Watch the hearing sessions
The upcoming hearing sessions will be broadcast live on our Solihull Council Youtube Channel. You can also access archived recordings for previous sessions.
The Council submitted the Solihull Local Plan to the Planning Inspectorate on 13 May 2021 for independent examination.
Two Inspectors have been appointed to undertake the examination, and they are:
The Council has appointed a Programme Officer to assist the Inspectors in carrying out their examination. The contact details for the Programme Officer are as follows:
All documents associated with the examination, including those submitted alongside the plan can be found in our online examination library.
You can view a referenced schedule of documents that can be found in the library. This schedule will be updated as further documents are received.
This page will be updated as the examination progresses with the latest update towards the top of the page.
Early stages undertaken in connection with preparation of the plan can be found under the Local Plan Review pages on the web site which can be found here.
Local Plan still paused due to delay in NPPF review
The examination of Solihull's Local Plan review remains paused pending the publication of the updated National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF).
The Council understands from Government that the update of the NPPF has been delayed due to the extent of consultation comments received, but it remains hopeful that it will be published over the summer.
As soon as there are any further updates we will share those with all interested parties.
On the basis of the Council’s response issued yesterday, we can confirm that the examination is paused pending updates to the NPPF. The situation will remain under review and updates will be published here in due course.
The councils response to the Inspectors’ letter from 6 March has been added to the examination library under document ref SMBC023, under the heading Documents Issued by the Council.
The Inspectors’ most recent letter from 6 March 2023 has been added to the examination library under document ref INS009, under the heading Documents Issued by Inspectors.
The councils response to the Inspectors’ letter from 13 Dec 2022 has been added to the examination library under document ref SMBC022, under the heading Documents Issued by the Council.
The Inspectors most recent letter to the council has been received and added to the examination library under document ref INS008.
The councils response to the Inspectors’ post hearing letters has been added to the examination library under document ref SMBC021 under the heading Documents Issued by the Council.
The Inspectors’ post hearings letter to the council has been received and added to the examination library under document ref INS007.
An agenda has been issued for the additional matter 12 session being held on Friday 8 July 2022.
In response to the Inspectors invitation (set out in document INS006) written comments have been submitted and added to the examination library, they can be found under the Matter 12 heading and are documents referenced M012-039 onwards.
The Inspectors have issued a note regarding an additional hearing session to take place on Friday 8 July 2022. The note can be found in the examination library under the heading “Documents issued by Inspectors” ref INS006.
The council has produced a number of documents in response to the Inspectors letter from 11 February, these can be found in the examination library under the heading “Documents issued by the council”, references SMBC013-SMBC020. The Inspectors will be giving consideration to these documents before determining the next steps for the examination.
Documents recently added to the examination library: Letter from the council 18th February – Doc ref SMBC010 and Extending the plan period – Doc ref SMBC011.
The Inspectors letter to the council following the hearings has been added to the examination library under document ref INS005.
An agenda has been issued for the session being held on Thursday 3 February 2022.
An up to date hearings timetable has been issued today to include a session to be held on Thursday 3 February 2022 at 10.00am.
Inspectors have issued agendas for the following sessions which will be held virtually:
An up to date hearings timetable has been issued today which includes new dates for the previously postponed sessions relating to Matters 8 and 13. All of Januarys sessions will now take place virtually.
An updated Housing Trajectory and Five Year Land supply document from the council has been added to the examination library under heading Documents arising from the hearings, doc ref HD046.
A number of new documents have been added to the examination library, including all comments made in relation to documents HD006 and HD012. There are also 3 new Statements of Common Ground which can be found under the relevant heading.
An up to date hearings timetable has also been issued today.
Due to unforeseen circumstances the hearing session on Tuesday 7 December 2021 covering Matters 8 and 13 has had to be postponed. Further updates will follow once a new date has been agreed.
An up to date hearings timetable has been issued today which includes the lists of accepted participants for the upcoming sessions for Matters 7-13.
Inspectors have issued an agenda for Matter 9, Matter 10 and Matter 11
The session for Matter 6H, due to take place on Thursday 18 November 2021, will now take place this afternoon. The session will begin at 1:00pm and can be observed on the councils YouTube Channel.
The inspectors have issued agendas for Matter 6G and Matter 6H and an agenda for the additional session on Matter 6G.
The inspectors have issued an agenda for Matter 6E which is due to take place at the councils chamber on Tuesday 16 November 2021.
A revised hearings timetable has been issued today with some amendments to scheduled sessions in December, the timetable includes accepted participants for all remaining sessions.
There has been an additional session added due to take place in January 2022, this will allow for the previous Matter 3 participants to discuss issues relating to the councils recently issued note on the housing implications of growth at UK Central (document reference HD006).
Matter 3 participants have also been given the opportunity to comment on the note (document ref HD006). This should be done in writing and sent to the Programme Officer by 5pm 30 November 2021.
The Inspectors have issued agendas for Matters 6A, 6B, 6C and 6D
An up to date hearings timetable has been issued today which includes the lists of accepted participants for the upcoming sessions for Matters 6A-6H.
The Inspectors have issued agendas for Matters 3 and 4.
The upcoming hearing sessions will be broadcast live via our Solihull Council Youtube Channel.
The Inspectors have issued agendas for the first 2 hearing sessions.
The Inspectors’ have issued an updated hearings timetable which now includes the list of accepted participants for the upcoming sessions for Matters 1-5.
The Inspectors’ Matters, Issues and Questions along with the hearings timetable and guidance notes have been issued today.
The Council has issued a revised schedule of omitted/alternative sites to the Inspectors.
The Council submitted its responses to the information/clarification requests made by the Inspectors in their initial letter to the Council dated 24 June 2021.
Inspectors' initial letter to the council has been issued.
Inspectors were appointed to undertake the independent examination.
You can view the privacy notices for:
Where hearings are taking place virtually reference should also be made to Solihull Council’s Protocol for Webcasting of Meetings. The protocol contains information on how personal data may be used, recorded and stored.