News: Parish Council sends planning pre-application to Test Valley

Chilbolton Parish Council (CPC) have sent pre-application documents to Test Valley Borough Council to open discussions on their proposed 25-home development near Eastman’s Field.

At the Parish council meeting on 3 Feb 2025 the Chair, Tony Ewer, described the events of a hectic week. James Painter, the owner of the land, had worked with his professional team to prepare a design and access statement for the development. Cllr Ewer, Cllr Sue Larcombe and Cllr Julian Hudson had reviewed it and Cllr Ewer had sent it to TVBC on the evening of 31 Jan 2025.

This abbreviated approval process caused Cllr David Hall to observe that neither the Strategic Working Group nor the Parish Council themselves had had a chance to review the pre-app documents before submission. Cllr Ewer emphasised the importance of submitting before the end of the month, but didn’t elaborate on the reason for this. He promised to circulate the pre-app documents to other councillors the following day. He added that James Painter was also being asked to amend his SHELAA down from the present 300 houses on the whole site to “a likely range of 100 to 160 houses”.

He circulated a drawing from the pre-app around the Parish Council members and at the suggestion of Cllr Emma Noble, also allowed members of the public who were attending the meeting to briefly see it. It showed a different arrangement of the planned houses and included what looked like a roundabout at the access point to the development. Cllr Ewer said that he hoped to receive feedback from TVBC within a month or two.

He pointed out that the next steps were to register a Community Land Trust. There was a question over whether it should be registered as housing association or a charity. This depended on which option allowed for funding by grant. He indicated that there might even be more than one CLT.

At the end of the meeting, in response to questions from members of the public, Cllr Ewer said:

  • When TVBC’s response to the pre-application comes back there will be a public meeting to explain the details of the plan
  • Based on the result of the public meeting the Parish Council would decide whether or not there should be a referendum of villagers
  • The self-build houses would have to comply with the Neighbourhood Development Plan, with no more than three bedrooms each
  • A series of Village meetings will take place to allow for more “informal” discussion of issues surrounding the plans