A GREEN Party member on Winchester City Council has voiced his concern about the delay of the next Local Plan.

The city council's emerging Local Plan has been delayed by a year, meaning it has changed from 2019–2039 to 2020–2040. It will now be adopted by the end of 2025.

The plan will guide all development, including housing, across the district.

Cllr Danny Lee raised environmental concerns: “The council’s decision will mean lower environmental standards will continue for longer for all developments until the end of 2025. It was expected the new plan would originally be in place from August 2024. All developments, including large developments, will continue to be assessed against the current Local Plan. 

READ MORE: Winchester City Council approve time extension to district Local Plan

“The very high public response rate to last year’s consultation for the draft new Winchester Local Plan in combination with a raft of new Government legislation has led to this decision by the council. 

“This difficult position is beyond helpful in the face of the current climate, nature and economic crises with the urgent need for developments in the right places to better environmental standards.

“A key question now is, can more rigorous environmental requirements be applied to developments before the delayed new Local Plan is approved by Central Government? After all, it is not impossible to find ourselves in a similar delaying situation in 2025 for reasons beyond the council’s control.” 

The city council's strategic planning manager Adrian Fox told a meeting, on Thursday August 10, that the "decision had not been taken lightly".

Cllr Caroline Horrill, leader of the Conservatives on the city council, said in a letter to the Chronicle: “This has placed the council in a dangerous position as we may not have a sound plan in place detailing our desired policies and site allocations to protect us. This will allow developers the chance to challenge our land supply position and argue for unwanted development across the district.”

Cllr Jackie Porter, cabinet member for place and local plan, said: “This revised timetable shows that we are on track to produce a sound and evidence-based Local Plan, despite the uncertainties around national policies and legislation. 

“This robust approach means that we can achieve the best outcome for our district – future development that is managed, responsible and in keeping with its surroundings. Our Local Plan is not developed in isolation, and we are rightly giving proper consideration of the feedback we have received to date and I now look forward to working towards the next stage of the plan and continuing our engagement with local communities.”