Derbyshire Dales District Council Call for Sites 2025 STILL OPEN...
A review of the Derbyshire Dales Adopted Local Plan (2017) is currently being prepared and will shape future development in the District for the next 20 years. It will set out the vision, spatial strategy and planning policies that will be used to guide development proposals and planning applications. The call for sites is one step in a statutory process that must be undertaken by Local Authorities when preparing a local plan.
Last year the District Council undertook a ‘Call for Sites’ exercise to give people and organisations the opportunity to submit sites with the potential for new residential and employment or sites with the potential to improve biodiversity and the natural environment.
The Call for Sites exercise is still ongoing, and the District Council will accept any new sites that have not been submitted previously. Call for sites forms are available to be filled in and submitted on the District Council’s webpage as follows: Call for housing & employment sites suggestion form
The Call for Sites helps ensure that we identify every opportunity for sites for development to be assessed and that the District Council will leave no stone unturned in the search for appropriate sites to meet local needs.
The District Council is therefore inviting developers, agents, landowners, land managers, farmers, parish councils, neighbourhood groups, businesses, conservation groups and members of the public to put forward potential sites for development of any use, including mixed uses, primarily for housing & employment use. Land can also be submitted to the District Council for biodiversity site creation & enhancement.
Please note previously submitted sites to do not need to be resubmitted unless any details have changed including sites area and landownership.
Why is the District Council looking for sites ?
The District Council is the local planning authority for that part of its area that sits outside of the Peak District National Park and in December 2017 the Derbyshire Dales Local Plan was formally adopted. It sets out the policies and proposals for the use and development of land over the next 20 years. Local planning authorities are obliged by law to undertake a review of their Local Plans within five years from their adoption date to ensure that policies remain relevant and effective in addressing the needs of the local community.
The Call for Sites is part of our evidence gathering process as we continue work on the review of the Derbyshire Dales Local Plan. As part of this process the District Council is undertaking and updating a Strategic Housing and Economic Land Availability Assessment (SHELAA). A SHELAA seeks to identify land primarily suitable for housing and employment uses. Initial findings of the Derbyshire Dales SHELAA were last published April 2022 and are available to view on the District Council’s website as follows: Derbyshire Dales Strategic Housing Land Availability Assessment Report & Derbyshire Dales SHELAA Appendices
The SHELAA is an important source of evidence to inform the plan-review process, and provides information on the range of sites which are available to be developed.
Types of sites
The types of uses on sites suggested to the District Council include sites for:
- General housing
- Specialist housing for older people
- Affordable housing only (e.g. rural exception sites)
- Self-build and custom housebuilding
- Sites suitable to accommodate a new settlement/garden village
Employment including:
- Office, Industrial, warehousing.
- Retail Development
- Mixed use development
There is no maximum size of site. However, please do not submit separate parcels which adjoin or overlap, we need only to see the full extent of available land for the assessment. We encourage those submitting large, strategic scale sites to work collaboratively with adjoining landowners/promoters, where appropriate, to ensure that a coordinated and comprehensive approach is taken in establishing their development potential.
The District Council will include your submission in the Strategic Housing Land Availability Assessment. Any sites submitted to the District Council will be assessed as part of this document and the assessment of sites will be made publicly available. Further guidance on notes on submitting a site for housing and/or employment are available on the submission form.
Biodiversity call for sites
The District Council is also undertaking a Call for Biodiversity sites. This follows the introduction of new national Government legislation which requires biodiversity net gain from new development. Biodiversity net gain aims to leave the natural environment and wildlife habitats in a measurably better state before the development took place. The call for sites seeks to identify possible sites that could contribute to improving biodiversity and the natural environment in the Derbyshire Dales.
We are therefore inviting farmers, landowners, land managers, communities, businesses, conservation and wildlife groups to put forward possible sites in the Local Planning Authority area of the District which could be identified for biodiversity creation or enhancements and allocated within the Derbyshire Dales Local Plan.
If you would like to find out more information and guidance on submit a site for biodiversity, please visit the biodiversity call for sites webpage
How to submit a site
Anyone wishing to put forward a potential site for development can complete the Call for Sites Suggestion Form on the Derbyshire Dales website for either Housing & Employment uses or Biodiversity uses as follows:
Call for housing & employment sites suggestion form
Call for biodiversity sites suggestion form
A separate form should be completed for each site. Forms should include as much information as possible and a location plan should be attached. Without a Location Plan it will not be possible to register the site for further consideration. If you would like to fill in the form and save your answers and review your form at a later date before you complete and submit it to the District Council, you can do so by creating an account on the District Council's website here: https://selfserve.derbyshiredales.gov.uk/Login
A PDF copy of the form is available on request.
Any sites submitted during the ‘Call for Sites’ will be subject to a systematic assessment to provide an indication as to whether, if required, they are suitable for inclusion in the Local Plan. The SHELAA is used as evidence only and does not in itself allocate land for any specific purposes. Allocations will be determined by the District Council as part of the review process .
Data Protection
Please take a moment to read the District Council’s privacy policy before submitting your site.
Further Information and Assistance
If you require further assistance, please do not hesitate to contact the Planning Policy Team at
