, Lambeth’s Cabinet Member for Planning and Development, Built Environment, and Public Realm, said the council wants “a resident and local business-led Lambeth” and asked people to say “what is working well where you are, what is not working so well, what needs to improve and how you want to stay involved as this whole plan takes shape over the next 30 months”.
He added: “We are not doing a box-ticking exercise; the themes we have set out, from housing to climate, to how people get around, will only mean something if they are shaped by real, lived-experience on the ground.”
What it means for you
The Local Plan is the document a planning officer opens when your neighbour applies for a loft conversion, when a developer applies to build on a car park, and when the council decides how much affordable housing a scheme has to include. Whatever is written into it in 2028 will be the rulebook for Clapham, Brixton, Streatham and the rest of the borough for years afterwards.
Three practical points:
- You do not have to be a resident. The notice says any person or organisation may make representations.
- You can ask to be kept informed. A representation can carry a request to be notified at each later stage, including when the plan is submitted for examination and when it is adopted. Email the planning policy team to be added.
- There is a paper route. Hard copies of the consultation material can be seen at Lambeth Civic Centre, 6 Brixton Hill, SW2 1EG by appointment, and at Lambeth libraries during opening hours. A paper survey is available on request.
Three ways to respond by 11.59pm on Tuesday 13 October:
- The online survey on Have Your Say Lambeth.
- Email to planningpolicy@lambeth.gov.uk.
- In person at any of the ten events above.
The council says the findings will be worked up for the next stage of consultation, which its timetable puts in July 2027.
Related
- Clapham planning news: the applications and decisions being made under the current plan.
- Clapham house prices: what the borough’s housing market looks like now.
- Clapham council tax bands: what the council charges, and who sets it.
Sources
- Notice of Scoping Consultation for the new Lambeth Local Plan, published 1 September 2026, for the Regulation 20 footing, the 11.59pm 13 October deadline, the right to be notified at later stages, and the hard-copy locations.
- Lambeth Council, New Lambeth Local Plan for the 2021 adoption date of the current plan, the 30-month rule, the August 2026 NPPF and the July 2026 draft London Plan.
- Lambeth Council, Local Plan timetable for every date in the timetable table.
- Have Your Say Lambeth: Scoping Consultation for the response count, the participant count, the consultation phase dates and the ten events with their venues and times.
- Lambeth Council news release, 1 September 2026 for the six themes and the quotes from Cllr Scott Ainslie.
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