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Westminster · Local Plan · Policy

Policy.

The policies that actually decide outcomes in Westminster — how often each is cited in the officers' own reports, where it bites hardest, and who leans on it. The plan text is the rule; this is the behaviour.

11,464 citations6,309 reports parsedWestminster Local Plan (adopted)
Westminster · policy map
Where policy is quoted most — by ward
Fewer ~0
More citations ~1301
At a glance
11,464[1]
Total citations
across 6,309 officer reports
8%[1]
Citations on refusals
borough baseline — see the In refusals column
Westminster Local Plan[1]
Development plan
most-cited framework in reports
—
CIL (residential)
schedule not yet sourced
—
5-year land supply
position statement not yet sourced
Citations by policy — what gets invoked 🔒click a policy — reshapes the map
38 · Basement development
3,433
7 · Greenfield Run off Rates
2,604
33 · Townscape & architecture
2,352
37 · Security measures in the public realm
568
34 · Building height
432
25 · Major Development
394
45 · Townscape and architecture principles
317
24 · Local Centre
228
Full citation counts are subscriber dataSubscribe to see the counts →
What kind of ground gets cited[1]
Housing delivery1%
Design & heritage1%
Highways & transport2%
Sustainability24%
Other grounds73%

Grounds classified from each policy's own cited title. Click a slice — reshapes the map.

The policies that decide outcomes — Westminster

Every plan policy recurring in Westminster officer reports, ranked by how often it's cited. Click a policy for its full record — and the officer who leans on it most.

PolicyCitationsIn refusalsAppeal survivalCites it most
38 — Basement development3,43317% · 2.1×—subscriber data
7 — Greenfield Run off Rates2,6042% · 0.3×—subscriber data
33 — Townscape & architecture2,3522% · 0.3×—subscriber data
The full policy roster and per-policy officer breakdown are subscriber data.Subscribe to see all policies →

Citation counts from Westminster officer reports.[1] “In refusals” = share of a policy's citations that sit on refusals; × = that share against the borough average (needs 20+ citations). Appeal survival = of PINS appeal decisions citing the policy, the share dismissed (refusal held); a rate needs 5+ decisive appeals, fewer show the count. Methodology →

The borough framework

The development-plan documents Westminster officers actually cite, counted across parsed reports. CIL and land-supply figures aren't sourced yet and are shown as pending, not estimated.

Most cited
Westminster Local Plan (adopted)
11,464 report mentions
The hierarchy
National — NPPFpage pending
Strategic — London Planpage pending
Local — Westminster plan →
What wins here — approval rate by application type[2]

Bar = volume · figure = approval rate, across Westminster's substantive decisions.

Full / major planning
88%
Conditions & amendments
91%
Listed building
92%
Lawful development
83%
Prior approval
72%
Householder
40%
Grounds for refusal at committee[3]

Why the planning committee refuses applications, from 103 refusals in the loaded minutes. Committee refusals are relatively few — most decisions are settled by officers.

Design Character
49
Amenity
40
Land Use
34
Heritage Conservation
33
Transport Highway
22
Neighbour Impact
17
Environmental
10
Policy Conflict
6
Policies cited on refusal — borough-wide[4]

The policies most often cited on Westminster refusal notices — the official refusal side of the citation record above.

38, 39 and 40 of the City Plan 2019 - 2040708×
S25 and S28 of Westminster's City Plan480×
10.128 of our Unitary Development Plan142×
38 and 40 of the City Plan 2019 - 204078×
42, 44 and 45 of the City Plan 2019 - 204078×
10.146 of our Unitary Development Plan77×
38 and 39 of the City Plan 2019 - 204050×
34, 38 and 39 of the City Plan 2019-204033×
7 and 33 of the City Plan 2019 - 204032×
policies 34, 38 and 39 of the City Plan 2019 - 204027×

692 high-confidence refusal notices parsed for Westminster.

Sources & method
  1. [1]Policy citations, per-policy officer counts and ward citation counts — parsed from 6,359 published Westminster officer reports (delegated and committee), joined to the canonical application record for wards. Approvals included — refusal notices alone only show the refusal side.
  2. [2]Approval rate by application type — Westminster's substantive decision record. · methodology
  3. [3]Committee refusal grounds and committee-cited policies — published Westminster planning-committee minutes. · committee record
  4. [4]Borough-wide refusal-notice policy citations — decision-notice parsing (high-confidence notices only).
Methodology is published in full so every number is traceable to its primary source.