Planning pre-application

Chilbolton Parish Council submitted a planning pre-application to Test Valley Borough Council on 31 Jan 2025 to build 10 affordable, 10 downsize and 5 self-build homes.

At the first of the Parish Council’s “informal” meetings, Martin Gossling outlined plans for a charitable community land trust which would own the planned 10 affordable homes. Villagers though, were keener on knowing what was inside the planning pre-application that had been sent to Test Valley Borough Council.

In a surprise move, Chilbolton Parish Council (CPC) hijacked their own public meeting to announce that they had “paused” the planning pre-application they had lodged with Test Valley Borough Council (TVBC). It would be resubmitted with “modified” documents that would be publicly available.

A pre-application is a less formal way of discussing a proposed development with a local council. Although central government encourage local council to use pre-apps, unlike the formal planning application process, each council can use their own system for a pre-app.

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.