Upcoming Changes in Planning

Upcoming Changes in Planning and what it could mean for the Hampshire countryside.

Recently, several new consultations and initiatives have been announced that could significantly change the way planning is delivered and impact our Hampshire countryside.

Hampshire and Solent Fast Combined Authority Fast Track Devolution

The publication of the Hampshire and Solent Fast Combined Authority Fast Track Devolution consultation, which presages major changes in how local government in Hampshire will look in the future and how planning will be delivered.

This consultation, which runs until 13 April, is concerned with the setting up of a mayoral strategic authority covering Hampshire, Portsmouth, Southampton and the Isle of Wight.

We are in the process of putting together our CPRE response, but our immediate reaction is that we welcome the return of strategic planning. The County Council elections due in May are to be postponed and a mayoral election to be held in May 2026.

In the meantime, the next step in the process is for the strategic authorities to formulate the tier of unitary authorities that will sit below the mayoralty, which the Government expects each to have around 500,000 population. These will replace the existing district and borough councils that are currently responsible for delivering a planning service. We await details of what will be proposed but will remain alert to their impact on rural communities and our countryside.

Read about the Hampshire and Solent devolution consultation

Land Use Framework

A consultation has also been launched on a Land Use Framework for England. CPRE has long lobbied for a Land Use Strategy, something that will map out the multiple and often conflicting requirements placed on our countryside by different arms of government from food production to renewables, transport, housebuilding and nature recovery to name the main ones. Although we are disappointed in the quality of this first draft, we welcome it as a first move in the right direction. We will be lobbying for a Hampshire and Solent-wide Land Use Framework to underpin the production of the first strategic plan for the area.

Read about the Land Use Consultation

New Homes

And, finally for the moment, the Government has announced that up to 12 new towns will be under construction by the next election. Over 100 proposals have been submitted and, unsurprisingly, Micheldever is one of them.