Call for sites

The ‘call for sites’ is an early opportunity for individuals, landowners, and developers to suggest sites within the borough for development over the next 20 years. The site suggestions received by us will be used to inform the local plan review.

It will not determine whether a site should be allocated for development.

The purpose of the call for sites exercise is to gain up to date information about land that has potential for housing, employment, or mixed uses development and whether it is suitable to be allocated as part of the local plan review. It is also seeking to identify land with potential for the delivery of biodiversity net gains (BNG).

The 2025 Local Plan Preferred Options document (currently out for consultation) recognises at Section 4.1 Preferred option: Employment allocations that the information held by the Council on the identified employment allocations is long standing and needs to be reviewed.

We are keen to update this information and would encourage the landowners, developers, organisations of the identified sites to complete a call for sites form so that we can update the information we hold about them.

We have prepared a form for site submissions; a separate form should be completed for each site. Please use this to update / submit a site for consideration.

Call for sites form (Word, 111KB) .

The form asks a series of questions which will help the Council assess the sites suitability. You will also need to submit a map clearly showing the boundary of the site. Additional supporting evidence can also be submitted (for example: any site surveys or indicative drawings of proposed development).

Anyone can submit a site for consideration, including individuals or organisations, landowners, developers, agents, and local businesses
You don’t necessarily need to own the site to submit it. However, an indication of the landowner’s willingness to release the site for development will need to be identified
Put forward only one site per form
Provide a location map clearly and accurately showing the boundary of the site in red
Use an Ordnance Survey base map and at a clear recognised scale. You can purchase a map from the Planning Department or visit the Planning Portal for options to purchase maps online
Provide proof of ownership for all the land within the boundary (providing copies of title deed plan if possible), and contact details for the landowner(s)
Provide written confirmation that the landowner(s) is willing to make the site available for the development r use proposed
Sites proposed for employment or mixed-use development should be at least 0.25ha or capable of accommodating at least 500 square metres of employment floor space
Sites proposed for residential development should be at least 0.2ha or be able to accommodate five dwellings
Provide accurate information and as much detail as possible on any site constraints and any third-party issues

Before submitting a site, you will need to consider how well you think it would perform when it is assessed for its suitability for development. Please see below for an indication of the criteria that will be used to assess sites.

It is unlikely, for example, that proposed housing sites in the open countryside and away from existing development will be allocated (unless it is for a use that requires a countryside location). Similarly, most proposals for development in a functional floodplain or within a designated ecological site are likely to be filtered out of the assessment in the first stages.

Yes. We are looking to update the information we hold on the employment sites identified in the 2025 Preferred Options document. To ensure that we hold the most up to date and accurate information, particularly regarding deliverability and availability of sites.

After a site is submitted, officers will review the information provided and, if there are no outstanding issues, we will acknowledge receipt and provide you with a reference number.

The site will be considered alongside other submissions as we prepare the Pre-Submission Local Plan.

Details of the submitted sites, and the names of those who have submitted the sites, will be made public as it will form part of the evidence base used to inform the preparation of a new plan.

The Council will redact submissions to remove all other personal data in respect of personal email addresses, telephone numbers and signatures.

For more information on how we use your information, please see: Data Protection and information governance.

The Council currently updating the methodology it uses to assess potential housing sites as part of the local plan process. It is likely that the methodology will look similar to the document published for comments early 2025 (Strategic Housing Land Availability Assessment Methodology 2025 (PDF, 1,006KB) ). The assessment considers:

Relationship to existing development – e.g. is the site within or adjacent to a settlement identified in the current Local Plan Update?
Proximity of site to services, facilities, employment opportunities and infrastructure
Biodiversity and the natural environment (e.g. international, national and local designations such as Special Protection Areas)
Flood risk and coastal erosion
Heritage and the built environment (e.g. relationship to listed buildings or conservation areas)
Landscape character, quality and sensitivity to change
Infrastructure (e.g. education provision, highways, utilities)
Site contamination and compatibility with neighbouring uses.

Please note: this list is not exhaustive, and further details are set out in proposed methodology.

Employment sites will be assessed as part of the Employment Land Review document.

We would like you to submit sites as soon as possible to allow us time to undertake assessments and consider them in studies which support the preparation of the Pre-Submission Local Plan which is due to undergo a final round of consultation in 2026.

For that reason, please submit any land you wish to put forward by 1 February 2026.

No. The submission of a site means that it will be assessed and reviewed by the Council for its suitability to be allocated for development.

If the site is determined to be suitable for allocation, the Council will undertake widespread public consultation and invite comments at different points during the Local Plan making process.

No. Sites submitted through this process are for the preparing a Local Plan only. If a site is ultimately allocated, this means that the development of the site, for a specific use, is supported in principle.

Planning permission would still be required before any development could take place whether a site is allocated or not.

The Council is currently consulting of its Preferred site options, further information about this consultation can be found at: Local Plan Review | NELC. Responses to this consultation and the early 2024 Draft Plan consultation will be treated with equal weight and along with any updated evidence base documents, will inform the preparation of a Pre-Submission Local Plan which will undergo further consultation in 2026.

The submission of a site through the call for sites exercise does not mean that the site will be allocated. Sites already allocated in the current Local Plan do not need to be resubmitted unless the site ownership, expectations for delivery of the proposed use have changed, in which case a new site submission form should be completed.

Decisions on whether sites will ultimately be allocated for development will be taken through the local plan review process having regard to development needs, sustainability principles and stakeholder and community consultation and feedback. The call for sites exercise is therefore the start of the process.

Please note the following points before submitting a site:

Put forward only one site per form
Provide a location map clearly and accurately showing the boundary of the site in red
Use an Ordnance Survey base map and at a clear recognised scale. You can purchase a map from the Planning Department or visit the Planning Portal for options to purchase maps online
Provide proof of ownership for all the land within the boundary (providing copies of title deed plan if possible), and contact details for the landowner(s)
Provide written confirmation that the landowner(s) is willing to make the site available for the development r use proposed
Sites proposed for employment or mixed-use development should be at least 0.25ha or capable of accommodating at least 500 square metres of employment floor space
Sites proposed for residential development should be at least 0.2ha or be able to accommodate five dwellings
Provide accurate information and as much detail as possible on any site constraints and any third-party issues

Contact details

Spatial Planning, Municipal Offices, Town Hall Square, Grimsby, DN31 1HU

Email: [email protected]

Telephone: 01472 324272

Opening times: please call to make an appointment