Every document relied on by How to assess a sustainable location under the 2026 NPPF, with its publisher, date, what it was used for and where the checked copy is held. External sources were retrieved on 6 October 2026.
Each quotation on the summary page is checked, when the page is built, against a saved copy of the document it comes from. So are the dates given here. Documents under Crown copyright are kept in the public research repository under the Open Government Licence. Copies of other publishers' documents are kept privately and quoted only briefly.
Abbreviations: NPPF is the National Planning Policy Framework; MHCLG is the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government; DfT is the Department for Transport; PINS is the Planning Inspectorate.
National policy. The August 2026 Framework is the one in force.
Used for: Policy TR3 (the test for a sustainable location), GB7(1)(g)(iii), HC5, and the Annex B definitions of "connectivity" and "reasonable walking distance".
Copy held: nppf/NPPF-August-2026.txt in the research repository (Crown copyright, Open Government Licence).
Used for: Paragraph 110, to show that the wording of TR3(1)(a) is carried forward from the previous Framework.
Copy held: nppf/NPPF-December-2024.txt in the research repository (Crown copyright, Open Government Licence).
The tool named in TR3(2) and the Department for Transport's own guidance on using it.
Used for: What the tool is, who can use the full version, and that Connectivity Tool Lite is open to anyone.
Copy held: guidance-ogl/dft-connectivity-tool.txt in the research repository (Crown copyright, Open Government Licence).
Used for: How scores are calculated, why 50 is not "average", the Connectivity Matrix, the worked example, and what the score does not measure.
Copy held: guidance-ogl/dft-connectivity-tool-interpreting-scores.txt in the research repository (Crown copyright, Open Government Licence).
Used for: The tool's purpose in plan-making and decision-taking, that driving scores should not be the basis of decisions, and that route quality is not measured.
Copy held: guidance-ogl/dft-connectivity-tool-applying.txt in the research repository (Crown copyright, Open Government Licence).
What the government has promised, the guidance as it stood, and a professional body's account of the position.
Used for: The commitment to revise the transport planning practice guidance, and the clarification that other evidence can be used alongside the Connectivity Tool.
Copy held: guidance-ogl/mhclg-nppf-consultation-government-response.txt in the research repository (Crown copyright, Open Government Licence).
Used for: To confirm that the transport guidance had not been revised when retrieved.
Copy held: guidance-ogl/mhclg-ppg-travel-plans-transport-assessments.txt in the research repository (Crown copyright, Open Government Licence).
Used for: That the revised transport guidance was still awaited on 8 September 2026 and is being prepared by the DfT with MHCLG.
Copy held privately for checking quotations; not ours to republish.
Planning Inspectorate (PINS) material for the December 2024 Framework. Training is not policy.
Used for: The date, title and description of the webinar, and the links to the recording and the slides.
Copy held: guidance-ogl/pins-webinars.txt in the research repository (Crown copyright, Open Government Licence).
Used for: The distances, the route-quality points, the questions to ask and the conclusion quoted on the summary page.
Copy held: guidance-ogl/pins-webinar-sustainable-locations-slides.txt in the research repository (Crown copyright, Open Government Licence).
Used for: That the Inspector Training Manual is released on request and is described by PINS as not being Government policy or guidance. We do not hold the Manual itself.
Copy held privately for checking quotations; not ours to republish.
Official, professional and council documents that give distances or methods.
Used for: The 800 metre and 400 metre criteria, and the instruction to measure along routes rather than in straight lines.
Copy held: guidance-ogl/ate-standing-advice-sustainable-development.txt in the research repository (Crown copyright, Open Government Licence).
Used for: What the toolkit is for and its dates. The toolkit itself is a spreadsheet; we have not reviewed its contents.
Copy held: guidance-ogl/ate-planning-application-assessment-toolkit.txt in the research repository (Crown copyright, Open Government Licence).
Used for: Paragraph 4.4.1, which describes the 800 metre "walkable neighbourhood".
Copy held privately for checking quotations; not ours to republish.
Used for: Its recommended distances and its finding on how councils measure access to services when allocating sites.
Copy held privately for checking quotations; not ours to republish.
Used for: Its figure for how many short journeys are walked. It refers to the earlier "Providing for Journeys on Foot" (2000), which we do not hold.
Copy held privately for checking quotations; not ours to republish.
Used for: An example of how a council places settlements in tiers by auditing services, facilities and public transport.
Copy held privately for checking quotations; not ours to republish.