Residents are being invited to have their say on plans to build thousands of homes in Stoke-on-Trent.

Stoke-on-Trent City Council has launched (Monday 3 August) a consultation on its updated local plan, which sets out how 952 homes a year will be built in the city up to 2040, to meet government housing targets.

The so-called regulation 19 consultation will be the last chance for members of the public, businesses and landowners to comment on the draft plan before it is submitted for examination later this year.

A number of changes have been made to the plan since the previous consultation carried out last year.

The plan now includes 70 site allocations for housing, which together could provide nearly 16,000 homes.

While 49 of these are on brownfield land, the greenfield sites are generally much larger, and have been earmarked for more than 10,000 homes – around two-thirds of the total.

Perhaps most controversially, the plan proposes to remove 11 'broad locations' out of the Green Belt so they can be used for housing.

Some of the broad locations, such as the two at Norton Green, have been reduced in scale since the previous version of the plan. But the single largest site allocation, at Lightwood, is still earmarked for 3,000 homes.

Six new brownfield sites have been added to the plan since the first consultation, including Stonehaven Grove in Hanley, and the Minton Hollins site in Stoke.

The plan also allocates 25 sites for employment, mostly on brownfield land, which could provide more than 450,000 square metres for warehouses, offices and other workplaces.

Consultation responses will need to focus on matters that the planning inspector will consider during the plan's examination.

These matters include whether the plan is legally compliant, whether the council has followed statutory procedures, such as in relation to consultation, and whether the plan is 'sound'.

A local plan is considered sound if it is addressing identified needs, supported by evidence, deliverable and consistent with national policy.

Once the consultation is over, the council will submit all responses along with the final draft version of the plan to the inspector. The public examination is expected to take place next year.

The six-week consultation on the local plan will run until 14 September.

You can have your say by visiting the website here.

Alternatively, email [email protected] or write to Planning Policy Team, Stoke-on-Trent City Council, Civic Centre, Glebe Street, Stoke-on-Trent, ST4 1HH.

The council will also be organising a series of in-person events across the city as part of the consultation. Details for these events will be published soon.