In May 2026, the council moved preparation of the new local plan from the ‘legacy’ planning system to the ‘new’ planning system and, based on what was known at the time, to start to strategically prepare for future plan making as part of the then anticipated unitary authorities.
However, on 7 September 2026, the Government suddenly announced the withdrawal of the Hampshire LGR decision.
A news release by the council explains the next steps for the Local Plan, and a new Supplementary Plan. The proposals, recommended by the Planning Policy Committee on 7 October, will go before Cabinet on Thursday 12 November.
The local plan next steps report considered by Planning Policy Committee includes a proposed Local Plan timetable (Appendix B).
Downloadable shapefile
The new East Hampshire local plan will cover the parts of East Hampshire District that lie outside the South Downs National Park.
A downloadable shapefile is available showing the boundary of the area covered by the plan.
- East Hampshire planning authority boundary (csv 597 kb)
While this shapefile cannot be displayed directly on the website, users of QGIS and other GIS software can use the downloadable CSV data to create a shapefile within their own GIS system.