Fareham borough council wants to hear from people about its local plan

Modifications recommended by government inspectors to Fareham Borough Council’s emerging local plan will go to public consultation between October 31 and December 12.

A local plan sets out how development decisions will be made within a specific time frame - setting out how housing, business construction and infrastructure can best benefit the area a council is responsible for.

The emerging plan seeks to meet housing and employment needs in the borough while tackling congestion, protecting settlement gaps and enhancing biodiversity.

The council will discuss modifications advised by the appointed planning inspector, Helen Hockenhull, next week.

The main policy change was to provide 9,250 net new homes between 2021-2037. This will be phased with 420 built in the first two years and 653 homes built per annum for the remainder.

The inspector also described the councils’ method of calculating affordable housing needs as ‘crude’ and an ‘underestimate’ and ‘risks not taking into account all relevant households’.

The housing delivery of the Welborne Garden Village was scrutinised by the inspector as being too ambitious. The amended delivery rate will be 150 in the first year and 250 homes after that.

The public will be able to comment on these modifications to the local plan subject to council approval, which will be decided in an executive meeting on October 10.

Havant’s local plan is out for consultation at the moment as well – with an early finding being the council said it did not trust Southern Water’s assessment for its ability to cope with wastewater from new homes.