History. 8 of 8: North East Lincolnshire, West Northamptonshire, Tonbridge and Malling, Basildon, Three Rivers and Buckinghamshire in 2026, Stockport and South Tyneside in 2025 all took the ordered step by the date.
Hunch. On 23 October the council said comments would open 'from early November' but named no day, with 6 November the last day the order allows.
The consultation market resolves on Southend-on-Sea City Council's Local Plan website and news page: YES if public comments on the draft plan, the stage called Regulation 19, are open by the end of 6 November, and NO if they open later or not at all, including if the minister withdraws the order first. GOV.UK and BBC News settle it if the council pages are silent, and whether site BG1 is in the plan does not matter.
We looked for cases where a housing minister in England used the 2004 planning law to order a council to take a set step on its housing plan by a named date. We counted eight such orders to eight councils in 2025 and 2026, all from Matthew Pennycook. Each time we checked whether the council took the step by the date.