Erewash Borough new Local Plan, Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA)

Erewash Borough Council (EBC) have now started work on a new Local Plan, which will be produced in conformity with the provisions of the new National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) (Aug 2026). The Planning Policy team is currently embarking on developing an appropriate evidence base to ensure that a new Local Plan is able to be finalised and approved over the next 2.5 years, in line with Government expectations that councils can produce a Local Plan within 30 months, once Gateway 1 is passed which is timetabled to occur at the end of October 2026. EBC are now seeking a suitably skilled contractor to manage the production of a Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) from start to finish, helping to guide the scope and content of the new Local Plan's land-use policies, whilst subjecting the emerging spatial policies to a robust, yet proportionate, framework which advises on the sustainability of options. The Contract period is 28 months (until the scheduled adoption of the Plan in March 2029, this could extend out to May 2029 which is the legal deadline for the Plan's adoption) on a retained arrangement, although the contractor will not be expected to be working continuous across this duration. Full details can be found in the invitation to tender documents