Local plan – facts, fiction and frequently asked questions

The local plan is East Hampshire District Council’s key planning policy document for areas of the district outside the South Downs National Park. It sets parameters for development which cover housing, business, infrastructure, health, community facilities and the environment. 

EHDC has a legal duty to prepare and maintain an up-to-date local plan which contains enough sites in the district to accommodate the housing number given to us by the Government.  

If we ignore this duty or fail to submit a local plan that the Government will accept, our situation will be worse, not better. 

Without a local plan we would find it very hard to refuse planning applications, encouraging speculative applications from developers. 

We would suffer from uncoordinated and inadequate strategic infrastructure. Currently, planning applications only need to provide infrastructure to mitigate their development proposals, rather than consider cumulative infrastructure concerns. One of the purposes of a local plan is to set out what infrastructure will be needed by growing populations, and how it will be delivered. Without an up-to-date local plan, it is increasingly difficult to achieve strategic infrastructure to support wider growth.  

If we do not produce a local plan, it is possible that the Government will intervene and we would lose local democratic control.  

There are many hard decisions to be made in a local plan, but it is better that they are made by us – as a council working with residents – than by developers or the Government.

The Government wants to boost housing development across the country. It has pledged to build 1.5 million new homes over this Parliament and has changed national planning policy to try and achieve this.

As a result, it has significantly increased housing targets across the country, including in East Hampshire.

East Hampshire’s housing number has risen from 574 to 1,124 homes per year, almost doubling the previous figure. This is a very high number for a district that has 57% of its area in the South Downs National Park, outside our planning control and where development is restricted.

What’s more, all councils have a duty to co-operate with their neighbours on housing. If one council cannot deliver the houses the Government has called for, they can ask neighbouring authorities to take some from their allocation.

Urban areas, such as Portsmouth City Council and Havant Borough Council have already asked EHDC if we can take some of their housing allocation, as has the South Downs National Park Authority. EHDC must give due consideration to these requests to help with unmet housing needs as part of its local plan preparation.

We accept there is a need for new housing in East Hampshire, particularly affordable housing, but this level of growth over a 15 year period is unprecedented.

All councils are required to make every effort to meet their development needs. However, some areas have very specific constraints that make that difficult, such as they are already developed, and/or they have irreplaceable habitats, Green Belt, national parks and landscapes, significant flood risk.

While East Hampshire is constrained by the national park and some areas with habitat designations and flood risks, there is countryside land in East Hampshire that is not protected in the same way.

Any council that believes it cannot meet its development needs will have to prove that to an inspector at examination. This will be scrutinised, particularly by the development industry. The inspector will need to be satisfied with the council’s position to assess the plan as sound.

East Hampshire will do all it can to make sure those councils asking for assistance have done everything they can to provide as much housing as possible in their own areas, particularly the South Downs National Park.

EHDC has already carried out four Regulation 18 consultations, receiving nearly 9,000 responses. Holding another Regulation 18 consultation would delay the local plan, which would result in missing the Government’s December 2026 deadline for submission. Missing that deadline will likely result in the plan needing to be prepared in line with the new planning system the Government is introducing, and further delays of up to 30 months.

That could result in the Government taking the local plan out of our hands or our housing needs could be met through unplanned, speculative applications from developers. There are many hard decisions to be made in a local plan, but it is better that they are made by us – as a council working with residents – than by developers or the Government.

We understand that people may be concerned if the Regulation 19 local plan looks different from the 2024 Draft local plan, however, there will still be public consultation at the Regulation 19 stage.

Running another Regulation 18 consultation will not help us prevent development. Quite the opposite. By the time a local plan is in place, the decisions would have been made through the planning application process through unplanned speculative applications from developers.

Regulation 19 consultation is a formal consultation stage, which is a required part of the preparation of the local plan. It is consultation on a local plan the council thinks is sound and intends to submit to the Government for examination.  

It runs for a minimum of six weeks, and will be publicised locally, on social media and on the council’s website. Anyone signed up for notifications will be notified directly - sign up to receive local plan bulletins here.  

Regulation 19 is your opportunity to tell the planning inspector whether you think the plan the council has proposed is sound or not.  Your responses are sent to the inspector and considered as part of the examination process. You will have the opportunity to say whether you wish to participate in the examination. The inspector appointed to conduct the examination will lead the process and decide who will participate in the hearing sessions. The inspector will have the last word. The last step for the council is to formally adopt the plan.  

If the inspector finds issues based on the responses, they can recommend modifications to the local plan.  

Regulation 19 sees the plan tested against national standards, and your input can directly influence the Inspector’s recommendations. However, as with planning applications, the responses you give should be based on material planning considerations and supported by evidence. 

More than half of East Hampshire (57%) is in the South Downs National Park. Land covered by the South Downs National Park is protected from large scale development and decisions about planning are made by the South Downs National Park Authority, not EHDC. 

That means 57% of East Hampshire is out-of-bounds for EHDC’s local plan. We cannot allocate any sites inside the national park for housing, so it is likely that the majority of the Government’s very high housing target must be allocated on sites outside the park. 

The South Downs National Park Authority produces a local plan of its own, but is under no obligation to allocate large housing sites. 

Since 2021, we have persistently been calling on the Government to look sensibly at this district’s unique situation and have been in regular correspondence with the government on this issue, all of which is available on our website.

The creation of new unitary authorities in Hampshire will not stop development. Strategic planning at county level through the MCCA (Mayoral Combined County Authority) will continue to require growth across Hampshire, including East Hampshire’s towns and villages. Delaying the local plan will not protect our countryside  -  it will make us more vulnerable to unplanned development.   

The cumulative housing needs across Hampshire will still need to be met. The Strategic Development Plans produced by the MCCA will look collectively at the development needs of the entire county. So, as now, housing needs that cannot be met in areas of the county that are already heavily developed, such as the Solent, may look to less developed areas, such as East Hampshire, to help them meet their targets. 

EHDC has been diligently preparing the new local plan since 2019, preparing detailed evidence and carrying out consultations.  Factors outside of our control have delayed the plan, including the pandemic and Government changes to the planning system.   

Even if a local plan were in place, it would not have protected us for very long. The Government’s intention is to significantly increase the number of new homes to meet its manifesto target.

No. The local plan is still being compiled. You may have seen a map of potential housing sites. This is taken from the Land Availability Assessment (LAA) not the draft local plan. The LAA is a technical document which includes all potential development sites. This forms the basis of a list of sites to be considered for allocation in the local plan.  

They will be examined and assessed for suitability and those that are not considered suitable will not be allocated for development in the local plan. Not all sites in the LAA will end up being used. 

The Regulation 19 consultation stage provides the opportunity to comment on sites in terms of the soundness of the plan.

We are required to use the Government-imposed housing number to calculate our five year housing land supply, as well as an additional buffer (between 5-20% depending on the number of homes already delivered). 

A Five Year Housing land supply refers to the amount of deliverable sites needed to meet housing targets for the next five years. 

At present, we can demonstrate 2.9 years supply. A lack of five year housing land supply has consequences in terms of how we assess planning applications for new homes (and Traveller accommodation). It means applications are weighted towards approval, encouraging speculative applications and making it harder for us to refuse applications on sites we do not wish to be developed.  

This puts decision makers in a very challenging position. Even if the council refuses an application, unless we can present very strong evidence proving a development would cause ‘significant and demonstrable harm’, it is likely a planning inspector would approve the proposal on appeal.  

Very few councils are exempt from this situation. In fact, the vast majority of councils do not have a five year housing land supply since the Governments new housing targets were published.

The council has been lobbying the new Government since it took office about housing targets in East Hampshire. 

In July 2024 we wrote to Angela Rayner, then Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, calling on her to undo the inequitable and unfair housing targets placed on East Hampshire. A few months later, in December 2024, East Hampshire’s housing target was almost doubled. A subsequent meeting in March 2025, with Matthew Pennycook, Minister of State for Housing and Planning, has also not seen any changes in the Governments approach to housing numbers in places like East Hampshire. 

We have also called on the South Downs National Park Authority to allow more homes to be built in the national park, lifting the pressure on areas outside the park. The park’s draft local plan (2025) proposes to build up to 90 homes a year out of the 1,124 allocated to East Hampshire.  

The council is in constant communication with the government on these issues, has taken legal advice on planning law and has visited Westminster on multiple occasions to meet the relevant ministers. 

We are fighting for fairness, but we also must accept that simply ignoring the Government targets and refusing to co-operate will make things worse not better. 

We share residents' concerns about infrastructure. There is already pressure on key community facilities.  

The local plan process includes an Infrastructure Plan to ensure that schools, transport, utilities, and other services are considered alongside housing growth.  

The Infrastructure Plan will also be available as part of the Regulation 19 consultation stage. Without an adopted local plan, development would occur piecemeal, without coordinated infrastructure improvements. 

Development brings significant benefits to the district. It provides much-needed affordable housing, helping local people stay in their communities, while boosting commercial vitality through new businesses and jobs that strengthen the local economy.  

Development also drives investment in infrastructure, improving roads, schools, healthcare and transport. Modern developments increasingly include climate resilience measures, such as sustainable design and green spaces, ensuring towns are better prepared for future environmental challenges. 

We understand that the prospect of large scale development can be worrying for residents. More homes means an increase in population which can lead to more traffic on the roads and a greater strain on public services such as schools and health facilities.

It may also mean the loss of countryside that is valued by the community.

These are issues being faced in districts up and down the country because of the high Government-imposed housing numbers and its determination to deliver more housing.

The next public consultation is expected in summer 2026, followed by an examination in summer 2027.  

For further updates on the local plan and other planning matters, please sign up on the Council’s website. 

There’s a lot of technical jargon involved in planning. We have tried to make the answers on this page as user-friendly as possible but if you need a word explained there is a glossary in the draft local plan 2024. 

We understand that residents may have further questions. Any further questions should be directed to localplan@easthants.gov.uk.

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