ADD UPDATE: 1 January 2025: First of all, a very Happy New Year to everyone!
2025 is all set to be a momentous year for Eastleigh and its surrounding areas.
As you may be aware, Eastleigh Borough Council (EBC) has given the public until 29 January to make views heard on its emerging new Local Plan, which will change the face of the area for ever.
To see a map of the four massive Strategic Development Options, click here. EBC has said it will welcome your feedback. We urge you to seize the opportunity to take part – it will not come again.
The government requires EBC to allow more than 18,000 new homes (including those in the pipeline) over the next 20 years. This is potentially great news for people hoping to buy places of their own. It could enhance existing communities or lead to the creation of vibrant new ones.
At the same time, the plan will undoubtedly be unpopular with many residents. After all, who wants more cars on their already overcrowded roads and the loss of yet more green space? And there’s a real danger that, without any overarching vision, the plan could just create yet more urban sprawl.
The right homes in the right places
In these circumstances, EBC’s challenge will be to ensure that the right types of home are built in the right places. A top priority should be to make full use of brownfield sites – urban locations that can be repurposed for housing. The council currently estimates that such sites could accommodate slightly more than 2,000 new homes, but we believe that it can do much better than that.
Eastleigh needs, above all, more starter homes, as well as reasonably priced rental accommodation. Developers, on the other hand, prefer to build executive estates in rural or semi-rural locations. How this inevitable conflict of interest plays out will largely determine the plan’s success.
Transport is key
If Eastleigh’s slogan ‘Tackling climate change’ means anything, EBC’s decisions must minimise car use. Homes should be built as close as possible to existing urban centres and public transport routes, and people must be encouraged to travel by train, bicycle, or on foot. Otherwise EBC’s aspiration to become a carbon-neutral borough will be meaningless, and our roads will become even more unbearably crowded.
ADD has, therefore, commissioned its transport consultant to set out clearly and professionally what EBC needs to consider when it does its own review, so that we can hold the council to account. We will make the findings public once this report has been completed.
We will also urge the council to pursue the possibility of a rail station at Allington Lane – a potential game-changer that could be at the heart of a new green development with an easy level cycleway into the centre of town.
Don’t repeat old mistakes
Of the four main candidates for development (for more details, see our previous post and, again, this map), we are especially concerned that one of them – Strategic Development Option A – would mean 4,600 homes north-east of Fair Oak. That would effectively revive Option C of the previous Local Plan, which was slammed and dismissed by the government’s planning inspector (see our previous article’s here and here).
This would be incredibly damaging to the South Downs National Park, Colden Common, Twyford, Fair Oak and Bishopstoke.
But what do you think?
These are some of our initial thoughts, but what about yours? We would be interested to learn but, above all, please take part in the council’s consultation.
For more details on the emerging Local Plan, click here.
The link to the council’s consultation is here. We realise this is long, so you can either complete the consultation in full or email your views to [email protected], making sure you include your name and state that you agree to your name and comments being published.
Forthcoming opportunities to view the proposals
- Hedge End – Tuesday 7 January, 3.30pm – 7.30pm, St Johns Underhill Centre, St John’s Road
- Boorley Park – Wednesday 8 January, 3.30pm – 7.30pm, Boorley Green Sports Pavilion, Wallace Avenue
- Fair Oak – Monday 13 January, 3.30pm – 7.30pm, Fair Oak Village Hall (Grace Mears Room), Shorts Road
- Bishopstoke – Thursday 16 January, 4pm – 8pm, Bishopstoke Community Centre, Church Road
- Eastleigh – Monday 20 January 3.30-7.30pm, Eastleigh House, Upper Market Street
As always, if you would like to get in touch with us, please email [email protected].
