The formal window closed on 24 February 2025, but Somerset's portal accepts sites on a rolling basis until further notice. The next Local Plan consultation is expected in autumn 2027. Status checked 25 September 2026. Council source
Somerset Council has reopened its Call for Sites, giving landowners, developers and site promoters a further opportunity to put land forward for consideration through the emerging Somerset Local Plan 2045.
Unlike the original six-week exercise in 2025, the current Call for Sites is open on a rolling basis. Cedar Planning can assess your land, identify the key planning issues and prepare a clear, evidence-led submission to the Council.
Somerset Council originally ran a six-week Call for Sites between 13 January and 24 February 2025.
Those submissions, together with sites identified from other sources, have now been considered through the Council's Interim Housing and Economic Land Availability Assessment (HELAA) 2026.
The Council has subsequently reopened the process to allow further sites to come forward as work on the new Somerset Local Plan continues.
For landowners who did not submit land in 2025, this creates another opportunity to bring a potential development site into the Council's evidence base.
Site promotion does not end when a Call for Sites form is submitted. The planning case may need to develop as the evidence base, spatial strategy and potential allocations emerge.
The first Somerset-wide site submission exercise was undertaken.
Submitted and identified sites have undergone an initial high-level assessment.
Additional land can currently be submitted for consideration.
The Council's timetable anticipates consultation on proposed Local Plan content and supporting evidence.
Somerset's Housing and Economic Land Availability Assessment is an initial technical assessment of potential development land. The Council considers three central questions.
Are there physical, environmental or other constraints that could influence whether development can realistically take place?
Is the land genuinely available for the proposed use, with a realistic prospect that it could be brought forward?
Is there a reasonable prospect that development could be delivered, taking account of practical and development considerations?
Somerset describes the Interim HELAA as a high-level "policy off" assessment. It considers certain strategic constraints but does not apply all adopted Local Plan policy restrictions at this initial stage.
For that reason, even the strongest outcome at this stage is not a conclusion that a site is suitable or allocated. The highest assessment is that land is potentially suitable, available and achievable.
This is particularly important in Somerset because the Council says it will generally undertake its assessment using the information provided through the Call for Sites process.
Officers may request further information where necessary, but the Council does not intend to meet individual site promoters to discuss Call for Sites submissions at this stage.
Individual feedback will also not normally be provided.
Identify a realistic use, scale and development proposition rather than simply submitting a red-line boundary.
Consider access, flood risk, landscape, ecology, heritage, infrastructure and other issues relevant to the particular site.
Give the Council confidence that the land is genuinely capable of being brought forward.
Present the information in a concise and evidence-led way so that the site's potential can be properly understood.
The Somerset Call for Sites can help identify land for a range of future development needs. The appropriate strategy depends on the characteristics and location of the individual site.
The emerging Somerset Local Plan will replace a complex legacy of planning strategies covering the former district areas. This makes the strategic context of each site particularly important.
The Council is developing a new spatial strategy and settlement hierarchy. The relationship between a site and existing cities, towns, villages, services and facilities can therefore be a key part of its promotion case.
Highway access, public transport, schools, utilities and wider infrastructure can influence both the scale of development and whether a site is realistically deliverable.
Somerset contains extensive areas of landscape, biodiversity, heritage and flood-risk sensitivity. These issues need to be understood at an early stage rather than treated as an afterthought.
Somerset contains a wide network of market towns, villages and rural communities. A realistic promotion strategy should respond to the role, accessibility and circumstances of the individual settlement.
Cedar Planning advises landowners, developers and site promoters seeking to bring land forward through emerging Local Plans.
We can review the planning position, identify the issues which are likely to influence the Council's assessment and prepare a clear Call for Sites submission on your behalf.
Where appropriate, we can then continue to promote the site as the Somerset Local Plan moves through later consultation and site-selection stages.
Find out more about our Strategic Land Promotion service .
Early review of planning potential, opportunities and development risks.
Consideration of planning history, policy and key environmental constraints.
Preparation of the information required through Somerset's submission process.
Evidence-led explanation of the site's development potential and deliverability.
Further representations as proposed policies, evidence and site options emerge.
Strategic planning advice throughout the Local Plan process.
We can advise on land throughout the Somerset Local Planning Authority area, including around Taunton, Bridgwater, Yeovil, Frome, Wells, Glastonbury, Street, Burnham-on-Sea, Chard and Somerset's wider towns, villages and rural areas.
The Somerset Local Plan covers the Somerset Council area outside Exmoor National Park. Exmoor National Park has its own Local Plan. Minerals and waste planning is also being progressed separately.
The new Somerset Local Plan will cover the period 2025 to 2045 and is expected to allocate sites for future development.
The Council has already completed its first Call for Sites, published an Interim HELAA and carried out its initial scoping consultation.
However, the rolling Call for Sites means that additional land can still enter the process while the evidence base and future development strategy are being developed.
30 October 2026: Gateway 1.
10 September 2027: content and evidence consultation begins.
March 2028: proposed Local Plan consultation.
March 2029: planned adoption.
Yes. Somerset Council has reopened the Call for Sites on a rolling basis and the submission portal is currently open.
There is currently no fixed closing date. Somerset Council says the portal will remain open until further notice, although it is likely to close again in the lead-up to the next Local Plan consultation.
The sites received through the 2025 Call for Sites, alongside sites identified from other sources, have been assessed through Somerset Council's Interim HELAA 2026.
Inclusion in the HELAA does not allocate a site, grant planning permission or establish that development is acceptable.
It is an evidence-base assessment used to help the Council understand potential sources of development land.
Somerset Council states that it will not normally meet individual site submitters or promoters to discuss Call for Sites submissions at this stage.
Officers may request additional information if required, and meetings may become appropriate later if a site is identified as a potential Local Plan option.
The Council says individual feedback will not be provided. Assessment outcomes will instead be reported through combined assessment summaries.
No. A submission does not grant planning permission, allocate the site or give it planning status. It allows the site to be assessed as part of the Local Plan evidence base.
Yes. We can undertake an initial appraisal, identify key planning constraints, prepare the Call for Sites information and supporting planning case, and provide ongoing advice as the Local Plan progresses.
Send us the site location and a brief description of the land and what you are hoping to achieve. We can review the planning context and advise on the most appropriate Call for Sites and land promotion strategy.
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