CONSULTATION on the latest draft of Winchester district's local plan has been criticised by parish councils.

This comes as Winchester City Council's scrutiny committee examined the authority's latest plans for housing and employment sites. 

At the four-hour meeting on Monday, July 29, several parish councils said they found it difficult to access the comments that had been made in the last round of consultation two years ago. 

The latest draft of the local plan is called regulation 19 which will be consulted on once it has had cabinet and full council approval. This will then go to the planning inspectorate for a final examination by the deadline of June 30 next year. The cabinet will discuss the report on September 16. 

The plan includes development at major sites such as Sir John Moore Barracks and Bushfield Camp, as well as smaller sites in the southern parishes and market towns. 

READ MORE: John Parker expresses 'regret' over barn conversion planning loophole

Pauline Maunder, chairman of Wonston Parish Council, raised issues about a new site added at short notice. She said: “The site at Brightlands has been added with only eight days notice given to the parish council. Sutton Scotney is at constant risk of flooding and suffers from sewerage issues.

Brightlands, Sutton Scotney (Image: WCC)

“The parish council has consistently opposed any future development until the sewerage system has been resolved. There was no allocation made in reg 18. The justification for including Brightlands is that Southern Water has made assurances that a pressurised pipeline will be installed. 

“At each stage since 2019, what has been promised by Southern Water has fallen short. Our council feels let down by the local plan team.”

Cllr Caroline Horrill added: “Where are the reg 18 responses? It would seem for some areas they are not currently visible on the links provided. Residents will want to know where their original comments have gone after almost two years since their submission. A summary of the major changes in the reg 19 draft would be helpful to all residents. 

“Why is the Sutton Scotney site coming into the plan without any input from the parish? Residents have had no chance to review alternatives and some of the basis for the inclusion of the Brightlands site are false.”

Ravenswood, Knowle (Image: WCC)

Former city councillor Patrick Davies, a longtime member of the planning committee, said: “There must be a better way of dealing with these issues rather than having one meeting like this. What really concerns me is that in the paper, it lists the meetings that have been held over the last couple of years that have mainly been in private for members only. It just seems extraordinary that these haven't been held in public.”

Craig Manuel, Wickham and Knowle Parish Council chairman, raised concerns about a 200-home site in Knowle. He said: “Our parish has been given 300 new homes, which is three times the original calculation. We ask this committee to make a decision. Accept the site for 200 homes and remove 100 homes from Wickham village centre or reject the site for 200 homes and accept the 100. We cannot cope with 300 more homes as well as the 6,000 planned (Welborne) just 150m away.”

The scrutiny committee's vice-chairman Cllr Malcolm Wallace asked about the issues people had been having with accessing the comments from the previous consultation. 

Council officer Adrian Fox said: “It has been a monumental task to put them all online. Any gaps are being plugged as soon as possible. They will all be online by the September cabinet meeting.”

On the new allocations Cllr Jackie Porter, cabinet member for place and local plan, said: “I understand how frustrated they feel, but we have been having meetings with them for several months.”

The latest draft local plan will next go before the cabinet on September 16.