News: Who supports a 25-home development?

14 Apr 2026

A long Parish Council Meeting covered both Gravel Hill and the 75-home proposal. Throughout the meeting, questions were raised by Councillors and residents over the need for, and the siting of any 25-home development.

Bizarrely, this even extended to the probity of Councillors and what their wives are doing.

Councillors’ wives

Under “Declarations of Interest”, Cllr Tony Ewer said the he was concerned that Councillors on the Community Development Committee had wives who were “actively involved” in Cherish Chilbolton. He felt that they should declare interests based on the conflict between their role within CDC, and Cherish Chilbolton’s opposition to the 25-home development.

Cllr Martin Watson said “My personal position is that I support the 25 homes. I don’t see a conflict of interest.”

Cllr Debbie Collis said “Cherish Chilbolton supports 25 houses.”

Cllr Hall said to Cllr Ewer “We will note your comments.”

Mid-Hampshire Authority

Cllr David Drew of TVBC and HCC responded to a question from Cllr Ewer about how many Councillors were planned for the new Mid-Hampshire Unitary Authority. Cllr Drew said “90-ish. Councils can’t be over 100, because they become a parliament.” He expected that each existing county division would have three Councillors.

Currently, the Test Valley Central Division has seven Hampshire County Councillors.

Cllr Drew said that elections for the new Authority were expected to take place in 2027.

Cllr David Griffiths declared that “Mid-Hants sounds awful.” Cllr Drew replied “That’s only a working title.”

Cllr Ewer pointed out that through judicious financial management, and property holdings in Andover, that TVBC had been able to hold Council Tax levels down. He asked what would happen to those assets. Cllr Drew replied that “They will go into a big melting pot.” He pointed out that TVBC’s “turnover” was very small compared to that of the new Authority. “Social care is the big cost” he said.

He anticipated that as a result of the amalgamation of councils that Band E Council Tax would rise by £200 per year.

Local Plan Regulation 18 Consultation

Cllr Drew said that Test Valley Borough Council’s Regulation 18 Consultation was proceeding to a “B” phase which wouldn’t begin before May, but could possibly start in June.

Cllr Hall said that the Pan-Parish Planning Forum, which comprises Longstock, Houghton and Stockbridge, had produced a really good update on the upcoming supplementary consultation. The dates they anticipated were much later than June.

The Parish Council will provide a submission to TVBC for inclusion in the supplementary consultation, and work would be done over the next two months with that in mind.

Cllr Watson asked Cllr Ewer where the number of 65 homes allocated to Chilbolton in the Local Plan had come from. Cllr Ewer replied that “the 65 homes came from James Painter. The site would develop over 75 years. I have never discussed anything other than the 25 homes.”

This issue has been a source of controversy since September 2025 when an SWG document emerged detailing a communication from James Painter to Parish Councillors, outlining a plan for 64 houses.

Northwood House

Cllr Drew said that he had been contacted by a TVBC Planning Officer to ask whether he wanted the planning application for Northwood House to be decided on by the Northern Area Planning Committee, or for it to be delegated to planning officers to decide.

The planning officer had said that the issues raised in the Parish Council’s objection wouldn’t be dealt with at this level. He added that “the applicant needed to get on with some environmental work.”

As a result, Cllr Drew had agreed for the decision to be delegated to planning officers.

Cllr Hall said “So, we’ll get notification if it has been approved. We have concerns about anything that adds to our problems.”

The issue of Northwood House was later raised, in a different context, under Questions from the Public.

Gravel Hill

Cllr Ewer asked why CDC was spending money fighting the 75-home proposal at Drove Road and promoting the Gravel Hill site. He said it “wasn’t an even-handed way to support two sites.”

Cllr Hall said that the Drove Road proposal wasn’t for 25 homes, and the landowner wasn’t currently communicating with the Parish Council. Cllr Watson added that the CDC wasn’t involved in any discussions about the 75-home development - a different working group was preparing the Parish Council’s response.

Cllr Hall explained that work was ongoing with English Rural, the Church Commissioners and Savills to turn their plan for a dozen affordable houses into a 20-home plan including small market homes.

Architects working for English Rural estimated the costs for the change of plans to be between £500 and £5,000.

The Parish Council proposed to approach Chilbolton Parochial Church Council to support them in applying for a grant from the Church Commission of up to £75,000. This would be paid either to English Rural or Botley Community Land Trust, depending on which route was taken.

This was proposed and agreed by Councillors with an objection from Cllr Ewer.

Land North East of Drove Road

The Parish Council is in the process of drafting a further objection to the 75-home proposal. This will include a response to the applicant’s revision of the ecology report, and other reports as they come in.

Cllr Hall said that a free report by a retired hydrologist has provided some “useful thoughts, that might help with further objections.”

A public meeting will be held, probably as part of the Annual Parish meeting on 27 Apr 2026, to present the Council’s conclusions on the 75-home application.

An extra Parish Council meeting is scheduled for 6 May 2026 to discuss and agree the objection.

Grants from Test Valley Borough Council

A brief presentation was made by Ms Jenny Brain, Community Grants and Community Engagement Officer for Harewood and Bourne Valley. She described the various grants that are available from TVBC this financial year. They are:

Councillor community grant
Rural business and community enterprise grant
Climate change grant

Open Gardens

Jane O’Boyle reported on progress towards Chilbolton Open Gardens 2026. So far, there are six confirmed gardens for the June event, with a further two possible inclusions. Seven invitations to residents to open their gardens are awaiting responses.

So far toilets, tables and chairs have been organised. Marquees have also been arranged. Publicity is underway - posters will be displayed around the Village and beyond closer to the event.

Teas will be served in David and Sally Griffiths’ beautiful garden at Poplar Dene. Cllr Griffiths ruefully remarked that his irises, which are currently starting, will be over by June.

He added that he had spoken to Edward Painter about using the Church Field for parking. Mr Painter said he would consult with his son, Mr James Painter.

Questions from the Public

Lack of support for 25 homes

A resident, who is also a member of Cherish Chilbolton, quoted from chilbolton.news saying that only 7 percent of the 244 people who had responded to the 75-home application supported the building of 25 new homes. She added “I cherish Chilbolton. I don’t support 25 homes.”

Cllr Watson said that during Phase 2 of the updating of the Neighbourhood Development Plan there would have to be a new Housing Needs Survey. This would have to be ratified by a referendum.

The resident said “The settlement boundary is there for a reason.”

Cllr Ewer observed that the 10 affordable homes would have to be built together and that there was no room within the settlement boundary.

Cllr Hall said that there were viable propositions at both Drove Road and Gravel Hill, and that “people should have options.”

Gravel Hill connection to sewerage

A resident who had previously queried the effect of the proposed Gravel Hill development on protected views, asked “Has CPC objected to Northwood House [plans] on the sewage increase?”

The owners of Northwood House, which lies opposite the Church of St Mary the Less have applied to “to remove a modern glass house and fruit cage; the formation of a pool and terrace, foundations and structure to form a pool house and associated drainage including garden wall repairs to the south east corner of the walled garden.”

In its objection to the plan, the Parish Council had written:

CPC are concerned that the drainage requirements of the pool and ancillary buildings, taken together with the connection of the 9 – bedroom dwelling to the mains, proposed under [this application], will significantly exceed the capability of the local foul sewer, causing a detrimental impact to the existing village sewerage system.

The questioner went on, saying that the Parish Council were “promoting Gravel Hill land which will be 20 houses [leading] into the same sewer.” He added that, under the law any buildings within 30 metres of a sewer are obliged to connect to it.

He concluded, saying “This Parish Council will go down in history as spoiling this Village.”

In response, Cllr David Hall said “We won’t do anything without the support of the Village.”

Cllr David Griffiths to resign

Having reported on the Open Spaces Committee, which he chairs, Cllr David Griffiths announced that he would retire before the Annual Parish meeting later this year.

Cllr Griffiths was first elected to Chilbolton Parish Council in 1979, and has served both as Chair and Vice Chair. Perhaps his greatest contribution has been to the care and conservation of the natural environment in the Village.

Cllr Hall thanked Cllr Griffiths for all his years of work on behalf of Chilbolton. He said he was sure that the Open Spaces Committee could “put their heads together” and devise a means by which Cllr Griffiths could continue to contribute to the work which has been so close to his heart.