Help shape Durham City's future

Background

Since 2009, we've regularly updated town masterplans to guide funding and investment. In the past five years, we've secured over £100 million for the county's main centres, based on these plans. We all want a lively city centre that attracts people and supports businesses. However, changes in shopping habits, leisure activities, and transport mean it's time to update Durham City's strategic plan.

A Vison and Strategic Place Plan (SPP)

An SPP will replace the 2020 Durham City Framework. It will be developed with input from you, making sure that local people, businesses, and communities are involved in the city's future. This shared vision will help to write spatial, economic, and action plans tailored to Durham City's needs.

Eventually, there will be an SPP for each of our towns, and be in line with the Inclusive Economic Strategy.

The boundary map combines the Durham City centre boundary and the proposed Conservation Area boundaries. It also includes some of the areas linked to the city centre and which will have an influence on the Vision.

What's happening now

The first step is to agree a Vision. We're inviting everyone who lives, works, studies, or visits Durham City to share their views on its strengths, opportunities, and areas for improvement. We want to know what you envision for Durham's future.

Have your say

To gather your input, we're also going to be asking people for their views on the streets of Durham City, visiting primary and secondary schools, colleges and the university, and holding workshops with partners.

If you have an interest in the conservation area status of the city, we are also asking people about our draft Conservation Area Management Plan - see Have your say to help us protect the cultural heritage of Durham City.

If you have an interest in Durham World Heritage Site, you can comment on the new management plan for the Durham Castle and Cathedral. You can provide comments until Monday 25 November 2024.

What happens next

We are currently in phase 1 of a process which see us develop the vision and SPP with you.  After this, we will draft a vision from the outcomes of this consultation, consult with you again on the draft vision then adopt it. 

We will then use the Vision to draft an SPP and consult with you on it. Existing or new plans for Aykley Heads, Claypath, Prince Bishops, the Story and the DLI site will be included in the SPP. We will then update the SPP and adopt it.