Rushcliffe Design Code

The Rushcliffe Design Code Supplementary Planning Document (SPD) was adopted by the Borough Council on 1 September 2025. A web-based version is also available to view.

The SPD supplements the Rushcliffe Local Plan (Part 1: Core Strategy and Part 2: Land and Planning Policies) and national planning policies and guidance. The SPD sets out the design requirements for new development in Rushcliffe Borough and will be used in the determination of planning applications.

When relevant planning applications are submitted, it will need to be demonstrated how the proposed development complies with the Code, or justification will need to be provided to explain why the Code has not been met. To help with this, there is a compliance checklist to download and submit as part of the application to fulfil this requirement. A video clip demonstrating how to use and complete the checklist is available as part of the web-based version of the Design Code.

Previous Stages

The draft Rushcliffe Design Code Supplementary Planning Document (SPD) was published for consultation in January 2025, with consultation closing on Monday 10 March 2025.

Prior to this, there was an initial period of community engagement on the Design Code's scoping stage ran between January and March 2024, an analysis of the Borough and the publication of a series of topic-based maps and character appraisals in the Draft Rushcliffe Baseline Appraisal (39.66 MB, application/pdf) and consultation on the Design Vision and Draft Coding Plan between May and June 2024.

Planning Policy