A plan to slow down the number of new houses being built in Basingstoke and Deane that is being proposed to give infrastructure, facilities and services the chance to catch up, will be discussed at Economic, Planning and Housing Committee on Thursday (7 September).
Under the proposal, the council’s current target of 850 homes a year, which is based on a national formula set by central government, would be cut to under 700 new homes a year for five years from 2025 using a fresh ‘stepped trajectory’ approach put forward by the new administration.
A housing figure needs to be decided for the next Basingstoke and Deane Local Plan, which will guide development and planning decisions in the borough to 2040. The Local Plan update was previously paused following concerns from residents and councillors about the number of new homes that the government was setting for the borough.
As well as debating the housing number, the Economic, Planning and Housing Committee meeting will also give councillors the opportunity to give their views on the spatial strategy for where homes could be built.
Meetings with parish and town councils across the borough to listen to their views are due to take place later this year. A borough-wide consultation will get underway in January 2024 to give residents, businesses, organisations, landowners, developers and interested groups the opportunity to have their say on the draft plan. This will give time to review the draft plan in light of comments from the committee and to complete the detailed technical assessments that have to be carried out on the updated draft plan before it can be published.
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