The draft Medway Local Plan was submitted to the Secretary of State for independent examination on 18 December 2025.
The draft Local Plan was approved for publication at a full Medway Council meeting on Thursday 26 June 2025. A 6 week consultation period ran from Monday 30 June until Monday 11 August 2025.
View the draft Medway Local Plan 2041
Information on the examination process
Information about the examination process can be found on GOV.UK. This includes the Procedure Guide for Local Plan Examinations which provides detailed practical advice, Guidance for Programme Officers and a short guide aimed at people taking part in their first local plan examination.
The inspectors
Inspectors D Hendley BA (Hons) MA MRTPI and A McCormack BSc (Hons) MRTPI have been appointed to carry out the independent examination of the Medway Local Plan.
The Inspector will assess if the plan:
- has been prepared in accordance with the legal and procedural requirements
- is ‘sound’ as defined in paragraph 35 of the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF).
Programme officer
Louise St John Howe has now been appointed as the programme officer.
She's an independent officer of the examination and works on behalf of the inspector's, organising and managing the administrative and procedural matters of the examination process. The programme officer acts as the contact for anyone interested in the examination and liaising between the Inspector, representors and the council.
Any matters that you want to raise with the Inspector should be submitted through the programme officer.
If you have a question about the examination of the new Local Plan you can contact the programme officer Louise St John Howe by:
- email: louise@poservices.co.uk
- phone: 07789 486 419
- post: PO Services, Unit 162298, PO Box 7169, Poole, Dorset BH15 9EL.
Using your data
All public comments received during the Regulation 19 consultation will be sent to the Planning Inspector. The Planning Inspectorate privacy notice provides advice about how the Planning Inspectorate will process any personal information.
If you provided consultation feedback using the Planning Inspectorate (PINS) Model Representation Form, the PINS’ Privacy Amendment Notice is supplemental to and amends the Planning Inspectorate Local Plan Privacy Notice. These notices should be read together because they explain how your personal information will be used and stored. View the Planning Inspectorate privacy notice.