The Trust responds to local or national consultations as they affect the City of Durham. The consultation issue is briefly summarised below and the Trust’s full response is available for viewing and download. Responses in 2025, Responses in 2024, Responses in 2023 and older responses are available.
In 2026 – Durham County Council
Houses in Multiple Occupancy, Interim Policy
Durham County Council have proposed an interim policy to deal with Houses in Multiple Occupancy (HMOs) outside the Durham City area (which is currently covered by an Article 4 direction and a policy to deal with HMOs mainly occupied by students). The Trust supports this initiative, and offers suggestions for strengthening the interim policy.
County Durham Local Nature Recovery Strategy
This is the final consultation on Durham County Council’s Local Nature Recovery Strategy (LNRS). We have responded to previous consultations on this topic in 2024. Trustees welcome this document whose guidance is to be part of the local planning process, setting out the priorities for enhancing biodiversity, improving knowledge of the existing environmental conditions, and mapping out the most valuable areas in the County. Our response provides some suggestions for further details and refinements, particularly
highlight the importance of small-scale interventions in urban contexts.
In 2026 – Other organisations
Durham University – Sports & Wellbeing Park. Car Park Management Pilot Consultation, November 2026
The City of Durham Trust is supportive of the proposal to introduce management of the car park at Maiden Castle to improve safety, reduce irresponsible car parking and manage student cars. It would also seem reasonable for the University to make a charge for incidental use by members of the public, such as those using the site as a base for dog-walking, as the administration of logging users has a cost. Moreover, there are environmental reasons for discouraging casual car parking. Durham City suffers from traffic congestion and poor air quality. The Committee on Climate Change identifies a need to reduce car use to meet carbon emissions targets. Major organisations and employers should be supporting the Council in promoting sustainable transport. Reducing car parking demand through charging is an effective measure: even small charges can begin to change habits as was seen by the introduction of plastic bag charging. The current lack of charges for incidental parking at Maiden Castle could be undermining the Council’s on-street charging at nearby locations such as Green Lane and Stockton Road.
The wider impact of student car use on the city is often raised as a concern by permanent residents. If these changes reduce the opportunity for students to store their cars at Maiden Castle, there could be knock-on effects on areas of Durham which are close to student accommodation but with uncontrolled on-street parking, such as Mount Oswald and Sheraton Park. There is anecdotal evidence that students are storing cars at free public car parking locations like the entrance to Blaid’s Wood on South Road.
The University is doing what it can by restricting student parking on its own land, but on-street car parking close to the main campus is amongst the lowest priced in Durham City, and it is clear that many students find it affordable to drive relatively short distances and add to the city’s congestion. The Trust would be interested to know whether the University is in dialogue with the Council regarding issues like this which must affect delivery of the Travel Plan. Perhaps shorter maximum stay periods could be effective in combination with an increased rate of charging?
City of Durham Parish Council Prorities
In August to September 2026 the Parish Council invited residents to have their say on the Parish Council’s priorities and the work it should focus on over the coming year.
National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF)
This consultation sought views on a revised version of the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF). The consultation was very detailed, comprising 225 questions. The Trust responded in detail. For many of the changes the Trust’s response was ‘strongly agree’ or ‘partly agree’. The Trust was pleased and relieved that so much of the ‘planning-bashing’ and disinformation has been resisted and indeed in many cases the NPPF as proposed gives greater protection and improvement for heritage, the environment, and communities.
Design and Placemaking Planning Practice Guidance
This consultation sought views on the usability of the draft consolidated Design and Placemaking Planning Practice Guidance. This guidance is intended to support the applications of policies in the National Planning Policy Framework (a parallel consultation on the new NPPF was also conducted). This states that development proposals that are not well-designed should be refused. This guidance outlines and illustrates the government’s priorities for well-designed places and how planning policies and decisions should support this. The Trust found that the reduction of the various previous design guidance documents into one was a useful change. The clarity of the guidance is good, the methodology is well explained, and this should aid usability and effectiveness. However, more basic explanation targeted at non-urban design professionals is needed.
