News: Parish Council raises new objection to 75-home plan

Cllr David Hall, on behalf of Chilbolton Parish Council, has lodged a new objection to the 75-home plan, together with a letter to TVBC’s Director of Planning and Development, Simon Finch.

The objection covers five key areas:

  • The effect of the latest version of the National Planning Policy Framework, in particular polices S3 to S6, which makes it harder to gain planning approval outside the settlement boundary
  • Two recent appeal decisions made by the Planning Inspectorate, including the rejection of a development at Tetsworth in Oxfordshire which bears a number of similarities to the issues raised about the Chilbolton proposal. Significantly, the refusal was based on a limited degree of self-sufficiency within the village requiring travel beyond it for employment, education and healthcare. It also detailed the impact the proposal would have on the character and appearance of the area
  • A request that TVBC confirms that they will ignore the allocation of 65 homes to Chilbolton in their now-shelved Local Plan as part of their decision-making. Cllr Hall cites CPC’s objection to it and the number of unresolved complaints to TVBC’s Monitoring Officer about how the homes were included in the plan, which have already been flagged to Mr Finch
  • The Observatory is now covered by stronger protections within the new NPPF policy P6 covering national defence capability and public safety. Cllr Hall also points to the Government’s recent commitment to a £7m upgrade of its radar capability, which he says “may impact the decision on [the 75-home plan] and future planning applications in the vicinity”
  • The Parish Council’s intention to present a new Neighbourhood Development Plan which will include land and resources to deliver affordable housing as a “genuine community-led proposal”, to which he says the 75-home proposal is “a significant barrier”

Cllr Hall’s letter to Mr Finch says that the new NPPF “has fundamentally changed the backdrop against which planning authorities are now required to make decisions.” He adds that CPC’s latest objection provides “clear planning grounds and precedent why [the 75-home plan] should now be refused.”

Cllr Hall has also sent copies of the letter to the Rt Hon Caroline Nokes MP, TVBC and HCC Cllr David Drew and Mr Andy Ferrier, Chief Executive of TVBC.