Over the last 10 months the negotiations with the developers on land East Of Horndean have been carried out to finalise the Section 106 agreement. Most of the time taken has been to review some of the highways aspects – for example the roundabouts on the B2149 in front of the development and by Rowlands Castle and the motorway junction. Multi agency agreements take a little while, but we have been able to use this to finalise the community aspects of the Section 106 agreement including the community building, cricket pitch, pavilion, allotments, public open space and more! The final tally in favour of the community is approximately £17,750,000.
12 months ago we promised one strategic development would get more community benefit than any piecemeal development ever would and below is the list of what Horndean and the surrounding area will get – All £17,750,000 of it.
It is a long list… and one we are all very proud of.
At this weekends presentation held at Merchistoun Hall around 200 local residents stopped in and saw the details and possible design for the new community building. Links to ALL of the consultation banners are at the end of this article including a copy of the questionnaires which, if you could not make it to the event, you are very welcome to fill in. Please either email or forward a hard copy to your local District Councillor or the Horndean Parish Council offices any time before the end of February.
Here is information on the new building and some of the ideas we have had so far:
Based on feedback from this weekend consultation (and any more we receive in the next month) local Parish and District councillors will progress with the plans feeding in the ideas that we receive.
Here are the links to the rest of the information boards. They give a bit more information about the school, public open space, employment sites and more:
In the run up to the LEOH Planning Committee meeting the size of the Primary School changed from 1 form entry to 2 form entry and back to 1 form entry.
Every new home generates (on average) a need for 0.3 primary school places so the 700 homes on Land East of Horndean would generate a need for 0.3×700 = 210 spaces. A one form entry school (one class of 30 pupils for each of the 7 years at the school) would alone fill a one form entry school.
The Horndean and Rowlands Castle District Councillors with Parish Councillors invited HCC to meet and discuss our local needs. We already know local schools are oversubscribed and wanted to ensure this new school could cater not only for the new homes, but also for the current demand and other new homes.
Following these meetings HCC have confirmed the following:
1 – A 1.5 form entry school will be built on LEOH with space to extend to a two form entry school secured to extend the school in the future to a two form entry school with a capacity for 420 students.
2 – The access road to the school and land will be handed over to HCC before any houses are sold so that the school can be in place right from the start.
3 – The land owners will also pay about £5 Million to fund the building of the schools as well as handing over the land for free.
4 – HCC are also working on plans now to extend primary schools in Havant as currently about 200 pupils travel to schools here. This will also help reduce local pressure.
Cllr Elaine Tickell, said: “As local councillors we wanted to make sure the new development could address the current over-subscribed schools and make sure that the new school was in place right at the start of the development.”
Cllr Guy Shepherd, said: “When the planning committee was advised by Hampshire County Council that a single form entry school for 210 pupils was required to mitigate the development we were concerned this would not address our current needs as well as the new development. Local Councillors and EHDC Officers have worked with Hampshire County Council to look at how we can make sure Horndean is properly provided for. We are delighted that HCC has been able to review this and with capacity for 315 to 420 students we know this vital infrastructure is secured.”
Readers of this blog or the local papers may recall the Secretary of State for the DCLG (Department for Communities and Local Government) issued a Section 25 notice directing East Hants not to finally determine the Land East Of Horndean planning application until he had decided if it merited being called in.
East Hants District Council have today received formal notification that the Secretary of State feels there are no grounds to call the application in, in which case East Hants are free to formally approve the application subject to the final agreement over the detail of the Section 106 agreement.
Anyone attending the planning committee meeting will also recall indecision from HCC on if the land would provide a ‘One form entry’ or a ‘Two form entry’ school. The 700 homes justify a one form entry school, but 2 form entry schools are generally more successful, and would allow additional facilities to take more pupils in from the surrounding community, including local schools that are already stretched.
I am delighted to confirm that HCC have formally asked EHDC to ensure a two form entry school is planned in which means the resilience for the schooling in this development is excellent.
Finally, As the plans for the community facilities develop, East Hants and Horndean Parish Council will be working together to hold a number of Special Community Forums and other meetings to get the widest communities view on what you would like to see in the community building and the final detail of the rest of the facilities on the development including the Pavillion, playing fields, open space and play areas.
When the dates for these meetings are known they will be announced by EHDC, HPC, in the press and posted on this blog. This represents an exciting and challenging time for Horndean and it is important that you take part.
George Hollingbery MP said:
“The Hazleton and Pyle Farm development has always had the overwhelming support of local residents and was passed by planners at East Hampshire District Council, so the announcement that it will not be subject to a ruling from Whitehall is great news.
“The decision by Brandon Lewis is also crucial to the future of the South of Butser area because it will allow the council to resist unsuitable development in the future.
“There was real fear in the community that the Hazleton development would be blocked and developers would simply be able to cherry-pick green spaces to meet housing need. That possibility has now significantly diminished.
“With a five-year land supply in place and an allocations plan well under way, EHDC are now in a much better planning position and I would like to commend all the our local councillors who have worked so hard to save the beautiful countryside South of Butser from inappropriate development.”
The Land East of Horndean plans were debated at Barton Hall, Horndean Technology College tonight and approved by the Planning Committee. At this stage it is what is called ‘Outline permission’ which approves the principal of the number of dwellings, the community facilities and the highways improvements and access onto the land.
The development will deliver 693 new dwellings (of which 278 will be affordable), 1.7Ha of employment land and a care village with a care home, 45 assisted living units and 60 independent units.
The community facilities include:
Community Building of 1,300 to 1,500 SqM including a large multi use hall suitable for 3 indoor court games with pull out seating, staging, smaller meeting rooms, changing rooms, bar facilities
Junior and Full Size football pitches
1.2 to 2.0 Hectares of land for a Primary School with cash contribution to Hampshire County Council to fund the new school
Local retail centre with convenience shops
60 full size allotments
Land for a Skate Park
Cricket Pitch
Pavillion of 180 to 200 SqM with changing facilities and bar
MUGA ( Multi Use Games Area)
4 children’s play areas
20 pieces of outdoor gym equipment
21.45 Hectares (53 Acres) of outdoor public open space and woodland walks
There is also funding for local highways improvements, cycle paths and other facilities in Horndean
This effectively makes further large applications for housing in Horndean very unlikely to succeed unless they are already in the Local Plan and will be a major consideration in the current appeals for Lovedean and Blendworth Lane.
The application is not approved until the Section 106 agreement is finalised. This is where the final details of the community contributions are negotiated to add detail to the list above. One of these is the final decision from Hampshire County Council as to whether they will be funding a ‘one form’ primary school or a ‘two form’ primary school on the development. One argument for is that two form entry schools are more cost effective. One argument against is to spread the schools around the community and Hampshire County Council have land they own elsewhere in Horndean that is a possible option. The final outcome of this will be reported here.
The Secretary of State has also issued an Article 25 notice on the development and this is a formal notice not to complete the planning application process (finalise the Section 106) until he has decided if he wishes to call it in to be reviewed or not. This happened at Lovedean Lane, Fourmarks and is also currently in force at a development in Alton and is usually decided in a 4 week period. This development is the ‘least worst’ option for Horndean, it packs in the community facilities and Portsmouth Water have agreed the safeguards they wish to see for the plans to be approved. I can not see this being called in for a review and will post the outcome here when we hear.
The next steps in this are to ensure we get the best we can out of the community facilities as they are built. I have already publicly stated my commitment to ensuring this happens with the caveat that if the Community Facilities are not delivered, I will not stand again. I look forward to letting you know how these progress and in a little while posting the final Section 106 agreement so the list is clear.
Whether you support Land East of Horndean, or oppose it, tonight is the night for the planning committee meeting at Barton Hall in Horndean. This is located at Horndean Technology College off Catherington Lane and all are welcome.
The meeting commences at 6pm promptly and the committee will debate the plans, review the discussions about water, gas pipes and highways access. The community facilities are also part of the discussion too.
In the meantime the Secretary of State has written to the council advising them not to grant permission without specific authorisation as he is considering whether it should be referred to him for determination.
In a letter to the council the Secretary of State said: “This direction does not, of course, prevent your Council from considering the application, forming a view as to the merits or, if they are so minded, refusing permission.”
If approved at the planning committee there is a period of 8 weeks where the Section 106 agreement is finalised and planning is not in place until this document is agreed.
In the last 6 months we have received temporary holding notices for 4 applications in EHDC – Lovedean Lane, Fourmarks, Alton and Land East of Horndean. Lovedean and Fourmarks were discharged without follow up and we will hear shortly about Alton and LEOH. Typically the Secretary of State calls in about 12 applications nationwide a year.
The meeting will take place at Barton Hall, Horndean Technology College, Barton Cross, Horndean at 6pm on Wednesday 15 April.
The EHDC Allocation Plan is now entering its second round of consultation and the community, developers and land owners have a 6 week period to view and make comments on the plan. Public comments will be accepted from the 10th April until 5pm on the 22nd May.
For Horndean there are minor amendments on the entry with Land East Of Horndean still the allocated site.
Whether you support or are against the plan it is important to give your feedback and it can be viewed, along with its background evidence, at http://www.easthants.gov.uk/draftsiteallocations.
Comments received during the last public consultation which ran between 19 December 2014 and 6 February 2015 have been taken into account and appropriate changes made to the Site Allocations Plan. The amended document will now be open to further public comments before being sent to the planning inspectorate.
East Hants will be one of the first planning authorities to have a fully adopted Local Plan which incorporates NPPF and as it has gone through the first stages of public consultation, is now being uses as key evidence in planning decisions and inquiries.
EHDC are expecting to bring the Land East Of Horndean application to a special planning committee meeting which will be held at Barton Hall, Horndean Technology College off Catherington Lane. Over the last months the developer has been working with Portsmouth Water, the Highways Agency and other organisations to address their comments from the consultation period and it is expected this is likely to be concluded by then.
This will be on Wednesday 15th April at 6:00pm and specifically to address Land East Of Horndean so save the date in the diary and keep watching here for further information.
Whether you support or are against Land East Of Horndean it is important to attend to hear the application and the hall has enormous capacity so please do go.
Over the last 18 months there have been a few polls on here to get the community view so it is timely to show the results:
The Land East Of Horndean plans are still going through the public consultation stage and I thought it was worth a post to update everyone on the progress of this key local application.
The application generated three main sets of queries which the developers have been working to resolve in the last months.
1 – The proximity of a large below ground gas main limits the type of development that can be built within certain distances (raised by the HSE)
2 – Portsmouth Water have to be satisfied that the development will not affect the aquifer that supplies a large portion of the areas water
3 – The Highways Agency who own the motorway infrastructure want to see improvements to the roundabout to allow pedestrian access across the motorway
White Young Green, the developers agents, have been coordinating meetings with these organisations to understand their views and incorporate feedback into the proposals. At this point it is essential to stress that District Councillors do NOT participate in these meetings. Either the consultees can be satisfied by the proposals and withdraw any objections or holding letters based on technical solutions and agreement, or they can not. There can be no political pressure here.
The gas main which the HSE were concerned about has led to a reduction in the size of the care home buildings which will be seen very positively by the residents to the North of Rowlands Castle Road. The developers have also committed to further consultation with the residents around the Care home and Cricket pitches if this outline application is successful to look at how specific local views can be considered in a detailed application. The site plan below shows the revised arrangement – the area in faint has been revised to incorporate the HSE comments on clearance zones.
Portsmouth Water and WYG have had meetings to understand the concerns about contamination risks. The land is known to have Sinkholes and these are vertical fissures of varying sizes where the ground has washed away by ground water. They give more direct pathways for any pollutants at ground level to get into the water table. As the groundwater passes through the chalk this provides a very effective filtering process but the water resource is vital and EHDC will not give permission unless Portsmouth Water are happy there are adequate safeguards in place to allow development to take place safely.
The Highways Agency have been the third key area and they are looking for some road widening to the motorway spur and improvements to the roundabout to relieve traffic building back onto the motorway and provide safe pedestrian access across the motorway. This would mean traffic lights on the junction.
In the last few days some revised information has been issued to EHDC and has been uploaded onto the planning portal. The images on this post and all of the supporting information can be seen on the link here under the ‘Documents’ tab : Full Application Details
The Public consultation period for the plans has formally closed but the planning officers are generally accommodating to comments on revised plans so if you have anything you would like the case officer to consider then please submit it to EHDC in the next week or so.
It is likely that the EHDC planning committee will convene to decide the application in April and we have requested this will be at a local venue so interested parties can attend and hear the debate.
EHDC have commenced the public consultation into the Allocations Plan. this is the plan that shows where the Settlement Policy Boundaries will be extended in each community to allow new development. For Horndean this means ‘Land East Of Horndean’. The Allocations Plan does not cover the South Downs National Park (which is a separate planning authority) or areas where the Parish Council have committed to a neighbourhood plan.
The consultation is now open and runs until 5pm on Friday 6th February 2015.
To view the draft plan, see the FAQ’s and make comment to the planning policy team please click on this link: EHDC Allocations Plan
You can also see a paper copy of the plan at Horndean Parish Council’s offices:
Horndean Parish Council, Tyfield House, Blendworth Lane.
9:00am to 4:30pm Monday to Friday.
In the last week EHDC have reached a significant milestone event in the second part of the Local Plan, or allocations plan, by publishing a Draft version. This is one of the key topics on the Special Planning Public Meeting EHDC are holding on the 10th November at 7pm, Barton Hall, Horndean Technology College.
The Planning Team will be giving us a good update on the following:
Current Applications
Housing elsewhere in the District
The three major applications at Whitehill Bordon
Where the South Downs National Park Authority are on their plan
The Draft Allocations Plan
The proposal to select the sites in ‘Land East Of Horndean’ is a good fit with much (but not all) of the community view. It is also a current application which means it is viable, so a very strong argument against other options elsewhere. This is NOT however a firm proposal and needs community support to say if it is the right or wrong option. Whether you support this or not, it is important you give your view.
The meeting will also have a questions and answers section. If you would like to submit a question on any of the issues above about planning in EHDC, SDNPA or more detailed questions about applications in the parishes of Clanfield, Horndean and Rowlands Castle then please use the contact form below by noon on Friday 7th November and it will go directly to the team at EHDC where they will sort the questions and make sure the topics are all covered on the night.
The planning team look forward to seeing as many people as possible on the 10th November.
Over the last 6 months the Planning Development team and Councillors at EHDC have been working on the Allocations Plan, of the Second part of the Local Plan. This sets the sites where development will be located outside of the settlement policy boundary, and once it has gone through its consultation and examination will be a final and robust measure for planning in Horndean, and across EHDC.
For this blog I will set out the housing sites South of Butser in all three parishes as we all have a wider interest in the area.
This is the best fit possible with the community consultations on where to build which were organised by the District Councillors here, and have since been used as a template across the district. There is however a lot of science behind the allocations and the sites have been picked based on sustainability and suitability. Clearly the community at large was also able to come to the right conclusions too.
The Next Steps:
29th October 2014 – The draft plan was approved by the Development Policy Panel at EHDC last night by the Councillors on that committee for endorsement to Cabinet at EHDC.
6th November 2014 – The Draft Pan will be discussed at an EHDC Cabinet Meeting. I am a member of Cabinet and also on the Development Policy Panel. Having supported the proposals at DPP I will be supporting this at Cabinet too.
4th December – If approved at Cabinet, the draft plan will go to full Council for public consultation
19th December – If approved at EHDC Council there will be a 6 week Public Consultation process with local exhibitions which will run to the 6th February.
Comments are then incorporated into the plan and a revised version is then issued.
This is followed by a 6 week public consultation where developers and other interested parties will review and comment.
The plan is then submitted to the Secretary of State for approval and an inspector is assigned
A public examination process then begins and if the inspector feels the plan is robust and has considered the best sites then it is approved.
This process takes about 10 months in all.
What can you do?
If you disagree with the options that have been chosen then the public consultation time is the right time to raise this, and why. If you agree with the plans then it is important to say that you do. Do not rely on other people alone to do this, people are more likely to make the time to comment on something they do not agree with.
The EHDC Special Planning Forum at 7:00pm on the 10th November at Barton Hall, Horndean Technology College is the perfect time to come along and do this.
To read the full version of the Draft Allocation plan and see the maps click on this link here: EHDC Draft Allocation Plan
Thank you to the team at EHDC who have worked exceptionally long hours, attended dozens of meetings and held several consultations to progress this. If this is good news to you please can you consider a thank you email to them on planning-policy@ehdc.gov.uk
WYG, the developers behind the Land East Of Horndean planning application have today confirmed that their full planning application has been submitted to East Hants, and been registered.
This application, if approved, would deliver Horndean’s housing need in a strategic development to 2028 that brings in some very welcome community facilities.
After two consultations WYG were ready to submit their plans but the site investigations identified local roosts of Bechstein’s Bats, an endangered species. This meant that specialists had to capture some of the bats and place transponders on them to track their movements and roosts. This has led to bat corridors being designed into the scheme. This has delayed their submission in the last months and if this were not the case EHDC may have been in a stronger position to defend one of the Lovedean sites.
The very fact that it has been registered is a material consideration for subsequent planning applications which gets stronger as the consultation period progresses.
Here is a copy of the masterplan:
Timescales. Because the development needed an Environmental Screening Assessment the consultation period is 16 weeks so it should go to a planning committee towards the end of February 2015.
Interested parties have until the 22nd November to give their comments. These can be by post or email to the case officer who is Julia Mansi, EHDC’s most senior planning case officer. You can also give comments on the EHDC website and use the link to the Full Application details at the bottom of the page to do this. Cllr Dorothy Denston is the ward Councillor and will of course be very pleased to hear your views too.
Should Land East Of Horndean be developed to provide 700 homes, Retail Center, Primary School, Care Village, Community Building, Playing Pitches, Pavillion, allotments, Open Space and Play Areas?
The Land East Of Horndean application was expected to be submitted by WGY at the end of August, and at this time has been delayed a little.
The development site has been found to be habitat for a rare breed of bats known as ‘Bechsteins Bats’ and the developers have had to trap some under licence, stick transponders on them and monitor their movements to ensure clear flight paths for foraging can be designed in.
According to Wikipedia there are perhaps 1,000 of these bats in the UK, and they are a highly endangered species. as a result they are heavily protected. Based on the numbers found in the two roosts it seems most of them are at Hazleton Farm!
The bat specialists have concluded their studies and the final impact is being designed into the masterplan now. WYG expect to get the application in by the end of September which will be in good enough time to help demonstrate suitable alternatives to our less preferred sites.
Is renewable energy a good thing? Yes. undoubtedly. We need more of it, but to generate enough electricity with PV (Solar Panels) vast areas are required. Typical schemes are 50 to 100 acres. these are too big for the roofs of any buildings, and there is simply no such thing as brownfield land big enough to be re-used. If Solar Farms are to be used as a source of renewable energy then they will cover large areas of land, usually green field space.
We are currently aware of one set of proposals which is adjacent to, but not on the proposed ‘Land East Of Horndean’ site. The farmland is Grade 4 – About the lowest quality possible, but has been used in the past for grazing, and undoubtedly has its own habitat.
For me the size of the proposed scheme came as a surprise, but to generate enough power for perhaps 5,000 homes everything is proportional. The location is far less sensitive than the solar farm in Lovedean, and we are told the ground below will still sustain much of the existing habitats for the current biodiversity.
In the last few weeks consultation have been held in Rowlands Castle and Horndean, but were not very well advertised. I found out the morning of the Horndean consultation, but instead of finding a large corporate machine who were looking to do the minimum possible consultation, met the proposers, who are local businessmen doing this for the first time. They are very happy to keep the consultation open for any comments online, and with their permission I am enclosing images of their plans here.
Red line drawing showing the extent of the proposed solar farm:
Plan showing the general orientation of the panels:
For me the balance of loss of farmland and visual impact are a close call against the environmental benefit of renewable energy, but tipped just in favor because the visibility of the site from the motorway and surrounding roads will be minimal. When the plans are submitted to EHDC there will be a formal opportunity to comment, but in the meantime please pass any feedback to them on their website (link above). The ward Councillor is Cllr Marge Harvey in Rowlands Castle.
The White Dirt Farm planning application has caused local controversy with near total public opposition (currently 93% – NO and 4.5% – YES). the quality of the public consultation has added further controversy, as has the apparent (but difficult to see how this could happen) mistake in giving residents details of a scheme that was smaller than the one in the actual application. The controversy has continued in that EHDC reclassified the application as ‘Invalid’ when it discovered a key document was missing, giving a clear message this application is anything but a ‘Done Deal’.
Taylor Wimpey have now completed this report and submitted it to EHDC, and it has been accepted, so the consultation has now recommenced.
As the consultation must allow for a full 4 weeks viewing, the clock has started again. The new dates are below:
Application accepted as valid – 13 August
Consultation period expires – 10 September
Application due to be decided – 12 November.
It is expected that the Land East Of Horndean application will be submitted to EHDC at the end of August, and with the local community view (see LIPS) and the solid infrastructure and facilities the Land East Of Horndean scheme can offer in comparison, it is difficult to see why Taylor Wimpey have pursued with this proposal.
The White Dirt Farm poll is below if you have not yet voted. For completeness and to see the two side by side, I have also put the ‘Land East Of Horndean’ poll here too.
The second consultation for the plans for ‘Land East Of Horndean’ was held yesterday at Napier hall after development organisers WYG sent an invitation to every home in Horndean. (For those who do not open envelopes addressed to “Dear Occupier” you will have binned it without realising but dont worry you can see the full set here, and comment.)
The plans shown drew in a number of amendments from the community feedback, including a separate access for the employment sites which previously shared the same roads as the school and shops and a lot more more detail.
This location is the clear community preference as to where Horndean’s housing need is placed (see earlier articles on Horndean Housing Consultation) and if we are to fight off developments like White Dirt Farm and the string of sites along Lovedean Lane then this is our alternative option.
My view has been that the scheme must include excellent community facility to secure our support, and the plans shown yesterday go a very long way to achieve this, and provided the community facility retains this detail and grows I will be firmly supporting this as our best solution to our housing need, and best protection against other unwanted developments.
If the application is successful then there will need to be further community meetings and consultations to discuss and seek your views on what goes into the community building and other facilities (Is it a hall like Jubilee and Napier for general use, does it contain leisure facilities etc).
WYG are planning to put an application into EHDC in the next 4 weeks. This will be posted here along with details on how to comment whether you support, or are against the development. In the meantime WYG are inviting feedback on these plans and you can email the comments to them on landeastofhorndean@wyg.com by the 8th August. A decision would be made just before Christmas. This application is for Outline Permission and if successful will then be followed by applications for detailed approval.
Click Here for the link to the full consultation information presented yesterday. The file is 6MB so may take a short while to download. In the meantime 3 excerpts have been included below and you can click on the images to enlarge them.
Masterplan of the whole site:
Community Hub of Shops, School and Community Building:
Cricket Pitch, Pavillion, Care Home and ‘Down Sizing’ Properties:
In April this year, WYG held a consultation for their proposals on ‘Land East Of Horndean’ at Merchistoun Hall which was very well attended by the community. In the last months they advise they have been incorporating data from the consultation as well as carrying out their EIA – Environmental Impact Assessment on the site.
The land is the most favored location to build out our housing needs and provided the amended plans show the full extent of the community facilities we are looking for, I will be fully supporting the scheme as our nest solution to satisfy our needs. If approved this will then offer a significant level of protection to Horndean against building in more harmful locations and I am certain we will see a significant change in the success rate of applications we receive.
WYG have kindly forwarded me a copy of the consultation leaflet which is below, and again are sending a copy to every household in the Parish to ensure they are informed and invited to attend.
The consultation is on Thursday 31st July between 3:00pm and 8:00pm at Napier Hall (next door to the Colonial Bar)
At the moment there is a massive shortage of new homes in the country. This has been compounded by very low amounts of building during the recession. Now this is over, the market has turned with low interest rates and high demand resulting in developers rushing to secure permissions to build. This has resulted in house builders descending on Horndean, Lovedean and Clanfield as these are very desirable places to live, so will sell well. Regular readers of this blog will know that we have the threat of very much more housing than we wish to receive, and the District Councillors are doing everything we can to help protect our community.
Hopefully this post will give a little more information.
Working with our MP. Last night all 8 District Councillors in Horndean, Clanfield and Rowlands Castle met with our MP, George Hollingbery, who is equally concerned about the impact this may have, and is supporting us in this. George also regularly hears from residents across our parishes, and as well as speaking to colleagues at East Hants is also in regular contact with Nick Bowles MP, (Planning Minister) to raise his concerns. There were several key outcomes from this meeting, but one key conclusion was that we need to better understand the argument of ‘Sustainable development / unsustainable development’ to combat applications. George is going to assist us here with case examples that may help with precedence.
EHDC and LIPS. You may have read the article here on LIPS (Local Interim Planning Statements) which are the outcome of the consultations on where to build, and will form key evidence in the allocations plan. We need to get EHDC to make better use of this evidence and are in discussions with colleagues about how this takes place. We have also discussed several other issues that it will not be helpful to blog here as developers also read HorndeanMatters and doing so would be counter productive.
Why Here? Actually, it is not just here in Horndean. The onslaught of applications also covers Alton, Four Marks and other communities in East Hampshire. Fourmarks needs 180 homes in the period to 2028, and at the last planning meeting an application for 175 homes was approved. Developers have spotted a further 325 potential homes there and are consulting and putting forward applications at a significant rate there. Alton has several large schemes with 700 or more homes coming in to planning now. This is also the picture across the South of England in pretty much every county. Please remember, development is not at the instigation of the local authority, it requires 3 parties. 1) A land owner who wishes to cash in, 2) A developer who thinks it is a good location, and 3) Buyers. Currently all 3 exist in abundance.
5 Year Plan. East Hants needs to have a 5 year plan for deliverable housing. If we need to build our 582 homes per year then we need to have 5 times this number ‘in the pipeline’ and buildable within 5 years. The 5 year plan is not a report produced by EHDC that is incomplete or late, it is essentially a daily rolling total of the housing approvals and completions and is very much developer led.
Once we have achieved our 5 year plan we are viewed to be ‘building enough houses for our own needs’ and can use additional polices such as GAPS etc to prevent building in the wrong places. This will also allow us to use the Joint Core Strategy housing numbers for each settlement as a guide to where we cap development. Without the 5 year plan in place, it is a free for all and some communities will most certainly build out more homes than we require to achieve it. Four Marks and Alton are most certainly going to be in this category, and Horndean will too as the Hazleton Farm development of 700 homes will be on top of whatever we need to approve now.
With the current rate of applications coming in, it is expected that we will achieve our 5 year plan in September this year. This is significant as this is based on the applications we currently have received at EHDC, and one or two we expect imminently across the district. This means that applications which are not currently in planning will be heard after we have achieved our 5 year plan, and our saved policies (Gap Land etc) as well as settlement totals can then robustly apply. White Dirt Farm will fall in this category, and Crookley Park which is just coming to consultation is arriving very late to the party if it hopes to make use of vulnerability to the 5 year plan.
In effect, we have a further 3 or 4 months of working our way through applications putting forward the best defences we can, and then we start to have some more effective tools to combat development.
For Horndean we still need Hazleton Farm to come forward to be able to adequately block the other sites, and are in regular contact with the developer there to find out when this might be. In the meantime we are looking at the growing case history of planning decisions under NPPF to better argue whether a development is sustainable or not as precedence is set, and lever better use of LIPS in decision making.
Once we have our 700 homes total (and probably more) then refusing applications will be a much easier task.
NIMBY’ism? We do need to build more homes. The increases in house prices are a factor of supply and demand, and preventing our children from becoming home owners. Horndean has to take 700 more homes, and readers of this blog know the community view, and view of the local Councillors is to make best use of Hazleton Farm to give a worthwhile development with some good community facilities.
Building in this area is about The Right Homes in The Right Places with The Right Facilities.
EHDC tabled a series of documents at our Council Meeting earlier this week called “LIPS” or Local Interim Planning Statements. These reflect the core findings from the public consultations which we held at Merchistoun Hall and showed an overwhelming support for any development in Horndean to be steered to ‘Land East Of Horndean’, better known as Hazleton and Pyle Farms. These will also form the basis of any input to the Allocations plan, however it is patently clear to me that by the time we go through the process and consultation of the allocations plan we will have served up our requirements and more in Horndean. Hopefully we can use the LIPS as one of many tools to slow this down and to prevent some of the applications on the way.
EHDC have taken legal advice on the LIPS and believe they have weight. How much remains to be seen and to be assessed at each step. For Horndean the key paragraph we need to focus on is below.
“On the evidence of the settlement profiles, the evidence base that accompanies the JCS and the event feedback the most sustainable location for the future development in Horndean is the Hazelton Farm – East Horndean area so long as it provides high quality development in accordance with the policies of the JCS, brings a new focus to Horndean with new commerce and facilities that are adequately served by services and infrastructure. A focus of development in that location would be most sustainable by diverting development from the peripheral areas of Lovedean and Catherington, the development of which is most likely to undermine the social cohesion and individuality of Horndean’s character”
To view the full document please click on this link here Horndean LIPS Council Version.
There is one amendment which was added at the council meeting makes it clear the housing applies to settlements, and not parishes. For example, the land at Hazleton Farm is clearly part of the settlement of Horndean, residents will have a Horndean address, and it is a Horndean political issue. A small part of the land is actually (and very oddly) in the boundary of the Parish of Rowlands Castle, several miles away, but clearly the housing on this land must count to, and will be a part of, Horndean’s community and required total.
Here we have an advance copy of the May 2014 news letter for online readers. It is off to be printed and after promising alcohol to the team of newsletter deliverers will hopefully be on doormats in about 7 days time.
The main theme affecting Horndean is Housing and this reflects the theme with an update on WDF, Land East Of Horndean and other planning matters, but there is so much more going on in Horndean from the War memorial project to a new Bandstand for Merchistoun and updates on Crime and lots of other stuff. The image below is a graphic I have knocked up to demonstrate feelings about the housing invasion we face. Hopefully ‘Land East Of Horndean’ is the answer, but we are looking at a series of battles to try to fight off the rest.
This last Friday saw a consultation for the ‘Land East Of Horndean’ which was organised by planning consultants White Young Green on behalf of Highwood, Banner Homes and The Borrow Foundation. This could be our best answer to the housing need in Horndean, and also an opportunity to build in some great facilities for the Parish.
Some 500 people visited during the day and while not everyone is pleased (understandably) to see our Parish grow at this rate, the overwhelming mood was that the proposals could offer some good benefits for the Parish in return. Ultimately, I believe this is the ‘Least Worst’ place to build and so we should make the best use of the land and work with the developer to get the best facilities we can for the community.
WYG have an extended consultation period for comments to be given by email and you can open this by clicking on this link here: Consultation Form. This needs to be sent back by the 9th May at landeastofhorndean@wyg.com
The proposals look to include a number of facilities for the Parish including a cricket pitch and a care home. Highwood are the care home specialists and very much a part of this scheme, so there would be no danger of this not happening as with the Gales site. Their proposals are to develop the land to the top of their site as little as possible with spread out homes, some retirement bungalows and a care home set in the grounds of a cricket pitch and open green space. (See Character Area 1).
One of the concerns about any development is the provision of health care and schooling. We are working hard to get the surgery moved into the Gales development, and WYG have been in discussion with Hampshire County Council to see if the schools have capacity or not. This seems to be a moving target with County, so the plans allocate space for a new Secondary School if one is required.
The design also includes employment sites as well as a Community Building.
A very important part of this consultation is to let the developers know what facilities we want to see designed in if they were to get planning permission. At the moment based on recent surveys and feedback from the Parish Plan we are looking at:
Football fields, possible one Astroturf
Cricket Pitch and Pavillion
Allotments
Space for a Skate Park
Community Building
Woodland walks and open green space
Childrens play areas in dog free enclosures
Dedicated dog runs
Pond
Village Green
A very large number of these have been indicated on the drawings, but we now need you to give feedback on if these are what we would like to have incorporated, and most importantly, what facilities do we wish to see in the Community Building? A Gym? Indoor Courts? Space for clubs to hold events? Theater?
Please give feedback on what should be included and comment on this post to start the debate!
One thing was also very clear, the quality of information and the interest in community facility and to build a scheme to add value to Horndean was a stark contrast top the Taylor Wimpey consultation. WGY will also be holding a follow up consultation to represent the plans to show what comments have been included and I will post details here for when this will happen.
Here are links to all 12 of the presentation boards which are re-produced with the images above with the kind permission of WYG
Please do not forget that the Housing Consultation for Land East Of Horndean is Tomorrow, Friday 25th April at Merchistoun Hall between 3:00pm and 8:00pm. If you have not visited Merchistoun Hall before then it is at 106 Portsmouth Road.
The developers will have rather more information to show than the sketch on the invitation letter, and if you live in Horndean, it is important that you visit to give your views on the development. It is particularly important that you give views on the sort of community facility that should be included, and while open space and woodland walks are guaranteed, please give clear thought on the suggestions for a Cricket Pitch, Pavillion, Football Fields, new shops, pond, allotments, space for a Skate Park and more. Of particular importance is what should go into the proposed community centre. A gym? Theatre? Ball Courts?
If you have views on Horndean’s facilities, and agree that we need more then it is important to go to give your view. Equally, if you do not support the development then you should also go and give your views as to why.
I hope to see you there and will get to it myself about 6pm after work.
Development is the current topic for most residents in Horndean, and a resident of Blendworth, a retired Architect practice owner, has suggested some different ideas for Hazleton which might capture imagination.
The sketches have been prepared by Paul Evans with whose kind permission I am reproducing here. Paul’s key argument is that Horndean has a very poor village center. This is without a doubt correct, and the A3M dividing Horndean into two does not help this. By creating a community hub on Hazleton Farm with the cricket pitches drawn into the larger development area as a central hub will create a sense of place. Paul’s suggested layout also separates the business from the housing, so probably making the roads safer, but does mean more housing on Pyle Farm, and takes away the taller business buildings from the A3M where they could provide a very useful noise abatement shield for the residential areas.
I am very pleased to put these thoughts on here, and if you like some of the ideas then bring them up at the ‘Land East Of Horndean’ consultation.
The Land East Of Horndean presents a massive dilemma. It could be the best solution (or Least Worst Solution) to protect large areas of the Parish, but it does have an impact on the residents adjacent to the site too. I firmly believe this is the direction we need to take the housing as our best solution to building a sustainable community while protecting the rest of The Parish from over development.
In the interest of balanced views I am posting an email from Mark Foster who owns land overlooking both White Dirt Farm, and Pyle Farm, who is concerned about the loss of views to both sites. Mark contacted me by email after he found out he could not upload photographs to the blog, and therefore I am posting these here too.
I think the majority of people are not very sensitive to the land between the B2149 and the A3M, but totally agree that the further around the land goes on Pyle Farm and towards Blendworth, the more sensitive the development is. If you agree, then support Mark with feedback at the consultation about which areas are more sensitive than others. (The views expressed by Mark sit well with the consultation feedback on where to build).
Mark’s email and 2 photographs are below:
Hi Guy,
I was unable to upload these to your blog. The fields are gorgeous, an owl circles each evening. Deer are seen most mornings, foxes teaching their young to hunt (although I keep hens!), pheasants steal my hens’ feed and 2 types of woodpecker do whatever they do.
Having said the above soft bits I need to declare that I’m a (very small scale) property developer and own properties that overlook both Pyle Farm and the WDF sites! Despite not agreeing with you 🙂 may I praise you for your ongoing efforts.
Sadly I find it difficult to believe that either of the WDF and Land East sites will be saved. Major organisations, most proficient at navigating planners (even I find it easy), have invested too many man hours and farmers have millions in their grasp. The only delay being numerous iterations from the developer replacing the low profit facilities with high profit flats.
Ironically you may recall both the Keep and Brewery sales literature used images of the very green open spaces that we have already destroyed!
Guy please consider that the best we can do is cause delay. Rather than to prefer a site consider that once the first is approved the second will be hot on its heels. Delay both! We might manage a few years and in that time the government might have controlled our borders and reduced the need for housing. Sorry drifted off there 🙂 but delay is better than now!
I’m concerned your reasons for preferring Land East of Horndean will come back and bite. You wont be able to use them in defense when the inevitable next phase of expansion comes.
Ideally if your drive and commitment to protecting the Downs was broadened to the wider area we would all benefit from your strength. You get my vote. We need more Councillors like you that actually fight to make a difference.
You will recall that on the 21st, 22nd March a public consultation was held in Horndean to get the communities views on where housing should be directed in Horndean. The numbers have since been crunched and the overwhelming community view was for development around Hazleton and Pyle Farms adjacent to Junction 2 of the A(3)M.
The consultation results were very convincing and will add weight in planning decisions for the short term until the allocations plan can be put together when the data will form a key part of the constraints for the future development of Horndean.
Planning decisions need to balance Environment, Economy and Social issues and the very clear community view of where to build will be considered under the ‘Social’ criteria which will mean that for any development on sites like White Dirt Farm, the environmental harm will need to be minimal. As White Dirt Farm would be such a harmful place to the environment to develop anyway, the threshold for proving it is suitable just got higher.
Thank you to the estimated 800 people who attended and contributed to the consultation.
The tables below show the views on the most suitable places to build, and the community facilities people feel we should link with development.
Ok, Here we have an article about another housing development. It is very easy to write about proposed development and say it is not a good place to build, Strategic Gaps will be affected, Landscape issues are a key concern etc, as most of the electorate are against development in principle, full stop. A populist argument. Nice and safe for a local Councillor.
For White Dirt Farm this has most certainly been the case but for me the rights and wrongs of Taylor Wimpey’s proposals do genuinely fit correctly with the public view. Given the opportunity however, I would be against any more development in Horndean in principal too as like most other residents of Horndean I wish to live in a semi rural community, but the reality is that this is just not possible.
We are living longer, we have more than 2 children, and there are fewer people per house every year. Responsible governance means planning for this population growth, and for Horndean between now and 2028 we need to find space to build another 700 homes. This is a lot, compared to our 5,200 current housing stock, but over this period works out at an increase of about 1.5% homes per year. We do need to plan for this housing, so it then becomes a task to put this in “the least worst place” and to get the best community facilities we can in return for the development. (Sustainable Development)
There is a key SHLAA site I believe is the right solution for Horndean and a developer has recently submitted an EIA Screening application to East Hampshire District Council. Like the White Dirt Farm development, this is NOT a planning application to build, but a technical process to establish the amount of environmental work needed to assemble a satisfactory planning application. I have included a link to the EHDC planning website below so you can view the EIA screening application and comment if you wish.
White Young Green are the planning consultancy that are representing the land owners and developers, and in stark contrast to Taylor Wimpey’s approach have been in touch over the last months to seek views on the community facilities we would wish to see in a new development, and to establish a firm commitment to have a thorough and effective consultation process. They have incorporated very many of the suggestions we have put forward and now need to go to public consultation to see what the community at large thinks, and what should be changed on the plans.
WYG have asked If I can post the details of their consultation online. This proposed development, if approved, will offer facilities for every home in Horndean so they are also writing to every household in Horndean over the next 7 days to invite everyone to the two consultations WYG will run in April and June this year.
The first of these two public consultations is on Friday 25th April 3:00pm to 8:00pm at Merchistoun Hall and you should attend and give your views.
The second public consultation will be to show the revised plans with public feedback incorporated. Click on the image below to enlarge.
The developers have issued a copy of the proposed site layout and this is below. Click on the image to enlarge it.
Care Home – The proposal is for a 55 to 60 bed care home with up to 21 bungalows for supported accommodation. We were disappointed when the Gales Care Home fell through, but this development is led by Highwood, a care home specialist provider so they are involved in detailed planning at day one. This will give homes and accommodation to down size into for many residents.
School – This is one of our key concerns about any development as to whether the local schools will cope. WYG have allocated a site for a primary school if it is required and are currently in discussion with HCC about our future needs.
Doctors – East Hants are working hard with the Doctors surgery and Linden homes to ensure the practice can move into the new development. This will provide ample capacity for the new homes.
Cricket Pitch, Pavilion with changing rooms and car parking – One of our suggestions – do you agree? Let them know at the consultation.
Football and AstroTurf pitches – Horndeans are in constant demand and any increase in housing will need more facilities.
Community Building – We have several community buildings, but all are very busy. what should this new building contain? Gym? Indoor Ball Courts? Community Hall? Adult Day Centre? Theatre? give your views at the consultation.
Enterprise and Employment Zones – business opportunities need to link with new homes in parallel.
Allotments – 30 new allotments as Horndean currently has a long waiting list.
New local shops – what should these be? should there be professional services too?
At the consultation give your views on if this is a suitable place to develop or not, what type of housing is required in the community, and what facilities you think are required.
Is This a done deal?
No. The proposals need to go through the rounds of consultation, and then through the planning application process.
Is this likely to be a successful application?
Quite Possibly. In your mind, Compare White Dirt Farm with this land and the landscape issues are significantly less damaging. The land is not strategic gap. It is positioned next to a motorway junction meaning the added burden of traffic through our villages will be minimal, so these 3 items alone mean the environmental harm of developing the 2 sites compare very differently. Now look at the community facility the East of Horndean land will bring and this gives it greater sustainable value, or a better community. These are the sorts of factors the case officer and planning committee will consider.
What can I add to the consultation and why should I go?
To have your say. This might be that you feel it is the right or wrong place to build. If approved it would be the biggest change for Horndean, but might do the most to protect our community at large from development in the wrong places. Importantly though are the community facilities and what the final plans include. Is the cricket pitch a good, or rubbish idea? Should we focus all the community benefit into the community center and have the best facilities we can in one item? What facilities should the developer hand over first? (700 homes would take years build and the community facilities would need to be handed over progressively as sales fund the facilities. What do we want first?)
Timescales?
WYG are proposing consultations in April and June with a planning application very soon after. The build process would be about 10 years if planning was granted.
Do you as a Councillor support it?
I firmly believe this land to the East of Horndean (Hazleton and Pyle farms) is the ‘least worst’ place to build in Horndean, and that if this represent the best solution to satisfy our housing need then my role as a Councillor is to pitch for as much good quality community facility as we can get, and to ensure the development compliments Horndean as best possible. I will not say I support this scheme yet until the final community facility shopping list is agreed, and a table established that links when the facilities are delivered compared to the houses delivered. I do believe that it will be possible to get to this point based on the proactive discussions so far, and look forward to seeing how this could add value to Horndean. It is essential now that the community at large gives their view at the consultations to shape the plans further to reflect what we all want. When WYG get a set of proposals together they will still need to go through the planning process.
Please feel free to leave any comments on this post for everyone to see and they will also be passed onto the developers.
Guy Shepherd
Complaints
To report fly tipping, litter, hedges overgrowing paths, missed bin collection or anything else please call EHDC Customer Services on 01730 266551 or email info@easthants.gov.uk
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