WINCHESTER City Council has submitted its draft local plan to the Secretary of State for Housing Communities for examination.
The Local Plan sets out the city council’s vision and objectives for the future development of the district outside of the South Downs National Park, including Winchester city, the market towns, villages and countryside.
The Local Plan making process started in 2018 and it has undergone four separate stages of public consultation: The launch of the Local Plan (2018), Strategic Issues and Priorities (2021), Regulation 18 Local Plan (2022) and Regulation 19 Proposed Submission Local Plan (2024).
Following the most recent six-week consultation this autumn, Winchester City Council has collated all the responses received, which are included in the submission documents.
The council has prepared a summary of the main issues arising from the consultation, and full copies of all the feedback from the latest consultation will be available on the website for both the inspector and members of the public to view.
The Local Plan contains key themes, including addressing climate change and cutting carbon, new and robust approaches to providing affordable housing, measures to protect chalk streams and rivers and protecting and enhancing the natural environment.
Cllr Jackie Porter, Cabinet member for Place and the Local Plan, said: “This is an enormous milestone towards having an adopted Local Plan for Winchester district. We’d like to thank each and every person and organisation who has taken the time to give their feedback and suggestions – they have really helped shape the plan to date.
“The Inspector will have access to each response submitted to WCC as part of this most recent consultation and will consider them as part of the assessment of the plan.
“This new Local Plan will help us to tackle the Climate Emergency, secure the supply of much-needed affordable homes, ensure we use brownfield sites first, protect our natural environment, chalk streams and rivers and make sure we get the infrastructure we need.”
SEE ALSO: Food waste collection service will begin in Winchester next year
Now that the plan has been submitted, a planning inspector will be appointed to review and assess it. They will consider whether the plan has met the legal requirements, whether it has been positively prepared and is justified, effective, and consistent with national policy, and whether the council has engaged and worked effectively with the local community, neighbouring authorities, and statutory bodies.
Once appointed, the planning inspector will set out the next steps in the examination process, which will be published on the dedicated Local Plan website. Everyone who visits the website will also be able to view and search for their feedback and comments from the most recent consultation.
The website can be found at localplan.winchester.gov.uk/examination-page.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here