Analysis: What is this 65 home consultation and why does it matter?

Over the last month, chilbolton.news has published several articles on Test Valley’s consultation over 65 new homes proposed for Chilbolton. Here we ask why this consultation is taking place and what it means for the Village.

Why are we being “allocated” new homes by TVBC?

The Government has significantly increased the number of homes they want built over the next five years. The way in which they have parcelled this out means that TVBC need to create a plan to build 934 homes per year for the next five years - a 78 per cent increase.

To achieve this, TVBC have had to produce a new up-to-date plan, running from 2025 to 2042, which sets out how they will achieve this target.

We are in the first public stage of that, a consultation where residents and other stakeholders get to comment on that new plan.

Why the rush - it’s a 17 year plan?

Every council has to prove to the Government that they have a five-year supply of housing land. If they can’t, it means that developers can put forward plans for speculative development that will be approved unless they are not sustainable.

With the new, higher housing targets TVBC has fallen into this situation - vulnerable to possibly unsuitable or unsympathetic developments.

What are the stages of building the plan?

There are five stages:

  • Evidence gathering, which TVBC has already completed
  • Consultation and identification of key issues, which is the process we are currently going through and lasts until 5 Sep 2025
  • Publication and submission, which will be publication of the draft plan. It’s the last stage of public engagement inviting further representations: these should focus on whether the plan is legally compliant and also whether it is sound. “Sound” means does it meet the area’s needs, have alternatives been considered, is it deliverable within the plan period and is it consistent with national policy
  • Examination of plan, which is done by an independent inspector and can be in-person or by electronic link, or a combination of both. Either way, the public are allowed to attend. The inspector considers any representations made at the publication phase which would cause modifications to be made to the plan.
  • Adoption - Test Valley hope to adopt the new plan before the end of 2026. Once this is done, implementation must be monitored and reported on at least annually
Legal Jargon
Sometimes these stages are referred to by the section of the Town and Country Planning Regulations 2012 which defines them: Consultation is “Regulation 18, publication is “Regulation 19”

So what have they allocated to Chilbolton?

65 homes in the land between Drove Road and Cart Lane, near Eastman’s Field. Access to the site will be via Drove Road.

TVBC’s proposed site in Chilbolton (Credit: Test Valley Borough Council)

TVBC’s proposed site in Chilbolton (Credit: Test Valley Borough Council)

The plan for the build follows the Parish Council’s proposed 25-home development starting in 2027-28, with two further 20-home builds after that.

2027-28 2028-29 2029-30 2030-31 2031-32
10 15 20 20

What sort of homes will these be?

The plan refers to the Parish Council’s plan to deliver “affordable and ‘downsize’ homes to meet local needs, as well as market housing”. It also refers to it as a “community led development”, which means the Parish Council would be in control, to a great degree, of what sizes and styles of homes are built.

How have they decided how many homes and when?

Clearly they have started with the Parish Council’s own plan, which is currently being considered in a pre-application made to them. The remaining 40 homes may have been inspired by the pre-application which the Parish Council withdrew in February - this was for a total of 75 homes. The phasing in that pre-app was over a much longer period than that covered by this consultation. However TVBC is under pressure to fill a five-year roster of developments, and may well have advanced the Parish Council’s plans to achieve this.

Hasn’t the landowner put in for 150 homes?

That’s correct, and the 150-home proposal is a significant reduction on what it was before - 300 homes - which would have been high-density housing.

About this, TVBC planners say:

Land to the north east of Drove Road is proposed for approximately 65 dwellings. The boundary of the allocation does not reflect the full extent of the submitted site, but has been reduced to reflect the scheme being brought forward by the parish council through the establishment of a Community Land Trust. The capacity has also been adjusted downwards accordingly.

What about other sites in the Village?

TVBC have relied on Chilbolton Parish Council to advise them on this. TVBC Planners say:

Multiple sites in and around the village were considered by the Parish Council, and this site was selected as the preferred option.

It has to be said that this particular point is disputed by some residents and even some Parish Councillors. There is a widely-held view that alternative sites should be looked at again, in particular in respect of the potential of Gravel Hill. Another view is that much of the housing allocation could be achieved through the natural infill development which has taken place in Chilbolton over decades.

Our infrastructure is already weak, how can they propose this?

The Local Plan is supported by an Infrastructure Delivery Plan (IDP), which “provides an indication of the nature, scale and extent of new infrastructure required to support the new development proposed”. It is a “living document”, which is updated as the local plan is developed. Specifically, it will be updated after the present consultation.

The IDP covers a wide area of activity:

  • Physical infrastructure including transport, energy and utilities
  • Social and community infrastructure including education, healthcare and community facilities
  • Green infrastructure including public rights of way, open spaces and and areas with ecological designations

The IDP also identifies significant infrastructure issues associated with each site in the plan. For Chilbolton it identifies three:

  • Highways - new access will be required from Drove Road
  • Education - an additional 19.5 primary pupils, which would be paid for through a contribution from the developer of some £400,000
  • Nitrate neutrality - the development would have to achieve nitrate mitigation at a cost of nearly £540,000

Notably, sewerage is not mentioned at all for Chilbolton. This will clearly be a consideration for respondents to the consultation, including the Parish Council. As an example, another site - Tennis Court Field in Barton Stacey - mentions two utilities issues: “Improvements to the local sewerage infrastructure are required” and “Reinforcement of the waste water network will be required prior to occupation to minimize the risk of flooding”.

Of course there are also water supply, roads, electricity and transport links, none of which is mentioned in TVBC’s infrastructure analysis of Chilbolton.

Providing feedback to the present consultation, both from residents and the Parish Council, will give the opportunity for TVBC to take infrastructure issues into account. If TVBC ignore these representations, more comments can be made at the next stage of consultation questioning why infrastructure wasn’t adequately accounted for.

Surely this will destroy an important habitat?

The planners make no comment about the ecology of the site in Chilbolton. The pre-application for 25 homes, submitted by the Parish Council to TVBC, describes the plot as agricultural land of “moderate quality”. They also say:

No priority habitats have been identified. Whilst the site does not include any habitat patches forming part of an ecological network, the impact of this proposed development upon biodiversity and ecology of the site is unknown. It is greater than 0.5 Ha and is grassland surrounded by mature hedgerow, so it is expected that an Ecological Assessment will be required within any planning application.

Won’t this spoil an important view in the village?

The planners only mention the hedgerow bordering the plot. One of the conditions they attach to the development is “Retention of trees and hedgerows along the eastern boundary”. They also say:

This part of the village is elevated, as the land rises up from the River Test. Development should respond to the local landscape, taking into account views into the site. There is an established hedgerow along the eastern boundary that provides a landscape feature and should be retained to provide natural screening to the site.

The Parish Council’s pre-app says “The site is not identified as a Green Space or an Important Public Viewpoint in the Neighbourhood Plan”.

How can I make my views known?

The consultation period runs from 27 Jun 2025 to noon on 5 Sep 2025. This allows ten weeks to give views on the proposals. There are three ways to respond:

What’s the Parish Council doing about this?

We have an article explaining what the Parish Council is doing. In brief, they are preparing a response to TVBC, they are collecting residents’ views and will take them into consideration. If you want to make your views known, there are several public meetings:

  • Planning Committee on 4 Aug 2025 at 6pm in the Village Hall
  • A meeting provisionally booked for 21 Aug 2025 in the Village Hall
  • Parish Council meeting on 1 Sep 2025 at 6:30pm in the Village Hall

You can help the Parish Council formulate their response by letting them know your views and observations. Email them at:

Where can I find out more?

TVBC has published a full website devoted to the Local Plan which explains it in detail.

It includes a page with all of their documentation, but we have highlighted below the documents that refer to Chilbolton.

There are also public exhibitions running until 7 Aug 2025 where you can ask questions of TVBC’s planning team and see maps and documentation.