A new proposed draft strategy setting out where homes and places to work could be built over the next 15 years will be discussed at a meeting of Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council’s Environment and Infrastructure Committee on Thursday 4 September.

The proposed spatial strategy has been progressed as part of the borough council’s work to move forward its draft Local Plan that will guide development in the borough over the coming years.

Having previously consulted on a draft spatial strategy in early 2024, planners were forced to go back to the drawing board late last year following changes made by the government to its National Planning Policy Framework.

These changes require the council to plan for significantly more new houses to be delivered in the borough, a rise from 830 new houses per year to a current figure of approximately 1,150. More land is also needed for employment uses and supporting infrastructure.

The council’s Cabinet raised objections to the increase in housing numbers but has been clear its objective is to deliver a Local Plan for the borough to guide development in the area. The government has set a national deadline for draft plans to be submitted under the current planning system by December 2026.

Earlier this year, the borough council asked landowners and developers to come forward with potential new sites or changes to previously promoted sites. This action ensured the council had the most up-to-date picture of sites available to draw up a new draft spatial strategy.

The outcome of this work will now be discussed by councillors at the Environment and Infrastructure Committee meeting on Thursday 4 September. It is planned to give all residents, local community and interest groups and businesses the opportunity to have their say on the proposals later this year, subject to approval to move forward to a second draft plan consultation, technically known as a regulation 18 consultation. 

Cabinet Member for Strategic Planning and Infrastructure Cllr Andy Konieczko said: “As we're all aware, developing our Local Plan has been particularly challenging and frustrating this time.

“The publication of yet another new National Planning Policy Framework has forced us to go back a few stages in the Local Plan-making process to consider how the much higher housing figures imposed on us by the Government could be suitably delivered.  

“It has been incredibly difficult to adapt our previous spatial strategy to the government’s new planning rules and this has not been helped by the tight deadlines imposed on all affected local authorities to re-work their Local Plans.  

“We want to retain as much control as possible over development in our borough and ensure that we continue to thrive long into the future. This means that we need to move forward with updating our Local Plan and making the most of the poor hand that we've been dealt by the planning system.

“Getting the updated Plan back to this stage has involved making a lot of tough decisions. In particular, we've been forced to allocate extra sites that we'd previously been able to resist including. I know that this will cause a lot of frustration for many.

“Despite these challenges, we've worked hard to create a draft spatial strategy that seeks to balance the competing requirements on our precious landscapes and rural settlements, maximises development on brownfield land, and helps to ensure that the extra housing is well supported by new infrastructure.”

The report can be viewed at www.basingstoke.gov.uk/about-LPU.