The Shaftesbury Neighbourhood Plan sets out the community’s vision, planning policies and how Shaftesbury will evolve through land use, housing, heritage and green infrastructure.
What is The Neighbourhood Plan?
The Shaftesbury Neighbourhood Plan is all about shaping our town’s future together. It sets out a vision and key policies for the development and use of land. While it can’t prevent all planning developments, it gives our community a stronger voice in how Shaftesbury evolves.
Our vision for Shaftesbury is clear:
“Shaftesbury will become the best example of how a historic hilltop market town can adapt and thrive in the 21st century—while preserving its unique identity and countryside setting.”
The Plan focuses on five key areas that matter most: Community and Leisure; Town Centre; Housing and Employment; History, Heritage and Design; and Green Infrastructure.
First Review 2025
The First Review (Nov 2025) of the Neighbourhood Plan has been submitted to Dorset Council. It has not yet been approved by Dorset Council. Details of policy changes since the original plan was made in 2021 can be read in the Modifications Statement.
The public were invited to review and comment on the plan between 12 December 2025 and 30 January 2026. View the Consultation.
Neighbourhood Plan Independent Examination
The Regulation 16 public consultation on the review of the Shaftesbury Neighbourhood Plan has now closed, and the submitted plan will be reviewed by an independent external examiner.
The Neighbourhood Plan helps guide development and planning decisions in Shaftesbury, so keeping it up to date is important for the future of our town. The current plan was adopted on 22 June 2021, and a review was submitted for examination in November 2025.
The Regulation 16 public consultation ran from 12 December 2025 to 30 January 2026. Thank you to everyone who took the time to share their views. All representations received during the consultation can be viewed on the Dorset Council website.
Before the revised plan can be adopted, it must go through an independent examination. The Independent Examiner will consider whether the plan meets the required legal requirements and certain basic conditions, and will decide whether a local referendum is needed.
On 18 February 2026 the examiner wrote to Dorset Council and the Town Council to clarify several initial procedural matters.
Letter from Examiner 18 February 2026
There is no action required from residents at this stage. Updates on the examination process and the examiner’s report will be published on the Dorset Council webpage in due course.
Keep up to date with progress on the Dorset Council’s website: Dorset Council Shaftesbury Neighbourhood Plan 2019-2031
Complete Document
First Review 2025 Neighbourhood Plan 
(very large file 140MB)
Individual chapters
First Review 2025 Neighbourhood Plan Chapter 1 (Introduction) (17MB)
First Review 2025 Neighbourhood Plan Chapter 2 (The Town Centre) (15MB)
First Review 2025 Neighbourhood Plan Chapter 3 (Housing & Employment) (26MB)
First Review 2025 Neighbourhood Plan Chapter 4 (Green Infrastructure) (43MB)
First Review 2025 Neighbourhood Plan Chapter 5 (Design & Heritage) (38MB)
First Review 2025 Neighbourhood Plan Chapter 6 (Community, Leisure & Tourism) (15MB)
First Review 2025 Neighbourhood Plan Chapter 7 (Appendices A to P) (35MB)
View the draft documents that went out to public consultation
The 2021 Shaftesbury Neighbourhood Plan
Information & Evidence Committee Projects The Neighbourhood Plan 2021
Referendum Result 2021
The Shaftesbury Neighbourhood Plan referendum was held on Thursday 6 May 2021 and asked residents: “Do you want Dorset Council to use the Neighbourhood Plan for Shaftesbury to help it decide planning applications in the neighbourhood area?”
A majority voted in favour of the neighbourhood plan (YES votes: 1556; NO votes: 216). The turnout was 26.9%. More details regarding the results, plus details of the other elections and referendums that took place that day can be found on the Dorset Council website.
As a result, the plan will now proceed to Cabinet on 22 June 2021 where a decision will be made on formally making the Shaftesbury Neighbourhood Plan part of the development plan for the area covered by Shaftesbury Town Council (the Shaftesbury neighbourhood area).
