‘Pointless and unjustifiable’ to continue work
In response to Government changes to national planning guidance, EHDC has today agreed it will no longer seek to submit a Local Plan by the end of December 2026.
The decision comes in response to a raft of new planning rules, combined with the recent decision on Local Government Reorganisation.
Councillors said the Government’s intervention has made continuing work on the Local Plan ‘pointless and unjustifiable’.
Instead, the council will focus its plan-making work on the new Government rules in a way that is relevant to the future council structure in Hampshire.
Cllr Richard Millard, EHDC Leader, said: “We believe in the principle of plan-making, but repeated Government changes to planning rules have torn the heart out of our Local Plan.
“Even if we produced a plan by the deadline of 31 December 2026, there will be so many new rules between now and then that it would be rendered pointless.
“Putting together a Local Plan is hugely costly and requires hundreds of thousands of pounds to engage expert consultants to advise on transport, utilities and more. Spending that amount of tax payers’ money on a document that would be of little use once completed is totally unjustifiable.
“In 2028 East Hampshire will cease to exist as an administrative entity, we should be looking ahead to the future of planning in the context of the new unitary authorities.”
A Local Plan sets out housing figures, development sites, local infrastructure and planning policies in East Hampshire.
The Government set a deadline to submit our Local Plan by the end of December but also set new rules for making Local Plans, and intends to change national planning policy (through an updated National Planning Policy Framework) in the summer, just months before the deadline.
The council will now engage with the new rules as part of the new planning system.
Government interventions have led to chaos in the planning system