News: CCLT agrees basis for co-operation with CPC

The Board of Chilbolton Community Land Trust have agreed in principle how they will co-operate with Chilbolton Parish Council in working with potential landowners and with Test Valley Borough Council.

They discussed a model for that co-operation, and how it might develop, as options for building affordable homes become clearer.

For the first time, the CCLT Board met with members invited to attend. CCLT Chair Martin Gossling said that members could make contributions and comments throughout the meeting.

Board members attending were Martin Gossling, Andrew Bradley (via video link), Cllr Neil Connor, Cllr David Hall and Maureen Treadwell who is Treasurer of CCLT. There were apologies from Cllr Sue Larcombe.

There were eleven CCLT members in attendance.

Partnership between CCLT and CPC

The Board meeting followed an intervention at the last Parish Council meeting at which Mr Gossling and Mrs Treadwell had raised concerns that CCLT was being “stopped from talking to English Rural”, a non-profit which builds and manages affordable homes.

They had also asserted that “We should be able to engage with all landowners and developers”.

Schematic diagram

Cllr Neil Connor presented a diagram, which he and Mr Gossling had been working on. It represented parties who had an interest in the development of both affordable and market homes in Chilbolton. These parties include landowners, local authorities, CCLT and the Parish Council.

Lines drawn between these parties indicated legitimate and useful interactions between them.

Cllr David Hall said “the schematic is a good way of [discussing the issues], to get to the principles. Once it is agreed, we should have documented detail.

Objections

Mrs Treadwell said that she had objections. The Community Land Trust had a responsibility to deliver affordable housing, and to “safeguard it in perpetuity”, by making land agreements and establishing covenants. What if, she asked, a future version of the Parish Council were to be against affordable housing?

To secure this certainty, she said that “CCLT need to be involved at every stage in the partnership.” To achieve this they would need to be able to deal with landowners.

It was important, she said, that the diagram was more explicitly described in a document - a Memorandum of Understanding.

She pointed out that other CLTs, such as Botley, have invitations to landowners on their websites to discuss the opportunities for affordable housing.

Cllr Hall said that CCLT had been established to build only affordable homes, and that it was the Parish Council’s responsibility to assess potential sites and discuss them with landowners. Any change in this division of responsibilities would need to be agreed by a vote of CCLT members.

Mr Gossling said “This is a high-level document. I don’t think we have to talk to landowners today.”

“Dotted lines”

Cllr Connor suggested that CCLT’s engagement with landowners should be represented on the schematic by a “dotted line”.

Mrs Treadwell asked what that meant, and whether CCLT and CPC would have equal access.

Cllr Connor said that the respective roles of CPC and CCLT are “going to change over time.”

The issue of the “dotted lines” also arose in connection with CCLT being able to talk with TVBC staff.

Cllr Hall said that he believed that CCLT’s relationship should only be with Borough Council Housing staff. If they were to talk to planning staff, then there would be the risk of separate discussions taking place, as had happened in 2025. He said there couldn’t be two planning applications for any proposed development.

Mrs Treadwell said that TVBC planning staff were knowledgable, and would be useful in providing informal advice to CCLT. In addition, CCLT might have to provide a “rural exception case” to planners.

Agreement

Martin Gossling summarised by saying that drafting a Memorandum of Understanding could be “parked” for the moment and that the use of the schematic with its dotted lines would help establish how CPC and CCLT are to be involved together.

He agreed to attend the next Community Development Committee meeting to answer questions as Chair of CCLT.

Upcoming meetings

Important meetings concerning the Parish Council’s and CCLT’s plans will be held during the next two months:

• On Saturday 27 Jun 2026 between 10am and 12pm in the Village Hall, the Parish Council will hold a “Community Engagement meeting” to discuss the two potential development sites and put forward their recommendations to Chilbolton residents. A referendum or vote on the proposals will follow “during the Summer”
• CCLT are holding a Resident Focus Group session on Monday 29 June at Chilbolton Village Hall. Ten people have expressed an interest
• The CCLT Annual General Meeting for all members will take place on Thursday 16 Jul 2026 at 7pm in the Village Hall. Note that members must attend, or provide their apologies for the meeting. Any member who did not attend last year’s AGM or provide apologies, and does so again this year “shall immediately cease to be a member” according to paragraph 15.4 of CCLT’s rules.

TVBC housing list

Mr Gosling said that CCLT had contacted TVBC Housing to determine the latest numbers of people registering for social and affordable housing in Chilbolton.

As of two weeks ago, TVBC confirmed that there were seven people: three requiring a 3-bed home, two requiring a 2-bed home and one requiring a 1-bed home.

Mrs Treadwell added while she had been going house-to-house to find attendees for the Resident Focus Group, she had encountered residents who were living in Chilbolton, but who wanted to live in Andover. These, if they were successful in finding homes in Andover, would release homes in the Village for those on TVBC’s list.

CCLT meetings and minutes

Board members agreed that CCLT Board meetings would now be open to attendance by members. This was enabled by an offer from the Parish Council to help pay for hiring the Village Hall for meetings rather than holding them in Board members’ homes.

Residents who are not already members can sign up using an email address at the CCLT website.

Meetings will be held every second Tuesday of the month, at 7:30pm in the Village Hall.

Andy Bradley, in charge of communications, agreed that minutes of meetings would be emailed to CCLT members when they were available.

A going concern

Maureen Treadwell, Treasurer, said that she had completed the year accounts. Income during the year had been £650, and net assets were £375. Although these were relatively small amounts of money, it meant that CCLT was confirmed as a going concern.

Due diligence on English Rural

Mrs Treadwell had also performed an initial due diligence assessment of English Rural, who are working with the Parish Council in developing their proposal for a housing at Gravel Hill.

Their rating for governance was excellent, and financial resilience was “grade 2”, with the amount of money available for funding developments amounting to £23 million.

This is adequate for the smaller developments in which English Rural specialise, but would be less so were they to move to building larger projects.

Call for more CCLT Board Members

Board members agreed that they needed people with relevant skills and enthusiasm to join the CCLT Board. It was agreed publish an invitation for applications, with the hope that they could be voted on at the Annual General Meeting on 16 Jul 2026.

Summary

The presence of CCLT members at the Board meeting was a positive factor - they were active in making a contribution to the discussion. Board members reached agreement on how they might go forward. The atmosphere was relaxed and positive - a marked contrast with the way in which the last Parish Council meeting ended.