To receive apologies for absence.

There were no apologies for absence.

There were no chairman’s announcements.

To receive and record any declarations of interest from members present in respect of any of the various matters on the agenda for this meeting.

There were no declarations of interest.

The Acting Planning Policy Manager introduced the item and gave a background to the Local Plan. 

In January 2021, Full Council approved that a hybrid approach to the progressing of the Local Plan would be taken which involved the extension of the plan period by two years up to 2038 to ensure that there would be a minimum of 15 years from the date of adoption which was the national requirement.  This inevitably meant that more homes would be required to meet development needs.

The next formal stage of the Local Plan was a Regulation 19 consultation which was a consultation on EHDC’s preferred plan before it was submitted for examination which was scheduled for April 2022.  It was considered that a preferred spatial strategy should be agreed beforehand to give clarity on the sites chosen to form development allocations.  Having sites in the public domain early in the Local Plan process would allow more detailed work to be undertaken in regard to the sites.  It would allow design workshops with various stakeholders, including parish and town councils to commence to develop site specific policies.  It was important for local residents to shape development of the local sites in order to achieve the best outcomes.

Also, identifying a preferred spatial strategy may also assist with decisions on planning applications submitted ahead of this milestone.  The Council could currently demonstrate in excess of five years’ worth of deliverable housing, but this had to be monitored annually and needed to be considered when assessing applications.

The core elements to the options being presented to the committee represented approximately 2,600 homes. As well as the reduction in the quantum at Whitehill & Bordon, there had been a number of other changes to the context of the local plan.  Of these, most significant was that the Government had proposed significant changes to the planning system through its planning White Paper with a renewed focus on delivering net gain in built and natural environments.  In addition, the Covid 19 pandemic had created a focus on dealing with economic and social recovery, whilst the climate change emergency declared by EHDC and other public bodies was also significant.  In terms of biodiversity, nutrient neutrality was now sought from development in the southern parishes and the Itchen and Meon catchments.  Also, the delays to the Local Plan in regard to the national policy requirements required an extension to the plan period to 2038.  Taking all of this into account, the four reasonable alternatives consisted of 2,600 dwellings on core sites, plus one of the following sites or collection of sites:

Option 1 was incremental growth – a selection of other sites, namely White Dirt Farm in Horndean, Land at Five Heads Road in Horndean, White Down Lane in Alton and Land East of Old Odiham Road.  This would be up to approximately 400 dwellings across the selection of sites.

Option 2 consisted of land at Chawton Park Farm in Alton for up to 1,200 dwellings.

Option 3 – Land  ...  view the full minutes text for item 9.