Personal Introduction

Invite or Councillors to comment on the material being presented as things may have moved on since the time of writing and the Town Council has no wish to mislead any resident.

The Local Plan is the Master Plan for future development across Hart.

Hart District Council is currently drawing up a new Local Plan for now until 2028.

Many parts of Hart cannot be built on, as there are a number of constraints – such as the flood zone along the Blackwater river. SINC’s, Special Protection Area (SPA) conservation areas etc. These make up almost a third of potential development areas

The District Council has to comply with national policy when drawing up its local plan – that means that there will have to be development somewhere in Hart. The need for new housing is accepted by all councillors across Hart. But Government Ministers are quite clear: the responsibility for where those houses are built is the district councillors’ (not council officials).

The agreement of the Local Plan is your opportunity to influence where this development takes place not when the individual planning applications come in.

So, what is planned?

Currently planning permission has been granted for 872 houses at the Queen Elizabeth Barracks in . It is likely that permission will be granted for an additional 100 there in place of an employment area.

At Hitches Lane building is underway for 300 given planning permission a few years ago, and an additional 57 were given planning permission last year for the area where the pylon lines currently are.

That makes a total of 1329 currently being built on sites around the edge of Fleet & Church Crookham.

Last year the district council consulted on its proposed Local Plan.

This proposed at least 100 in the town centre, including where the vacant offices are on Kings Road / Fleet Road and on part of the Church Road car park. Another 200 houses are to be built at Hitches Lane including the land set aside for football pitches and allotments; as well as 450 houses at Grove Farm.

Overall the district plans to put 58% of the total new housing for Hart in Fleet / Church Crookham.

Additional sites have been proposed around the west side of Fleet by developers. These include Pilcot Farm (365 houses) and Pale Lane (1200 houses). Together with Grove Farm the Pilcot Farm site would join up Fleet with Crookham Village.

Pilcot Farm and Pale Lane are not currently in Hart’s proposed Local Plan.

The Town Council is concerned about the scale of development in Fleet, especially on the western side of Fleet as it is away from the station and access to the J4A of the M3.

The Town Council conducted a survey of residents last summer to find out what they thought. 700 Residents responded and the results are as seen on this slide.

Unsurprisingly residents told the Town Council that infrastructure improvements would be needed if more housing was built in Fleet.

Top of the list were concerns about roads and education. Parking at the station was also a concern of many.

Much less importance was given by residents to provision of cycle lanes and a new sports centre.

So now let’s look in turn to the top priorities as expressed by Residents

You told us that roads are the number 1 priority for infrastructure spending.

Roads and congestion are not seen as a problem by Hampshire County Council and Hart District Council. This is directly in opposition to what you the Residents have expressed to us.

Hart’s consultation last year proposed no new roads in Fleet, instead proposing more buses and cycle paths. Painting white lines down the side of a road will not cure congestion in Fleet.

A study is currently underway by Hart into impacts on the roads due to the planned developments. We await the outcome with interest.

The district council has proposed using money from developers to create more parking at the station, a positive move, but that does depend on Network Rail and South West Trains agreement

You told us that schools are a priority for infrastructure spending.

The district council has had many talks with Hampshire County Council about school places, as in recent years it has been a major problem. There is a current consultation being run by Hampshire CC over its school spaces plan for the next number of years.

Current Plans show Calthorpe Park School will increase by 45% to 1650 pupils. There is £7 million funding from the QEB development for that.

Fleet Town Council is very concerned about the provision of primary schools places, especially how they relate to new housing areas. Experience with Elvetham Heath has shown that many children may need to be ferried across town to get to school, and so add to congestion on local roads.

This traffic flow is being ignored within the road study I previously mentioned on the impact of new developments in Fleet West. The Town Council wants the impact of school runs to be included in the study.

You told us that a new leisure centre is a low priority for infrastructure spending.

The district council plans to build a new leisure centre at Hitches Lane. As part of these plans the agreed allotments and football pitches will have about 150 houses built on them.

The leisure centre will cost just under £20 million, and will be paid for out of money from developers.

Fleet Town Council considers that as a new leisure centre would be a district wide facility it should be equally paid for by developments across the whole district. If not that would leave less money for improvements in Fleet to roads, etc.

The Hitches Lane development originally included 14 sports pitches. This became 4 full size grass pitches + 1 small all-weather pitch + 60 allotments when planning permission was granted. Current draft plans include a leisure centre, 1 mini and 1 full-size all-weather pitches. This will not meet the demand for these types of facilities.

The district council has suggested an alternative site for allotments beside Junction 4A and off Pale Lane and they are talking to the allotment association about them.

In order for infrastructure to be provided someone has to pay for it.

Most money will come from developers paying an infrastructure levy. However, the amount they pay is subject to a viability test and so the levy cannot be so high that it makes development uneconomic.

The Government has also introduced what it calls the ‘New Homes Bonus’ for local councils.

When announced it the housing minister said: “For too long communities have fought against development because they can’t see how it does anything to improve their lives. I’m determined to change this. The new homes bonus will ensure that those communities that go for growth reap the benefits of development, not just the costs.”

As 58% of the new houses in Hart are to be built in Fleet this should mean that most of the New Homes Bonus should come here. However, Hart is putting the money into its general budget and spending it across the whole district. Contrary to central government wishes.

A major shake-up of ’s planning laws is underway.

One of the changes is that local councils will have to show that they are meeting demand for housing.

This will have a big impact locally, with the number of houses required in Hart estimated (by HDC themselves) to increase by around 2,500. Worryingly developers believe demand would support an even higher number than this.

This means that Hart’s proposed Local Plan will have to change – it cannot be delivered as is.

The district council plans to make a decision about how to cope with an increase in housing numbers in June / July.

The district council could follow its current policy and allocate even more housing sites around Fleet – for instance the Pale Lane and/or Pilcot Farm sites.

Further expansion in the west and south-west of Fleet will only exacerbate the problems of traffic accessing Junction 4A on to the M3, which is itself already overloaded, and Fleet Station.

It would also join up Crookham Village with Fleet.

Should Calthorpe Park School be expanded to more than 1650? 1650 is the third biggest school in Hampshire. If Calthorpe Park is not expanded what else would be done to cope with even more housing growth and the increase in secondary education places required?

The shake-up of England’s planning laws is a once in a lifetime opportunity for Hart to develop a longer term sustainable development strategy. The scale of development required allows more options to be considered.

In the Town Council’s view the district council has failed to take a strategic approach to where new housing should go in Hart, reacting to developers proposing sites rather than pro-actively considering what is the best sustainable long-term strategy for the district. Drafting a definition of Sustainability based on the HDC Fleet West development preferred option is not credible.

This is an opportunity to rectify that.

A new settlement could be designed so that all housing is in walking distance of new schools, shops – which would cause far less car journeys than yet another large estate on the fringes of Fleet / Church Crookham or Hook.

Fleet Town Council believes that the district council should seize the opportunity to look at a new settlement to accommodate the additional housing required by new planning laws, not expand Fleet.

Currently, sufficient land to accommodate a sustainable new settlement has only been made available at , shown on this map from Hart district council, of land put forward by owners for possible development.

A new settlement at Winchfield would allow access onto the M3 at junction 5 and pedestrian or cycle access to Winchfield Station thus avoiding the obvious problems of locating more development on the outskirts of Fleet.

Winchfield may not be the answer but unless seriously evaluated can never become an option

Whether or not to meet increased housing numbers from the new planning laws by expanding Fleet / Church Crookham even more is a political choice for the district councillors. Ministers are quite clear – it is district councillors who make the decisions, not the council’s planning officers.

Now is the time and the opportunity to rethink the whole planning development process and think long term sustainable development, not just keep adding proportionately to existing development - we need our District Councillors to think out of the box

Questions to ask the meeting:

(Public questions to us first, then put these to wrap up)

1) Do you support the Town Council’s proposal that Hart uses the need for additional housing to change their current strategy and take a long term sustainable view of development including a thorough investigation of a new eco-village development?

2) Should Calthorpe Park School be expanded to more than 1650? 1650 is the third biggest school in Hampshire. If Calthorpe Park is not expanded what else would be done?

3) Is what is proposed in Hart’s draft Local Plan acceptable, including the proposed infrastructure changes?