News: CDC press on with Gravel Hill

At the CDC meeting last night we learned how quickly they are moving on a potential development at Gravel Hill.

We also learned what a protected view is.

In the absence of any current communication with James Painter, the Community Development Committee has been pressing on exploring options for the Gravel Hill site. Both the Drove Road and the Gravel Hill sites achieved similar scores in the CDC site matrix.

Cllr David Hall provided CDC with the latest update at March’s CDC meeting.

Discussions with English Rural and Savills

Cllr Hall confirmed that there had been no further discussions with James Painter. He had however been talking with English Rural. Communication with the Church Commissioners is now done exclusively through Savills in Winchester.

The contact at Savills has said that the Church Commissioners are interested in exploring a larger, mixed site: 10-12 affordable homes plus 10-12 two to three bed market homes.

The Church Commissioners, as far as Savills are aware, are not in discussion about any other development on their land within Chilbolton.

Funding initial investigations

English Rural are currently reluctant to spend more money on the Gravel Hill site until more is known about the outcome of James Painter’s application.

A grant of up to £75,000 is available from the Church Commissioners for further work on the Gravel Hill site.

This would have to be approved by the Chilbolton Parochial Church Council. This is a corporate charitable body which is legally responsible for the financial affairs of St Mary the Less Church.

The grant money would be used to put together a plan for development at the Gravel Hill site. This would include safety at the junction with Martins Lane and exploring waste water and sewage treatment.

They would also explore the option to move the site closer to Gravel Hill Farm.

The meeting agreed that Cllr David Hall would seek permission from the Parish Council to write to the Parochial Church Council asking for their backing for a grant.

Homes for sale and community engagement

English Rural currently only build affordable homes for rent, they cannot sell houses. The Church Commissioners can sell houses. The Parish Council proposal, which includes homes for sale, and a single scheme, is new territory for English Rural. Cllr Hall said “we need to get into the detail with them.”

The next step is to scope the feasibility of the project and develop a plan. At the moment, English Rural are considering a “COM9 application” - this requires community support and engagement.

Botley Community Land Trust

Cllr Hall said that he has also been talking to Botley Community Land Trust, and that they had been very helpful. He proposed to continue discussions with them, with a meeting on 8 Apr 2026.

The Botley experience, and their funding structure, could provide a model for delivering the Parish Council’s housing plan

Village Character Appraisal

During Questions from the Public, a resident pointed out that the site matrix evaluation had not taken into account the effect of housing development on protected views in Chilbolton.

The resident said “if you change the junction, you would have to remove a lot of ancient hedgerow.”

The Chilbolton Village Character Appraisal was produced by Test Valley Borough Council, and includes guidance on the impact of development on views. It says:

development on the edge or immediately outside the conservation area boundary could have a detrimental impact on views into and out of the conservation area, which national government guidance on the preservation and enhancement of conservation areas seeks to resist

The Appraisal specifically identifies two “important views” at the corner of the potential Gravel Hill development:

Cllr Martin Watson, who had led the team producing the site matrix, said that he hadn’t realised that it was a protected view and that it would be taken account of.

Public meeting

The resident who had pointed out the protected views issue then said “presumably there will be a public meeting about Gravel Hill.”

Cllr David Hall responded “Absolutely.” Cllr Neil Connor endorsed this saying that a plan would be laid out to present to the Village.