INFORMATION ON THE HART LOCAL PLAN
(Updated December 2024)
What is the Local Plan?
The Local Plan is one of the main mechanisms for determining where development will take place in Hart District, how many homes need to be built, and what the impacts will be on local infrastructure such as roads.
There needs to be a Local Plan to determine how many houses are built and where and to determine the planning authority’s response to proposed development. Without a plan, there is a danger that developers will be able to build almost anywhere they wish.
The Local Plan does not deal with all aspects of development, however, as some major decisions are taken by Hampshire County Council, such as education and healthcare provision.
The Local Plan is created by Hart in accordance with law and Government guidance once approved by Government it becomes the main factor in determining planning applications.
Current Situation
Hart’s Local Plan was updated and ‘adopted’ in 2020. The Local Plan has already protected Hart from unsuitable developments such as Elvetham Chase at Pale Lane, Cross Farm in Church Crookham and Owens Farm in Hook, despite all going to appeal.
It took many years for Hart to develop an acceptable Local Plan, including coordination with other local authorities under its ‘Duty to Cooperate’, leaving Hart unprotected during that period. As the Local Plan was so out of date, developers were able to overturn planning permission refusals at appeal and build where they wanted to, for example on green fields around Fleet and Crookham. Click here to read more about the current Local Plan.
Previous attempts at producing a Local Plan failed largely due a lack of the required cooperative planning with neighbouring authorities within the Housing Market Area (Surrey Heath and Rushmoor) under the ‘Duty to Cooperate’.
Issues
Unless we have an up to date plan we will be forced by the Planning Inspectorate to take housing on unpopular local sites (such as Pale Lane and Redfields Lane).
The Local Plan normally covers a 15 to 20-year planning period but needs to be updated every 5 years so that it is always ‘current’ so that is up-to-date on the current Delivery Trajectory and Five- Year Housing Land Supply.
Constant changes in the Government’s framework of planning legislation and policies make it difficult to ensure that the Local Plan is always valid against the current set of Government regulations.
Way Forward
Central Government determines the numbers of houses Hart will be required to build in future years, despite the results of assessments of local need such as the Objectively Assessed Housing Need undertaken for the current Local Plan. Recent proposals for updating the central Governments National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) guidelines and the imposed housing targets, will determine housing numbers and Hart will have to plan for their delivery according to an acceptable ‘housing trajectory’ (delivery rate) and these will drive the updates needed to the Local Plan.
A review to determine whether the Local Plan needs updating must be concluded by 30th April 2025, when it is five years old. A report on the local plan review is currently scheduled to go to Hart’s Overview and Scrutiny Committee on 10th December 2024 and to Cabinet on 2nd January 2025. There is as yet no timetable for the next issue of the Local Plan.
Hart is proposing a comprehensive review of all housing options for how to deliver the housing targets, including:
- BROWNFIELD sites.
- EXTENSION & INTENSIFICATION of existing settlements (in the main that will be in Fleet/Church Crookham/Crookham Village).
- A NEW SETTLEMENT (Community Garden Village Shapley Heath).
The review of ALL options will be followed by a public consultation allowing Hart residents to have the final say on where future houses are built.
Hart has done well to utilise opportunities for brownfield development in recent years, for example at Queen Elizabeth Barracks (now the housing development ‘Crookham Park’, and at the old Pyestock industrial site to the east of Fleet (now under development as ‘Hartland Park’). But there have also been unpopular ‘greenfield’ developments such as farmland to the west of Fleet (now ‘Edenbrook’), Grove Farm in Crookham Village (now ‘Hareshill’), Watery Lane and Albany Farm in Crookham Village (now ‘Albany Park’). It is highly unlikely that enough ‘brownfield’ land will be identified to provide space for the housing numbers that Hart will be required to build.
Intensification and redevelopment in existing settlements is possible but will not provide the number of houses required and in the timescales needed.
The proposal for a new settlement at Shapley Heath to the west of Hart is not a ‘done deal’ but if the housing requirement is increased significantly then new infrastructure such as schools and primary health facilities (doctors, dentists) will be required to support the increase in population.
Glossary
Duty to Cooporate: The duty to cooperate was created by the Localism Act 2011. It places a legal duty on local planning authorities (LPAs), county councils in England and public bodies to engage constructively, actively and on an ongoing basis with each other to maximise the effectiveness of local plan preparation relating to strategic cross-boundary matters.
Five Year Land Supply: The requirement for a Local Planning Authority (in our case, Hart) to have enough land available to deliver the designated supply of housing for the next five years. This is required throughout the period of the Local Plan (and at the end, therefore, extends beyond the plan period).
Housing Trajectory: The plan for the number of new dwellings to be built each year of the period covered by the Local Plan.
Housing Market Area: A Housing Market Area (HMA) is a geographical area where the demand for housing can be assessed in a relatively self-contained manner. Significant housing market linkages exist between Hart, Rushmoor and Surrey Heath and therefore the three authorities comprise a single Housing Market Area.
Local Plan: The plan for a Local Authority district to determine how many homes need to be built, where development will take place, and what the impacts will be on local infrastructure such as roads.
Local Planning Authority (LPA): A local planning authority is the local government body that is empowered by law to exercise urban planning functions for a particular area. The LPA for the Hart area is Hart District Council.