Your Local Plan – what is it for?
The Local Plan sets out how we intend to accommodate the growth we need to plan for in the district, outside the South Downs National Park, for the period up to 2039. To do this the plan:
- Identifies suitable sites for a range of new housing that will allow people wanting to live in the district to find accommodation that matches their needs
- Includes policies and sites which encourage sustainable local economic growth
- Looks to protect our valuable countryside, habitats and heritage
- Contributes to tackling the climate emergency
All these different threads of work will be pulled together into a draft Local Plan (known as the Regulation 18 stage of the plan making process) which we are intending to publish for public consultation in August/September this year.
What is happening now?
The process to develop a Local Plan has been underway for two years - the high number of responses received to date have provided very valuable feedback and are helping us work on the direction of the proposed strategy and the policies for the new plan.
Two key pieces of work have been undertaken to enable us to draft the new plan:
1. Housing numbers
One process relates to a calculation of the housing numbers that Government policy says we need to accommodate and we then have to decide how these numbers are best distributed across the district outside the South Downs National Park.
The housing numbers are likely to vary over the next few years, and are affected by factors not fully in the control of the council, so we have made reasonable assumptions about these figures based on what we know now.
2. The Strategic Housing and Employment Land Availability Assessment report
The second piece of work is the call for sites which enabled owners and promoters to put forward land which is potentially available for development and these sites are published in the Strategic Housing and Employment Land Availability Assessment report (SHELAA).
Some 380 sites are included in the SHELAA in total. Only a small fraction of these sites will be needed to meet the growth we are currently expecting to plan for which, in housing terms, is around an additional 3,000 new residential properties up to 2039.
To help with the selection of sites we are now liaising with the Winchester Town Forum, and working with all parish councils in and around the city, and the parishes with the other most sustainable towns and larger villages, and asking them to review the SHELAA sites, along with any others they think may be available for development, to take the growth we are planning to accommodate over the 17 years to 2039 as set out below:
- New Alresford (through a Neighbourhood Plan) - additional 100 – 120 homes
- Bishop’s Waltham - additional 100 – 120 homes
- Wickham – 90 - 100 additional homes
- Waltham Chase – 90 – 100 additional homes
- Swanmore – 90 – 100 additional homes
- Kings Worthy - 90 – 100 additional homes
- Denmead (through a review of their Neighbourhood Plan) - 90 – 100 additional homes
- Colden Common – 90 – 100 additional homes
- Otterbourne – 50 – 60 additional homes
- South Wonston – 50 – 60 additional homes
- Sutton Scotney – 50 – 60 additional homes
In the case of Winchester itself the range is 1,600 to 1,650 additional homes between now and 2039 and, when we take into account development that might reasonably be expected to come forward within the existing town boundary and other brownfield land which is potentially available, a further 250 -300 homes may need to be accommodated on unidentified development site(s) over this period.
We are also having conversations with the parish/town councils in the South Hampshire Urban Area regarding potential for additional development around Newlands (West of Waterlooville) and Whiteley
If your village is not listed above it doesn’t mean that no growth can take place. These villages will not be expected to plan for a housing number but small scale development in keeping with those settlements will still be possible.
How do you get involved?
We are intending to consult on the draft plan between August and September this year. The consultation process looks to let everyone have their say on how we accommodate the growth we need to plan for over the next 17 years.
If you would like to be involved please sign up here for the updates and invitations to events: planningpolicy@winchester.gov.uk
Page last updated: Friday 14 October 2022