The South Hams Local Plan (1989-2001) covers the area of the South Hams district that is outside of Dartmoor National Park and was adopted in April 1996.  Although it had a 2001 horizon many of its policies are still relevant to planning in South Hams today.

The adopted Local Plan (1989-2001) retains its development plan status until it is replaced overtime by emerging LDF documents. The Local Plan's policies have been "saved" for a period of three years from the commencement of the new Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act (September 2004).

Under the regulations of the Act the Secretary of State has identified which adopted Local Plan policies are saved beyond the initial three year period. These policies will still be used to determine planning applications.

Secretary of State's covering letter

Secretary of State's direction of adopted Local Plan policies

Details of the Devon Structure Plan schedule of saved policies are available from Devon County Council.

The written text of the 1996 Adopted Local Plan can be viewed on-line via this link. The information contained in the inset maps from the 1996 plan can also be viewed on-line by using the interactive mapping service at the link below. The interactive mapping service also provides other geographical planning policy information for the South Hams including up to date information on the Local Development Framework.

Please click here to access the Interactive Maps which provide planning policy information for the South Hams.

Notes on using the Adopted Local Plan Documents:

You need Adobe Acrobat to view the plan documents (v5 or higher).

These documents are large, and will take some time to appear, please be patient.

The plans are best viewed at a screen resolution of 1024x768 or higher. If viewed at a lower resolution more use of the zoom option of Adobe Acrobat will be required (magnifying glass button). You may also find it helpful to print the pages that are of interest, use the printer button on the Adobe Acrobat toolbar.

Local Plan Review Process

The Council began the process of reviewing the South Hams Local Plan (adopted 1996) and published a First Deposit Draft Local Plan Review (2001-2011) for consultation in January 2002. This plan has not been progressed and has been superseded by the Local Development Framework process which has now commenced under the new Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004.