News: Village meeting discusses 75-home proposal

Fifty five residents packed into a chilly Village Hall today to hear the Parish Council’s first meeting and discussion on James Painter’s proposed 75-home development.

Most people were looking for information and there was a shared desire to put in the best responses to TVBC planners.

The presenters were the two new Parish Councillors - Cllr Neil Connor and Cllr Martin Watson. With them was Philip Baker who is also part of the working group preparing CPC’s response to the planning application.

Cllr Connor welcomed everyone and explained that the task facing CPC, and residents, was to “explain why the application has ‘harms and disbenefits’.”

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Timescales

He outlined the short timescales for preparing responses. The Parish Council has until 4 Dec 2025 to lodge theirs, although they have asked TVBC for an extension to that date.

Residents can put in responses until their closing date of 12 Dec 2025.

TVBC then have 12 weeks to consider the planning application, responses from the public, and from expert consultees. The planning officer will then make a recommendation.

Possible dates for TVBC’s Northern Area Planning Committee to consider the recommendation, are 19 Feb 2026 or 12 Mar 2026.

More consideration may be given to the case at the full TVBC Council meetings on 26 Feb 2026 or 22 Mar 2026.

This process puts the heaviest pressure on the Parish Council. They have only 12 days left to put in a response to what is the most important planning application Chilbolton has ever faced.

Issues

The presenters took the audience on a tour of the main issues. These included:

  • 600 extra traffic movements through the Village per day, on narrow roads with no footpath
  • An increase of 17% in the number of houses in Chilbolton, where the National Planning Policy Framework’s recommended limit is 10% for builds outside the settlement boundary. This is a larger increase than similar villages within Test Valley
  • The Chilbolton wastewater treatment plant is currently operating at full capacity
  • The 75 houses would be built within five years
  • There is no proven demand for 30 affordable homes, and no guarantees the occupants would have a connection with the Village
  • Four-bed homes are outside the Chilbolton Neighbourhood Development Plan policies
  • The ‘community facilities’ aren’t needed: we already have a shop; GPs are unlikely to find setting up in the Village economically viable; tennis courts would come with ongoing upkeep costs

Residents added their own thoughts, which included:

  • Building on land that has long been fallow would mean a huge release of carbon
  • Traffic has built steadily in Chilbolton over the years. There’s much more parking on Village Street and some residents don’t have off-street parking. More homes will make this worse
  • Construction traffic will be a serious issue for Chilbolton’s narrow streets and tight turns
  • The unmade section of Drove Road risks being turned into a short cut, that will get used with detriment to the surface
  • Air pollution and light pollution would affect bats and owls
  • Virgin Media broadband is already operating at full capacity, more houses will mean a worse service for all
  • The Village has power brown-outs and has overloaded systems

The meeting next week will cover these areas in more detail. The objective will be to create a more rounded view from the Village. TVBC Cllr David Drew will be there, and CPC will be writing to James Painter to invite him to speak to residents at some point.

Cllr Martin Watson said that the CPC working group could do with help from people with relevant expertise in the Village. This includes:

  • Planning
  • Quantity Surveyors and Civil Engineers
  • Highways/transport
  • Environment
  • Water and sewage infrastructure

The stakes are high

A resident asked “This is only an outline planning. Aren’t we in danger of providing too much information to the developer.”

Cllr David Hall, who was in the audience, replied bluntly “The danger is now. Once outline permission is granted, it is really hard to object. [The developer] can colour it in, any way he chooses.”

Another resident asked “What is the appeal process?”.

Cllr Hall replied that there were two parts: “If permission is granted, we cannot appeal. If it is rejected, James Painter can appeal. Our only route would be to have a legal review of how [Test Valley Borough Council] had handled it, and that would be costly. If it’s granted, it’s granted.”

Responding to Test Valley Borough Council

Cllr Martin Watson pointed out the guide on chilbolton.news which gives the options for responding: email, letter, or via the TVBC website.

Cllr Neil Connor reinforced the advice that rather then responding on behalf of a household, residents should respond individually. “There is quality in quantity,” he said.

A resident suggested that it would be helpful if a template response was provided. Cllr Watson said “If we have 800 with the same comments, it won’t have the same impact.”

chilbolton.news said that its “75 Homes” section would include some of the best comments made by residents, previous Parish Council comments and its own content to help villagers in drafting their responses.

Get the word out

Cllr Connor urged everyone to “encourage others to comment, even if they don’t come to the meetings.” He said “the greater the number of comments, the more convincing our case is.”

CPC is united

Towards the end of the meeting, a resident asked “Is there a split in [the Parish Council], or is there a political battle?”

From the floor, Cllr David Hall replied: “At the CPC meeting on Monday, the six Councillors there supported this. The remaining Councillor present had to recuse himself. CPC is united, and it’s nice to see the newest Councillors taking the lead today.”

Summary

With three good presenters, and some well-thought-out material, there was a lot to consider. The message that the more people who take the trouble to provide comments to TVBC, the better, was drummed in.

However when the stark realities of the planning process were revealed - “If it’s granted, it’s granted” - there was a numb realisation in the room of how serious things are, and how high the stakes are.