News: Planning meeting backs 25 homes

At a well-attended Planning Committee meeting last night, Councillors and residents together agreed to confirm 25 homes in TVBC’s draft Local Plan. However they decided not to automatically accept a further 40 homes, because there was as yet no proven housing need.

Option 3, but limited to 25 homes

Chairing the meeting, Cllr Sue Larcombe said that the Planning Committee, on behalf of the Parish Council, proposed that they respond with “Option 3”. This is summarised as:

The site proposed by TVBC is the preferred site selected by the SWG, and subsequently used by CPC in various presentations and the pre-app for 25 houses submitted in April 2025 … Further development must be supported by proven housing need, possibly in two phases over the years following the initial 25.

Sewerage, water, electricity, footpaths and roads must be provided with the houses.

Generally, it is considered better to engage with the TVBC proposals to get the best outcome for parishioners than to fight them head on.

The 23 residents present and Parish Councillors discussed TVBC’s proposed phasing:

2027-28 2028-29 2030-31 2031-32
10 15 20 20

Councillors initially suggested putting forward a counter-proposal for phasing:

2027-28 2028-29 2034-35 2041-42
10 15 20 20

which would spread the remaining 40 homes at two seven-year intervals to the end of the Local Plan in 2042.

Residents and Councillors discussed this, and concluded that this ignored the Parish’s requirement that homes be built according to proven housing need. It was agreed that CPC’s response would recommend limiting development to the homes identified by the Housing Needs Survey and included in the pre-application to TVBC.

Responses from residents

Cllr Larcombe revealed that there had been 19 responses so far from Chilbolton residents. Summarising the issues highlighted in them, she said they covered:

  • Housing scale
  • Site access
  • Utilities and infrastructure
  • Landscape and ecology
  • Site location
  • Lack of public transport

She said that residents’ responses would be included as an annex to the Parish’s response. Residents’ words would not be edited, but the points raised would be included in the formal response.

Cllr Larcombe once again asked residents to respond, to TVBC with a copy to Councillors.

There are three ways to reach TVBC:

Copies should be emailed to:

The deadline for the TVBC consultation is noon on 5 Sep 2025, but for a response to be included by the Parish Council, they should be emailed by 24 Aug 2025

Village public meeting

A meeting will be held in the Village Hall on 21 Aug 2025. It will include a presentation of the Parish Council’s response. The slides for the presentation will be available on CPC’s website ahead of the meeting, so that villagers can go to the meeting prepared with comments and questions.

Questions

  • A resident suggested that the Parish’s response should recommend amendments to TVBC’s Infrastructure Delivery Plan. The entry for Chilbolton should include improvements to the local sewerage infrastructure (similar to planned development in Barton Stacey at Tennis Courts) and a developer contribution to Stockbridge Surgery
  • A resident questioned whether Chilbolton was being unfairly burdened with the 65 home allocation. Cllr Julian Hudson said that in terms of homes per year Chilbolton was “in the middle of the table”. Another resident asked where Chilbolton would lie taking into account the number of people in Chilbolton. It was agreed that an analysis would be made
  • A resident observed that the designation “community led” could only be used if the development had the support of the community
  • A resident asked “When is the next Neighbourhood Development Plan for Chilbolton”. Cllr David Hall, who was attending as a member of the public said “The Current NDP expires in 2029. It will have to fit in with the relevant council authority policy. We will need a referendum”
  • Test Valley Farm’s five houses was raised by a resident, asking whether they should count as part of the 25 homes. Cllr Tony Ewer said that planning permission had already been given to Test Valley Farm before TVBC drafted their plan, and therefore the five homes were automatically included by them elsewhere in the plan
  • A resident observed that TVBC laid significant emphasis on community engagement in their pre-application review. He said that it would be a good idea if a member of their planning team could attend the Village meeting on 21 Aug 2025. Cllr Larcombe agreed to investigate. Cllr Hall reported that TVBC and HCC Cllr David Drew and Caroline Nokes MP had both attended the recent “pan-parish” meeting in Stockbridge
  • Residents asked about climate adaptation, windfall and infill development, and nitrate neutrality. Councillors affirmed that these issues would be covered in the Local Plan
  • A resident referred to the “blue lines and red lines” mentioned in TVBC’s pre-application review. He asked whether the relevant map from the first iteration of the pre-app could be released. Cllr Larcombe said that she would find out

Summary

Last night’s meeting was proof of two things: it’s worth villagers’ time attending to learn what progress the Parish Council is making; also, there was an opportunity to influence an important decision for our Village.