News: CDC discusses 75-home and 25-home developments

Chilbolton’s Community Development Committee have met for the first time in three months. They re-elected Cllr David Hall as Chair. They discussed James Painter’s 75-home plan and their own investigations into a 25-home development.

Election of Chair

Following his resignation as Chair of CDC in July Cllr David Hall was re-elected as Chair. Cllr Neil Connor, who had temporarily acted as Chair, was confirmed in his role as Vice-Chair.

Site options

Martin Watson said that the site options worksheet had been updated to normalize the scores. They are now shown as a percentage on each sheet.

The work, so far, has been shared with CDC members. It has also been shared with TVBC planners. Cllr Hall said they had done that to ensure it was congruent with the way TVBC performs site analysis.

He said CDC should now share the analysis with Parish Councillors.

Meeting with TVBC planners

The meeting held on Monday 10 November, was attended by six people from TVBC and seven from CPC/CDC.

The team from CDC explained where they were with selecting a site. At that time, James Painter’s application had not been published. TVBC planners must clearly have known about it at the time, but they acted completely professionally and did not discuss it.

Simon Finch, who led the TVBC team, gave an update on how changes to the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) were affecting planners’ views. In particular, the response that they had given to the CPC’s planning pre-application, might be different now.

Under the new rules, if a development is considered “sustainable” and meets NPPF requirements, TVBC would have to approve it. Proving an application is sustainable would entail:

• Infrastructure
• That the Village could support the proposed scale of development
• Ecology
• Compliance with the Chilbolton Neighbourhood Development Plan

Cllr Hall said he had asked how important community support was to approval of plans. Their reply was that it would be difficult to approve if there was widespread opposition within the community.

Community engagement has to be demonstrated, and the community needs to be clearly involved in the evolution of the plan. However if an applicant is granted outline planning permission, it becomes more difficult.

When they discussed the four sites that CDC is evaluating, it was confirmed that they would still be looked at under the COM9 Rural Exception Scheme. They hinted that previously, not all of the sites would have “ticked the boxes”. They didn’t say which. Now, however, all four could qualify.

Fiona Barrie observed that “if all four are in, then that makes it worse.”

Cllr Hall said “It’s not ‘First come, first served’.” He indicated that if a site was being considered and a second site emerged with more community support, TVBC would look on that one more favourably.

Mark Hussan said that before, Andover would have absorbed the increase in housing need. Now, however, the villages had to take their share.

Colin Ruffalls asked “Where does that leave CPC’s 10+10+5 [proposal]?”. Cllr Hall replied “When we talk with James Painter, we will have to ask him.”

Mark Hussan asked “Can you get a builder to build these houses? Is there demand for 75 homes. And are there local tenants for the 30 affordables?”

The meeting then discussed the phasing of Mr Painter’s 75-home build. Fiona Barrie said they wouldn’t start any affordable homes until “ten market houses are ‘occupied’.”

David Hall concluded this item saying “All four sites are still feasible, so we should continue with the matrix and talk to landowners.”

Commercial case

Cllr Hall said that CDC now have the ability to speak to landowners, so they should talk to James Painter, and invite him to a public meeting. “We need to know whether he wants to work with us, as he said in his letter of August 2025,” he said.

He went on to say that “There’s been no response [to Mr Painter] since August. [CPC Chair] Julian Hudson drafted a letter but the Locum Clerk stopped him [sending it].”

It was agreed that Cllr Hall circulate a draft letter to Mr Painter amongst CDC members and Parish Councillors.

Fiona Barrie said “He might still be interested in 25 homes. It’s open to him to do the 25 and not go for 75.”

Mark Hussan warned that “some of the features of the 75-home development depend on scale.”

The meeting agreed that CDC should make contact with the three land owners: James Painter, the Church Commissioners, and the owners of Bett’s Farm.

They agreed that the team who meet with Mr Painter would be Fiona Barrie, David Hall, Julian Hudson (if available) and Mark Hussan.

Infrastructure

Alisdair Campbell reported on progress within the water and sewerage working group and the heating and power working group.

He had attended the Pan-parish group dealing with sewage. They had installed 14 water quality monitors on the River Test at locations chosen by river-keepers. One had been installed at the outlet from Chilbolton’s wastewater treatment plant. The results showed that contamination was well within the legal limits.

A river-keeper pointed out that he had seen flies on the river that had not been there before. The reason for this, he said, was that there was less sewage being dumped in the river.

Mr Campbell also reported that Southern Water would be building a freshwater pipeline from Winchester to Andover. It would be in service by 2029, and would reach Chilbolton by 2030.

To further improve Chilbolton’s sewerage, we would have to lobby for more TuboGel pipe sealing.

Peter Collis asked whether Mr Campbell knew the Chilbolton wastewater treatment plant’s capacity. Mr Campbell replied that he didn’t, but he would find out.

Turning to heating and power, Mr Campbell said that he was hoping to arrange advice sessions for residents in the New Year. These might include:

• Practical advice on how to reduce energy bills
• Advice on installing solar panels, and suitable sites around the Village
• Possibly a “Utilities Evening” in January

He said that the roof of the Village Hall would make a good site for solar panels, for which grants were available. He caught the meeting’s interest by saying that the power produced might support a Village ‘E-Bus’. Colin Ruffalls suggested that it might, one day, even be driverless.

Cllr Hall, who had previously had responsibility for the water and sewerage working group, asked Mr Campbell to take the helm in addition to his brief for heating and power, to which he agreed.

Summary

The meeting with TVBC had given CDC members some clarity on constraints facing any proposed development in Chilbolton. It also underlined the threat to all villages in Test Valley, of significant house-building.

All at the meeting recognised the importance of making contact with landowners, in particular though, a meeting with James Painter. Understanding his 75-home plan, and the implications for the 20 to 25 homes which the Parish Council has proposed, is a high priority.