Residents across County Durham are being asked to help decide where new homes, jobs and transport links should go over the coming decades. Durham County Council has opened an eight-week consultation on a brand-new County Durham Plan, giving people until Monday 17 August 2026 to share their views.
The council wants feedback on housing needs, the local economy, transport, the environment, community facilities and health and quality of life. Six broad growth options are on the table: concentrating development on main towns, spreading it across villages, following key transport corridors, creating an entirely new settlement, prioritising regeneration, or mixing several of these approaches. Council leader Cllr Andrew Husband said: “We value the thoughts of residents when it comes to what matters most in the county.”
The current County Durham Plan was adopted in October 2020 and runs to 2035, setting out space for 5,390 homes, more than 302 hectares of new business land and protection for over 250,000 hectares of natural environment. It also requires that one in ten homes on new estates be designed for older people and that between 10 and 25 per cent be classed as affordable depending on where they are built. Safeguarded routes for future transport use at Bowburn and the possible reopening of the Leamside railway line were also written into the existing plan.
After this first stage closes in August, the council will review the responses in September 2026. Two further rounds of public consultation are already pencilled in for March 2027 and autumn 2027, with the replacement plan expected to be formally adopted from March 2029. Residents can take part now through the Let’s Talk County Durham website.
The consultation is being supported by Visit County Durham and Durham University, reflecting the wide range of interests that the new plan will affect.
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