News: CDC building new site analysis
The Community Development Committee yesterday reported that the new development site analysis is well underway.
Martin Watson, who has taken the lead of the Site Options Working Group, said that they were using the Test Valley Borough Council’s method for undertaking site selection.
He described the work so far as a “living document”. CDC will make the framework documents, with weightings for the different categories, available on the Parish Council website. The weighting “reflects community concerns”, he said.
When asked by Peter Collis whether he would be including the “Paddock Field site”, he said “No - there is no evidence, it’s only a rumour. But we’re assessing the Gravel Hill site, which is very similar”.
In response to a question from one of the twelve members of the public who attended, Fiona Barrie, who is a member of the Site Options Working Group said “Every question is assessed for every site”.
Reporting on the Water and Sewage Working Group, Alisdair Campbell said that they had identified twelve stakeholders - such as councils, Southern Water and DEFRA, however there had been little interest from other councils. He said that Cllr George Marits was on the pan-parish group and Cllr David Hall is trying to engage with them.
On Communications, Neil Connor said that he had met with Cllr Debbie Collis, who is proposing plans for the Parish Council’s new website and communications, and Andy Bradley, who is responsible for CCLT communications.
They had agreed to coordinate across the three groups - CPC, CDC and CCLT. This would include the approach taken for residents who aren’t users of the Internet. This might involve physical documents and articles in the Community magazine.
The proposed new Parish Council website will be discussed at the Parish Council meeting on 1 Sep 2025. If it were approved, it would possibly go live by the end of October.
Mr Connor said that he had met with Chilbolton Community Land Trust. They plan to hold a public meeting in September to report how they are working to build affordable housing and to allow residents to shape their approach and the types of homes they will build. He also said that CCLT are looking to appoint two additional directors.
During questions from the public a discussion arose around how many people were on the lists for affordable and downsize houses, and what size and sort of homes they might need. Mr Connor said that the list for affordable housing is held by TVBC, and the lists for downsize housing was held by the CPC clerk.
CCLT have been told that there are 13 people on the affordable list. Cllr Sue Larcombe said that there were 7 or 8 on the downsize list.
Mr Connor said that another housing need analysis needs to be done and he hoped to conduct focus groups for all three house types.
Call for help
During the meeting at a number of points, CDC members spoke of the need for skilled professional help. They sought help from residents of Chilbolton who have experience in areas such as quantity surveying, electrical and water engineering.
Mr Connor asked that villagers with skills in relevant areas contact the CDC: they would not necessarily need to join the group - even a morning or an afternoon’s help would be valuable.
Listed below are links to each of this month’s working group reports.