Upcoming Supplementary Planning Documents (SPDs)

This page contains information on forthcoming supplementary planning documents (SPDs).

Environment SPD

The council is currently seeking public comment on an update to the Environment Supplementary Planning Document (ESPD).

The ESPD provides guidance on the implementation of the environmental policies within the council's City Plan 2019-2040, in the areas of Air Quality, Local Environmental Impacts, Greening and Biodiversity, Flood Risk, Waste Management, Sustainable Design and Retrofit.

The role of the ESPD is to support the council's aspirations to create a greener, cleaner and healthier city. The ESPD will help ensure that we drive emissions reductions and wider environmental sustainability through the city’s built environment.

For more information, please head to the dedicated page on Commonplace.

Your thoughts are welcomed up to the closure of the consultation period on Monday 3 March 2025.

Public Realm SPD

We are developing an updated Public Realm Supplementary Planning Document (SPD) for Westminster. This is to replace the 2011 ‘Westminster Way’ SPD and other Supplementary Planning Guidance (SPGs) documents which were revoked following adoption of the City Plan in 2021.

The new SPD provides an opportunity to update the existing framework and reflect changes in our approach to public realm, and political priorities. It has a broader scope than the previous guidance containing key principles and guidance intended to support the implementation of City Plan policies across the City up to 2040.

Consultation

Consultation on the draft Public Realm Guidance SPD has now closed. We conducted a six-week consultation from Monday, 7 October to Monday, 18 November 2024.

This marked a formal first step to gather input on the content and presentation of the draft document and its appendices. The aim was to ensure that the guidance is robust, accessible, easy to understand, and user-friendly.

Respondents were asked to:

Identify any issues with the guidance.
Provide feedback on the document's usability and readability.
Highlight anything missing or unclear.

Consultation documents can be viewed below.

If you require hard copies of the consultation materials, these are available at Westminster City Council, City Hall, 64 Victoria Street, SW1E 6QP (by prior arrangement. Email: planningpolicy@westminster.gov.uk)

Core documents

Westminster Streets and Spaces, draft public realm SPD PDF, 10.87 MB, 181 pages

Materials Palette (Appendix 1) PDF, 1.73 MB, 27 pages

Inclusive Design Guidance (Appendix 2) PDF, 5.85 MB, 189 pages

Supporting documents

Public Realm equalities impact assessment (EqIA) PDF, 1.05 MB, 25 pages

Public Realm SPD summary guide PDF, 243.97 KB, 13 pages

What happens next?

Following the consultation, we will:

Review and analyse all comments submitted.
Produce a consultation statement, setting out the main issues raised and how comments were considered.
Amend the SPD, where appropriate, reflecting on points raised during consultation.
Seek to adopt the SPD through a cabinet member decision. The final SPD will be submitted to cabinet members for adoption and if approved, the SPD will be considered as a material consideration when making planning decisions.