[November 2021]
Havant Borough Council has failed to get approval for their Local Plan.
This Plan seeks to identify sites suitable for development of new housing and the associated infrastructure, including transport, schools and health needs.
Essentially the Plan has been sent back by the Government’s inspector because it has set unrealistically high targets for several housing projects.
The Plan is necessary because the government place a requirement on local authorities to meet housing targets and provide the infrastructure necessary rather than allowing piecemeal development.
Preparation of the Local Plan started in 2016. Since that time there have been no fewer than five different conservative councillors who have had responsibilities for coordinating the plan.
Five years on, both Planning Inspectors have found it unsound and not legally compliant and that the Council have not consulted properly.
This leaves the borough open to speculative development on sites not included in the Plan and gives the Council far less control over the planning process.
Phil Munday, Chair of St Faiths & Emsworth Labour Party says:
“This is another failure by Havant Council. The Council needs a stronger opposition to call them to account. In 2020 I drew attention to the Council’s failure to achieve 75% of the target for Housing Delivery Test, a failure which meant the target for homes completed annually rose from 504 to 675; a figure that seemed unachievable. We need to be talking to other local authorities with more available land to help us out. This failure has left the council open to speculative bids by developers on land not in the Plan, such as Southmere Field in Langstone. When I spoke at the public hearings, I highlighted the lack of detail about infrastructure in the Plan and the lack of consultation with local residents. Both these points were indeed raised by the Inspectors. , whose report highlights many failings in the council. We need a council that consults with and listens to residents.”
You can read correspondence we sent to the Leader of Havant Council on this subject, here and here.
If you have new information on this, or any other local matters, or if you have an opinion you wish to share, please contact us on stfaiths@havantlabour.uk.
