The Alton Neighbourhood Plan Page
This Blog is in reverse order, namely newest content is at the top

For those who are interested these are my (Secretary HVA) notes from the public speakers at the Town Council meeting on 4th Sept. The Council minutes are available for all to read on the Alton Town Council Website (Link here)
It was recognised by everyone that the ATC and the steering group were working very hard at such a difficult task. Also that questions asked at this meeting were not expected to receive an immediate answer, but should be addressed in due course.
Jerry Janes said that as it stands the current draft ANP includes a housing figure of 1700 whereas the housing target given to the group was for 700. It is just not viable to have 200 plus houses exiting onto London Road at the far end of the village. The traffic impact would be enormous. It would appear that one of the objectives of the ANP was, by adding 1000 houses, to completely prevent the need to develop Neatham Down and instead build in Holybourne and Windmill HIl.
Ginny Boxall (Windmill Hill) Said that a Neighbourhood Plan is a powerful tool and it needs to take everyone forward and not divide us into factions, which is what the current draft ANP is doing. Furthermore why, at the last meeting did the council put forward a request for people to find further site when the steering group said that it was too late to add any more to the plan?
Sara Whitewell (Windmill Hill) said that residents will always resist building of any sort but will of course realise that they will need to accept some. However part of the attraction of this part of England is the ammenity value it provides, especially of Windmill Hill. This amenity must be maintained and once any building starts the value is lost altogether. Alton Town itself is at its limit for infrastructure. The ATC should be working for the people of the town and not – as it appears to be putting developers first.
A Holybourne resident said that he was part of the ANP steering group and spent time with the consultants analysing all the input from the two consultations. He said that the draft ANP misrepresents the feedback from these consultations. EHDC suggested that North Alton sites should be considered but the ANP states that EHDC has little view on these Northern sites. Please confirm that the draft ANP will be corrected?
James Willis (Ex GP) acknowledged that the ATC and the ANPSG are in a very difficult position but whoever considered that building on Windmill Hill would result in less car use as people would walk into the Town has little understanding of contour lines on maps. This view is simply not the case. The EHDC local plan covers a much wider area than the ANP and as Alton is at capacity for its current infrastructure we should really be looking at a reduction in the number of houses in this area.
Anthony Furnival said he was concerned that there is a lack of public representation on the SG and this meeting’s turnout is an indicator of that. Also he is concerned that a ex Town Clerk, L. Coney, is now part of the consultancy working for the ANP. This should be viewed as a conflict of interest and should be rectified immediately otherwise the advice cannot be considered as independent.
Jack Bucknell (Windmill Hill) said that it was clear that the views of the people given at the last consultation were clearly ignored. There is more opposition to building on Windmill Hill and the town’s infrastructure is at its limit, this development will provide no more.
A teacher asked why was it that we are volunteering to pick up development at Petersfield because of their no-build policy.
Joanne Ryan (Holybourne) questioned the integrity of the consultants who surveyed the area. They told EHDC that 223 houses was a sustainable, achievable figure. They did not consult with residents over flooding. Holybourne is built on a hill which has many springs arising in it and the land’s watertable is very near the surface for much of the year. Many listed buildings have pumping systems which constantly move the water out. The flooding risk here is high and should be recognised. The traffic survey undertaken by the consultants was considered not representative and repeated by residents over a full 12 hours giving a totally different result. London Road really does not have the capacity to recieve traffic from this size of development. We agree that sites should be investigated and outcome based on evidence. This evidence must be clear, detailed and fair.The Holybourne surveys were clearly none of these.
Jane Davies (Holybourne) said that she did not want to delay the meeting by re-itterating points already covered most adequately. She would just like to register her support for the views aired.
Rob Fowell (Windmill Hill) said that as the housing numbers coming from Central Government are now some 80% more than before, going to Reg 14 consultation with a plan which does not meet the current views acurately was foolish. The housing problem is coming and we need to do something to control it. We should be in a position to review all areas together and then our final decision would be valid.

There are 3 seperate questions:

1. How many homes should East Hants provide? (Decided by central government)

2. ⁠Where in East Hants should those homes go? (Decided by EHDC)

3. ⁠Where in Alton & Holybourne should the designated number of homes go? (Informed by the Neighbourhood Plan and not including the 1,300 in Neatham Down)

Different questions need different campaigns and allegiances.

I think we all recognise that houses have to be built – it is the scale and intensity and greed of developers putting profit before people that I take issue with. If the draft document was able to fairly share smaller scale development across all sites (with brownfield prioritised and especially regeneration of town first to ensure all the vacant units were redeveloped) then people might be more willing to accept building in their areas IMO. The plans seem however to push as many as possible in few sites and this people push back not wanting that volume close to home. We could work together as a town if a more inventive approach to the type of housing and scale was applied.

This is why we petitioned for all the possible sites to be included in the ANP last night- and it will, thereby allowing for wider building opportunities on a smaller scale and withdrawal of sites deemed inappropriate which we hope with our accurate evidence base being included rather than the flawed representation that’s in the draft ANP now will exclude the building of houses here.

Can I (Jerry J) thank everyone who took the trouble to go to the assembly rooms on Wed 4th to listen to the debate. We got the result we wanted but only because of the eloquence of people from the village. It’s been a real privilege to be chairman of the village Association for the last two years and I will be standing down in October but it was genuinely heartwarming to see everyone there tonight fighting for our common aims.

The Town Council voted to defer sending the Alton neighbourhood plan draft to what is called regulation 14, a public consultation. This is to allow the draft plan to be corrected because it had a lot of misleading or just plain wrong statements in it. Then amended draft plan (which will include all sites for housing) will go to regulation 14 public’s consultation

We are actually very much in the debt of councillors Kellerman and Bayliss who pushed the council into this decision.

This is our submission to Town Council from HVA, Alton Society & Windmill Hill group, reacting to draft Neighbourhood Plan.  HERE

Hampshire District Council are inviting comments on the implications of the government’s house-building quota apportioned to the county. Details can be found HERE

This is a message regarding the Alton Neighbourhood Plan which in its current draft form imposes at least 220 houses on the Streamacres fields by the children’s playground and another 1600 or so around the town. I know many of you have little interest in this but it is an issue that will affect the whole village, destroying character, safety and the views of our surrounding countryside. There is a Town Council meeting next Wednesday night at 7pm in the Assembly Rooms to discuss putting the plan in its current draft out to consultation, (though why they would do this having ignored the outcome of the previous consultation, I have no idea.) It is imperative we are well represented in the audience and that our two Town Councillors, Graham Hill and Don Hammond have a public forum to explain why they think this is a good idea for the town and village. A group of people from the village have spent a huge amount of time over the last two years working hard to try to prevent overdevelopment in the village. We are not opposed to all development but know that anything that is accessed from London Road will have a dreadful impact, not only on traffic but on pedestrian safety. We now need your help and support. PLEASE, attend this meeting and let your feelings be known. We cannot oppose the will of the national government even if we wanted to but we can effect where that development should go. Feel free to contact us through the ANP WhatsApp group or to chairman@holybourne.com

Just to keep you up to date Redbrown have been in touch to say that they are currently undertaking some survey work (ecology and drainage) on the land at Holybourne. Once this survey work has progressed they will review their proposals for the site and look to engage with residents and seek feedback.
Looking at drainage in the middle of summer! They always seem to pick school holidays to do their surveys ?
Had thought of taking pictures of the fields over winter … they were partially flooded for much of the time (not just after heavy rain). The pattern of crops reflects this. Does anyone have any?
I’m also very worried that seeing how wet the area gets all year round that as a house that faces directly opposite the field by the play ground that we might get flooded in very wet weather going forward , as all the water is going to run directly towards us . you only have to see the amount of water on the fields running off now , let alone if houses were there .

I’ve just seen that they are doing a topographical survey on the fields at present ,they are just doing the fields that the houses are being proposed to be built on . I guess this means they are still pushing to build ? Just thought I would let someone know encase needed to know. The road survey near the Forge on London Road is to establish where an access road could be and to assess road width road obstacles sight lines and access points.

Can I just re reassure everyone as the current chairman of the Hollybourne Village Association that our position on overdevelopment in the village remains unchanged. Anyone who believes that is a feasible solution needs to stand outside the two schools at arrival and departure times. It is possible to build in the village so that nothing empties onto London Road and that is a solution that needs to be explored if the government is going to force development on us. We urge RedBrown to listen carefully please.

It’s interesting – this site was apparently assessed a number of times by the previous Froyle owners / trustees but never really progressed as there were deemed to be too many challenges / blockers. Begs the question … what has changed?

It’s a good point re: writing.  In the Call for Sites I noticed that communities have really come together – but it’s noticeable that there are barely any brownfield sites proposed in Petersfield which is just as big as Alton. (They are listed and of course handed across to South Downs Nat Park process). But generally it will be disappointing if “all” in the housing allocation don’t share the same urgency / need to contribute. I get the feeling that they assume it is Alton and Bordon’s problem. It was however funny that someone proposed Penns Place !!! EHDC offices
Penn‘s place is no longer the headquarters of the district Council so it will be built on and probably for housing but as we are all aware the south downs National Park accepts very very few houses and that remains the position despite legal challenges.
I know … but they accepted 649 in East Lewes. I just believe in “fair play” and a sensible share of the load across the region – not building in rural SDNP but Petersfield has plenty of opportunity to contribute their share. I totally respect the SDNP – but this tells me that sensible development (in existing urban settings is supported
{Plans for a new community of 685 homes and cultural, business and flexible workspace in Lewes have been approved, subject to planning conditions. The National Park’s Planning Committee met today (15 Feb) at County Hall, Lewes, and voted to give the go-ahead to the plans, subject to a series of conditions. These include the resolution of highway concerns, raised by National Highways and East Sussex County Council, as well as a Section 106 legal agreement that requires 30 per cent affordable housing, including for local people.}).
I know I stumbled across this and shared this a few months ago. Strikes me as being sensible.
Fairness for all has always been the mantra of the campaign group. I think what is likely is that the political agreement between the White Hill Bordon councillors and the Tory group on the district council is going to come under very great pressure.

I think we all share the concerns about the housing burden that Alton is being slated to take, which have quite possibly increased since the election, but I also note the stress that the new government is putting on listening to community voices. The more noise we can make and the more united we can stand, the better. If you’re planning any formal submission to Alton Town Council in the name of Holybourne HVA/the community, it would be great to see it.

The HVA position has always been that the production of the Alton neighbourhood plan would be premature if it proceeds the publication of the Local Plan. Now the NPPF is being reviewed any other course of action would be absolutely pointless.
We have a private meeting with the Town Council Alex on the 29th Aug when we shall be arguing the point made above. We are also working with the A31 Alliance which is focussed on reducing the number heading Alton’s way but again, with the new published numbers and the determination of Angela Rayner to increase house building it’s going to be tough. We do need more houses but land around here is so expensive and the cost of housebuilding itself hugely pricey, dictating numbers is one thing, getting houses built is another. There is a huge manpower shortage in the construction industry post Brexit and so with the best will in the world, it ain’t going to be easy for housebuilders anyway.

Sounds very proactive. Do ask if you need helping hands. Many in this community only too happy to pitch in to defend the area.
We should all be writing to our local councillors to make our feelings known to them. The problem is so much is up in the air at the moment because we haven’t had any clear directions from East Hants. They are pretty much in the dark too. At the moment the government’s proposed figure for East Hampshire is double what was originally proposed in the draft local plan. If that figure is upheld then we will see development throughout, Holybourne and Neatham.

Most of you will by now have seen the announcement by the new government that they intend to increase housebuilding significantly. In East Hampshire this will probably result in the current housing figure of 575 homes per annum doubling to around 1,074 homes per annum. The implications of this are extremely serious for Alton and Holybourne. Those houses have to go somewhere and it may well be that previously discounted sites such as Chawton Park Farm will be revisited. Clearly our task is to minimise the adverse impact in the village but it is likely that we will see a sizeable development being applied for somewhere in the village. My question to you all is where? We still believe that anything that imposes increased traffic on London Road is untenable. We will continue to oppose large scale development on Streamacres but I’d appreciate your thoughts on where else development might take place. I do have ideas but I’d sooner hear yours first.

I just want to reassure everyone that we are not simply rolling over and letting it happen. We will and must fight tooth and nail to preserve the character of the village. To me that does not mean no development, but it does mean a big no to over development.

I want to bring you all up-to-date with what the group that is fighting to resist overdevelopment in the village are doing. We have allied ourselves with the group from Windmill Hill and about half a dozen of us have met every week for the last month planning a strategic response. Our aim is to persuade Alton town Council, to refrain from consulting on the current draft of the Alton neighbourhood plan. We feel it is premature and flawed in that it does not take any account of the feedback from the September consultation and neither does it follow the guidelines issued by the district council. They are currently suggesting for instance that 800 houses be built on Windmill Hill and more than 220 in Holybourne. The planning authority has not asked them to do this and clearly that is completely unacceptable to all of us and we are doing everything we can, to oppose that. I’m extremely grateful to those that I’m working with who are toiling incredibly hard on behalf of all of us.

Jerry Janes

There was a meeting of the Alton Town Council on 5th June where the Alton Neighbourhood Plan was discussed. Substantial representation was present from Alton and Holybourne and the feeling of the public were aired. The coucil however voted to put forward the ANP as it stands as the timescale for a successful completion and submission of the ANP to EHDC before their LocalPlan is produced is very tight. Most, if not all opposition to this plan is to do with the housing site allocations which we all believe is excessive. It is however vitally important the we produce a Neighbourhood Plan as this gives us a voice as to how development in the Alton area must progress. Councillor Don Hammond has produced a short review of where the process currently stands, a copy of which can be read HERE

EHDC are launching a call for brownfield sites – if you know of any you can tell them on this link.
They have obviously listened to our comments and it’s a start. Of course most of us will have no idea if the suggestions are available or not but it’s worth a try!
Interesting that they are unaware of such sites from their profesional and financial returns for the EH area.
“Actually, aren’t they shutting down/reducing operations at Penns Place. That would be a good place to start.
I know / saw that ANP executed detailed analysis of potential brownfield sites – site + rough cut estimation housing provision. They presented it at consultation events. Ideal approach would be to validate this … ofcourse don’t have it!”
“I wonder if this call for brownfields sites highlights that the process itself is inadequate and seriously flawed.
When I joined the ANP steering group it seemed obvious that the tension between the need to build houses and the wish to preserve greenfield spaces could only be resolved by more creative use of “brownfield”
We came up with the idea of using NDOs, based on what has been explored in Chesham, a town with seemingly similar characteristics and pressures to Alton. Their idea is to make more use of what they already have, rather than spoiling green spaces. It involves, for example, the use of multi story car parks (in the short/medium term) to free up space.
The steering group decided to consult on whether the public would like to see us look at this more closely. We did that. The consultation suggested they would. Yet, nothing has been done on this. I assume because we lack the experience or appetite, or both. I wonder if we should suggest this should be looked at more closely.”

I have just been told that the Alton school formally the convent, is shutting at the end of this term. That would release a lot of land on what is a Brownfield site.

Legal advice sought in fight to reduce housing numbers
Top lawyer will assess our legal standing to challenge Government
EHDC is taking top level legal advice as part of a challenge to reduce the Government’s housing figures for East Hampshire.

We are hiring a King’s Counsel to look at the district’s unique circumstances and advise on whether a challenge on housing numbers might be successful.

The Government has set district-wide figures of almost 11,000 new homes to be delivered before 2040.

See the latest Local Plan consultation documents
But with more than half of the district inside the South Downs National Park, where development is restricted, there are limited sustainable sites available for new homes.

Housing figures are based on calculations using a standard methodology applied to all planning authorities around the country. But those calculations do not take into account the amount of land taken up by the national park.

Cllr Richard Millard, EHDC Leader, said: “We’re looking closely at whether we can challenge the government’s method of calculating housing figures with a view to reducing our target.

“We believe the fact that 57% of East Hampshire is covered by the South Downs National Park, and so almost off-limits to development, is an exceptional circumstance that should be recognised by the government.

“It’s unfair that the national park gets away scot-free and that the rest of East Hampshire has to take the lion’s share of development. So, it’s only right that we challenge these housing figures.

“That is not going to be popular with the Government but that’s not my concern. I am only interested in what’s right for our residents.”

The impact on the Local Plan
Through our recent consultation residents expressed concerns over the sensitivity of some sites proposed for development in the Local Plan.

If we can reduce the Government’s housing figures, we could potentially reduce the number of sites identified in the Local Plan.

However, we could only do this if we had a strong legal footing. If our Local Plan was rejected it would have very serious consequences for development in the district.

We would have much less control over which sites are developed and it would be harder to bring new infrastructure through with the new homes.

With no Local Plan our sensitive sites could still be built on but with none of the possible benefits – a much worse position to be in.

Our questions to King Counsel
Once the KC’s opinion has been received we can decide how to proceed.

A positive response will mean we could mount a strong challenge to the Government’s figures.

However, if the KC believes such a challenge would fail we must accept that opinion. We would need to be very sure of our legal position before challenging for lower housing figures. To produce a Local Plan that does not meet our housing requirements would be a huge risk.

The questions we have put to KC are:

‘Is the scope of ‘exceptional circumstances’ limited to those circumstances relating to the inputs – i.e. to the interpretation of population, household or affordability data – of the standard method; or could it extend to other land-use planning (physical, environmental, administrative) considerations that are relevant to delivering housing needs?’
What are the legal risks if the Council departs from the standard method?
The standard method provides a useful starting point for the Local Plan – considering the circumstances of East Hampshire, what evidence could justify deviating from the standard methodology?
How high is the risk to achieving a sound plan of deviating?
Once we have KC’s response will publish it in full.

I don’t know how I spotted this but South Downs National Park gave “enthusiastic” green light build 685 homes in Lewes on Feb this year. It begs the question why Petersfield is off limits for any significant sharing of the development burden … rather than treating Alton and surrounds as a “brownfield site” to “dump” it all ?
I keep hearing that Petersfield can’t share any of the load because it is precious and in the SDNP … but I drove around it last week on a diversion and it is no more special than Alton – with almost the same population. The same mix of housing stocks, estates, etc. it feels the principles underpinning the “carefully thought through plan” need to be tested … from the overall target that has voluntarily been pumped up by 20% down …

I am certain that Petersfield would welcome new development particularly as its population ages and young people have to move away. Their plight is, in a different way, just as threatening as that facing Alton I think.

Great work on the Holybourne magazine John / team … really clear explanation. Does highlight the Petersfield anomaly somewhat … zero allocation (unlike Lewes which is also in SDNP – how are they different?). leaving Alton and surrounds to fight over 75% of the allocation. There is a degree of randomness about the parameters of this plan. Unfortunately a poorly conceived plan could have a huge impact on our lives. Worth fighting for – Holybourne resident

Great work Jerry / team.

As an aside, for the first time in a long time I travelled by car out onto the A31 to a client in rush hour this AM (normally train). It struck me how traffic into Alton backed up up the a31 towards chawton. Obv we knew the new traffic lights on montecchio would have this impact. But add in neatham and it would just be plain dangerous. They’d be queuing across the roundabout … but this roundabout is high speed. Has anyone else seen this? – Holybourne resident.

Traffic snaking around the roundabout is like that most mornings – Holybourne resident

Does anyone know if EHDC have made any comments on the back of Rishi Sunak’s comments reported a couple of weeks ago? Can’t recall the words precisely but I seem to recall it was about ‘where’ not ‘how many’ and made reference to locations with inadequate infrastructure (Holybourne, Neatham Down, Alton all fitting the bill) not being the right places for major developments.

(HVA)
The latest details from the Alton neighbourhood plan show no site allocations. This means Holybourne does not appear, but it’s certainly not the end of the road. We need to remain vigilant.
(Planning Contact)
I have no idea what has been decided or otherwise but I do know The ANP will issue a statement with all the details and an explanation in the next few days. I suggest we wait for that statement, and allow John Bound, who lives in Holybourne and who sits on that committee to explain it to us. Thankfully, he’s very good at explanations!

A note concerning the recent traffic survey in the village.
Dear HVA,
Thank you for your time this afternoon.
Further to my email to Jerry Janes on 12^th January confirming that we would undertake some further highways work, I confirm our Highways Consultants Paul Basham Associates organised the following surveys last week:

• To understand the existing traffic flows –  ATC (Automatic Traffic Counts) surveys in the vicinity of the site access and in the vicinity of the village centre (near the shop & pub).
• Traffic counts and queue length surveys at the London Road/Montecchio Way signalised junction to understand how the junction is currently operating.

As discussed on our call we are undertaking this work so that we can better understand the existing position and then we can look at some potential improvements which we would like to present in due course.
If you would like any further information on the above please let me know.
Thanks
Kind regards

Fiona

Meeting at the Alton Rugby club, with bar facility, this Friday 16th at 7pm. We would like to discuss our concerns, but also meet with other members of the Holybourne and Alton community to understand their views about all the Alton development proposals, particularly Neatham Down with 1250 houses.

The aim is for this to be an opportunity for the wider Alton community to meet and discuss how we could support each other going forward.

One really useful thing, everyone could do is to write to our MP Damien Hinds and ask him to increase the pressure on Michael Gove to lift the requirement for that part of East Hampshire that is not in the national park to absorb the building demands for that part that is. He says he has had discussions with Michael Gove, but nothing has changed and that is an area we could bring pressure to bear. The Government provides EHDC with their requirement for new houses which they wish to be built within the South and SouthEast of the country. It is based on geographical area. EHDC are then duty bound to find development areas to meet this. If one area cannot meet its share based on size, then the allocation has to be met by adjacent areas. As a major part of East Hampshire is in the South Downs National Park where restrictions to development apply, the rest of the area has to accommodate the shortfall in building plot supply.  It’s not Petersfield’s fault, but we are having to house Petersfield people who cannot get a house in Petersfield because they’re in the National Park which has restricted planning criteria and EHDC will have to take up the housing which isn’t built there.

The EHDC Local Plan display at The Maltings
“I was ready to write my views everywhere but all it was was a reproduction of the information in the plan including the reading materials and the one officer I overheard just seemed to say we’ve got to build so that’s it . The people I spoke to who weren’t from Holybourne were against the Neatham build. 1000 houses seems a lot but when you see it on the map it looked even bigger like a 1/3 of the footprint of Alton. And almost stretches as far as Worldham road/golf club. Interestingly on another point Selborne are publishing their village plan at the moment which is a) in the South Downs and b) a conservation area: so might be worth having a look at it for anything we can pinch to boost Holybourne’s argument.

Actually, although it is not definitive, the outline plan for Neatham has a ‘centre’ which mentioned a possible junior school. Agree it is a HCC decision but 1000 houses does mean a new school has to be created.

A petition opposing Neatham Down, which repeats the point that the proposed developments at Neatham Down and Holybourne are unrelated — save for the fact that both are pieces of a wider plan to disproportionately over-develop Alton, Holybourne and surrounds. Please consider adding your support.

” Concerned Resident”

I spent some time going over this revised proposal last night. I’d urge everyone to take a look. (It’s in Part 8 of the 9-part document here: Local Plan
The most salient points re Neatham Down are:

– This represents the creation of an entire new town, and is by far the biggest proposal being considered by the East Hampshire District Council. The developer had proposed 1,250 houses; the EDHC reduced that to 1,000. But we’re still talking a geographical area adjacent to Holybourne that is larger, in fact, than Holybourne, with a greater population. It will take 10 years to build, with the associated noise and disruption – which will include, at least in the early years, construction traffic passing through Holybourne and Neatham Manor Farm. Once it is built, it will contribute to light pollution and, without expansion of the road network, its several thousand resident cars can be expected to create jams on our already busy roads.
– Neatham will now not be 500 yards away from this new development, but perhaps 30 yards. Of most relevance to Neatham’s Holybourne neighbours, if you combine this development with the simultaneous development on the north side of the A31 at Lynch Hill, geographically, in terms of continuous urban sprawl, Neatham Manor Farm and Lynch Hill represent the end of Holybourne as an independent village, and its absorption into a Greater Alton. After construction, Holybourne would no longer be linked to Alton by a limited frontier on its western end but a contiguous urban connection all along its western and southern and southeastern borders. (To orientate you, if you think of Holybourne as a clock, the parts filled in would run from 9’oclock through 6 o’clock to around half past three.) I would also suggest that once Holybourne has been absorbed in this way, and on both sides of the A31, the obvious choice for any future planners looking for suitable housing sites would be to push further out beyond the old Holybourne’s western and northern boundaries, into the flat areas on both sides of the dual carriageway, until any trace of the village that once was disappears entirely.
– As the document makes clear, the EDHC is very much in favour of this proposal. It scores top marks on its comparative scoreboard. Any campaign against Neatham Manor Farm would have to be commensurately vocal and determined.

“Editorial Comment”
I do think you need to involve Binsted parish Council and find out what they are doing about this. It’s their patch. I am sorry to say that ultimately this will become a them or us situation. If you argue against development on Neatham Down, you will be putting pressure on development at other sites around the town which also of course includes Holybourne. I would think long and hard before signing any petitions. I’m sorry if this sounds terrible, but having been involved in planning for many years I can tell you this is the reality. The District Council has got to identify sites. It will not go away.

Alton Neighbourhood Plan Update – Issue 2

The Alton Neighbourhood Plan Steering Group has issued the following Press Release:

We are very grateful to the members of the public who have contributed to our work so far and hope that we can have constructive and copious feedback when we go to the next consultation period in April. This is your town and your opinions count, so please get involved in the consultations.
Alton’s Neighbourhood Development Plan: Making Good Progress
The task of the Alton Neighbourhood Plan Steering Group is to replace the current Neighbourhood Plan to cover the period out to 2040.  The Steering Group sponsored by Alton Town Council is made up of volunteers,  specialist planning consultants and Town and District Councillors.

What is a Neighbourhood Plan?
A Neighbourhood Plan is a highly influential document that is a key part of the East Hampshire District planning process, giving residents of Alton the opportunity to express their views on both residential and infrastructure development within their town.  By definition, the scope of the plan is limited to all wards in the Alton Parish.  This is critical work as Alton and the surrounding area will need to take its share of housing and employment area development, as part of East Hampshire District Council (EHDC) local plan allocation from the present out to 2040.

What is in a Neighbourhood Plan?
A good Neighbourhood Plan will attempt to include many aspects of development that affect local residents, such as locations of any large developments, the type of design and architecture used, the potential impact on public services and amenities, an assessment of the local housing need and a future vision of what we want our town to look and feel like. Our new Neighbourhood Plan will contain all these elements.

How much progress has been made so far?
The Steering Group, which includes members experienced in developing such plans as well as members of the public, have been working on this for many months. Key elements of progress so far have been:·
Initial Public Engagement (May 2023)
Highlighting possible development sites, potential town centre regeneration and general information on housing needs.·
Second Public Engagement (September 2023).
Inviting comment on more detailed proposed development scenarios for the town and surrounding area.·
Engagement Report & Conclusions (December 2023)
Creation of a detailed report capturing and analysing the views and opinions from the two public engagements, which can be viewed or downloaded here: Consultation-Summary-1.5.pdf (alton.gov.uk)

What are the Next Steps?·
Housing Site Allocation Workshop – (January 2024)
The Steering Group working with the assistance of specialist planning consultants will be undertaking a final housing site allocation workshop after the Christmas break. This process will take into consideration the evidence gathered so far including the feedback received from the two public engagements to inform the development of the draft.·
Creation of a Draft Neighbourhood Plan – (January 2024)
This draft will be presented to Alton Town Council, and as well as planning policies, it will include guidance in specific development areas for which they have responsibility or influence.  If content, the Council will authorise the Plan to go forward for formal public consultation.•
Formal Public Consultation – (April 2024)The publication of the draft  Alton Neighbourhood Plan marks the start of a six-week consultation period, known as ‘Regulation 14’ that is required by planning law.     This process will be widely publicised and there will be a drop-in event held in the Town Centre, when members of the public can view and comment on the proposals.   East Hampshire District Council (EHDC) will be consulting for 6 weeks on their ‘Local Plan’ for the District in early 2024 and so ‘Regulation 14’ consultation will not begin until April 2024 to avoid confusion.All comments from the public will then be analysed and considered with any required changes to the draft plan being made before it is submitted to the Town Council for final approval and then submitted to EHDC.
Further information can be found at Alton Town Council website: https://www.alton.gov.uk/neighbourhood-plan/

16/12/2023

The farm estate are cutting down all the hedgerows along the byway between the Roman road and Brockham Hill Lane.
We spoke to the bloke doing the work. He was very knowledgeable and was very keen to explain. It is being done to sustain the hedgerow, not destroy it. It’s been neglected over the years and is being killed by Ivy. The stuff they’ve cut down will go for biomass fuel. He went on to explain that in places the hedge is lacking in certain types of plant and that’s going to be dealt with too.
He went on to explain that this “farm” is a consolidation of a number of old farms and they’re trying to modernise it. Hence the new £3M grain store and improved farm tracks. The farm manager regularly updates the Froyle Parrish Council. Hard to know who to believe with respect to the strategic objectives of this group.
The HVA are arranging for farm manager to attend HVA meeting every six months or so to update us on just this kind of thing!

07/12/2023

Recently many large 8 wheeler lorries were seen driving up and down Howards Lanes delivering road material (somewhere). Councillor Graham Hill made enquires of the EHDC planning to shed some light on this. The text of the email exchange is below:-Cllr GH
There have been a number of lorries delivering road planing material (the material scraped off a road before re-surfacing) to a farm in Holybourne. This material is essentially old tarmac and is being used to surface farm tracks on a farm.EHDC
Under part 6 of the permitted development order 2015 its normally permitted without need of any prior or full application to repair and refurbish existing farm tracks. In fact its permitted to create new ones for the purposes of agriculture and not classed as development if repairing.
Sean Baldock
Planning Enforcement ManagerThe farm in question is part of the Redbrown Group who purchased the Froyle Estate

07/09/2023Just to bring you all up to speed with what I, Jerry, and the group have been up to. You will be aware now that the results of the village survey have been collated, analysed and published on the village website. Many thanks to Jackie Nelson for her untiring efforts on this and to Andy Muir for putting them onto our website, Holybourne.com. A small group took the results and conducted research in specific areas to co-author the Strategic Response to Planning Applications that is also published on the web site. It’s a heavy read but please do look through it. I’ve had a series of meetings with people I hope might be able to help us including with the Planning consultant we have engaged to advise us. Helen Walters and I walked him all around the village and surrounding countryside on a boiling hot afternoon but he got a genuine impression of what it is that we are trying to protect. I’m meeting the Chair of the Alton Society this Thursday afternoon and Vanessa Gist is arranging for us to meet a representative from the CPRE. I just think the more friends we can gather, the better. As you know the consultation on the Alton Neighbourhood plan takes place tomorrow and I won’t bore you by pleading with you to attend. If there is anyone who might need a lift down, please do offer to help if you can. A key distraction from building on green-fields sites is the implementation of something called Neighbourhood Development Orders which would allow local communities to demand the redevelopment of unused or inefficiently used sites to provide opportunities for the development of affordable housing. The redevelopment of the old Post Office site in Alton and perhaps building houses on underused car parks would mean that they don’t have to build in Holybourne. Please clamour for this approach. Finally, could you give some serious thought to where in Holybourne we might welcome development? Currently we have a housing need in the village of two dozen affordable homes. Where might we put them? I would counsel that a total opposition to any development at all is unlikely to win us any friends while at the same time, disadvantage those villagers who need affordable homes. I’d be very grateful to hear your thoughts either by WhatsApp or by emailing Chair@holybourne.com.

8 /9/2023There is a spring behind  the Forge, and the fields behind the playground have often taken the flood water. Building there would make the existing houses at greater risk of flooding. Has anyone got photos of the last time we had serious problems?Flooding risk has got to be very important part of the village resistance to this proposal. It’s not just the properties on the playground side of London Road at risk it is all those opposite. As Juliet says there are numerous underground springs which drain water off the downs so any new properties built may be at risk of flooding. Remember the issue at Farringdon when EHDC had to rebuild properties built in land that flooded similar to this land in the early 2000s.Flooding plus far too many cars going along roads originally meant for carriages and carts. Brockham Hill is already crumbling and the safe passing places (no deep potholes) are getting fewer. Do we know where the entry and exit points are proposed?

A team representing all the pressure groups across Alton and Holybourne met with a Meridian news crew on Monday 11th to voice our concerns about what is being proposed in the local plan.

From Meridian local news Tuesday 12th.- see link below

Those of you who have looked at the draft Local Plan will have spotted that rather unusually EHDC has not specified the sites for development in Alton (inc Holybourne). Instead, the Plan simply allocates 1700 houses to Alton to include a development of 1000 houses at Neatham. The sites for the remaining 700 houses are to be allocated using the Alton Neighbourhood Plan.

12/10/2023Following on from the discussions at the HVA AGM about the proposal to re-route the St Swithun’s Way footpath around the car park at Treloars, here is a copy of the PUBLIC NOTICE which gives the details. Comments/objections are invited up to 27th Oct.Contact the County Council at row.notices@hants.gov.uk

One of the slides at the presentation will be about Neighbourhood Development Orders (see below). This is really important as it would allow Alton to regenerate the existing urbanised parts of the town and potentially reduce the pressure on greenfield sites.

Alton Neighbourhood Plan

Further details will be found on the Alton Town Council Website

– { www.alton.gov.uk/neighbourhood-plan } as they become available

Having chatted to several Holybourne residents, it seems that people are unsure about how this money is being spent. Who are the consultants? Are they local to and on the side of Holybourne?  So I, and others too I suspect, would appreciate a clearer picture of how £10000 would be spent and what it could achieve.In response to the query above, Jerry has put a document together which he hopes answers the questions posed.  Click Here to Read.

For what it’s worth, my own feeling is that the village could sustain very little more development that empties onto London Road.If this was proposed by the developers I do not believe they would ever get consent for large-scale development. If you want to know what Holybourne was like in the Pre bypass days try talking to David Andrews or some of the elder statesmen and women in the village who lived there at the time. I am told it was quicker to go up Brockham Hill and down the old Odiham Road into Alton than try and queue through the village.There is a significant amount of land being considered in Holybourne. You can see it on the map – the purple areas are those available for development and being considered.JJ Chair HVA