News: Parish Council: "Now is the time"
At the Annual Parish Assembly, Chilbolton Parish Councillors sent a clear message to villagers: “Now is the the time to respond to TVBC planners about the proposed 75-home development.”
It began as a presentation on the James Painter’s 75-home planning application to “brief the community, gather feedback and determine the way ahead”.
It ended with three Parish Councillors emphatically calling on residents of Chilbolton to make their thoughts known to Test Valley Borough Council Planning Officers.
Cllr Neil Connor spoke first, with a presentation which described the current status of the planning application.
New documents but concerns remain
Mr Painter’s consultants have lodged new documents with TVBC covering traffic, road safety, ecology and groundwater. As a result, Hampshire County Council Highway Authority has withdrawn its previous objection, and TVBC Ecology has partially withdrawn its previous objection.
Cllr Connor admitted that some of the new material “looks really good”. However, the information that had been provided was selective. Nor did it adequately address what the Parish Council and many residents see as threats to Chilbolton.
Summary of CPC concerns (Credit: Chilbolton Parish Council)
He encouraged residents to read the new documents and make their own assessment.
Healthy streets
One of the new documents, the Walking, Cycling and Horse-riding Assessment Report (WCHAR), contained a “Healthy Streets Report” on roads within the Village. This provides a scoring of each road across ten categories which describe the human experience within them. These are aggregated to provide a score from 0 to 100.
A score above 70 shows a high-quality environment. Below 30, indicates a hostile environment. The scores within the Village, assessed by Mr Painter’s consultants on 31 Mar 2026 were:
| Street | Score |
|---|---|
| Branksome Avenue | 52 |
| Coley Lane | 28 |
| Drove Road | 41 |
| Station Road | 33 |
| Village Street | 47 |
Groundwater and sewerage
HCC Local Flood Authority had required that measurements be made of groundwater around the proposed development. One of the new documents addresses this, reporting data gathered from four sites at depths between 1.7 metres and 5.1 metres. These revealed no groundwater.
As a result the Local Flood Authority have removed their objection to the development.
However, Cllr Connor pointed out that no assessment had been made of the increase in run-off water from the site or greater pressure on drainage systems. He asked “How does the water get down and what does it do to the drainage system?”
He also observed that with a 17% increase in sewage flow to a waste water treatment works that already cannot cope during moderate to heavy rainfall, the development plans contained no mitigation for this risk.
Ecology
Work to assess the ecological impact of building at the site continues. Only four reptile surveys have been carried out, where there should be seven. Bat detectors are scheduled to continue monitoring until September this year. The proposals still do not meet the 10% Biodiversity Net Gain measure.
Observatory
Chilbolton Observatory is a nationally significant scientific facility with unique capabilities. In their response to the planning application, they said:
The proposals do give the Observatory operators serious concerns and represent a threat to the ongoing viability of the site, which is unique in the UK science and technology capabilities.
The new application documents reveal that Mr Painter’s consultants met with the owners of the Chilbolton Observatory, but they are still waiting for a response.
A member of the public suggested that the Parish Council should meet with Observatory staff to understand their position. Cllr David Hall, Chair of CPC, agreed and said they would take that as an action
Timetable
Potential timetable (Credit: Chilbolton Parish Council)
“Now is the time”
The Parish Council will finalise their response to the new documents at their meeting on 6 May 2026, at 6pm in the Village Hall.
Cllr Connor, though, made it clear that any resident who has already responded to the planning application, should read the new documents and make a new response. He emphasised that there is no rule to prevent residents making a second comment, or more, on TVBC’s webpage for the development.
Cllr Martin Watson admitted that villagers might be weary of the planning issues. “It’s been a long time, and people are tired,” he said. “But let’s give it one last shove, and call out the inconsistencies.”
Cllr Hall said that for residents who had previously responded, it was important to make an additional comment, focussing on what had changed. He added “And if you haven’t put in an objection yet, get yours in. Look at what’s important to you. Now is the time. Let’s make sure it gets kicked out and we get the houses we need in the Village.”
If you want to make a comment on the planned 75-home development, there are three ways to send it to TVBC planning officers:
You can email to planning@testvalley.gov.uk.
You can write to:
Planning and Building Service
Beech Hurst
Weyhill Road
Andover
Hants SP10 3AJ
In both of the above cases, you should include the application number (which is 25/02680/OUTN for James Painter’s 75-home application) and your full postal address, including your postcode.
There is a third way to provide a comment. You can use the comments page for Mr Painter’s proposal. You have to register with TVBC, if you haven’t done so already, then login and use their online form.
For all of these ways of providing comments, you should not include your signature or telephone number. If you do, planning officers will have to blank them out.