The Fleet & Church Crookham Society is often asked why the towns should be subject to any more development. It is easy to understand why people feel that further development is spoiling the towns, whilst the infrastructure, (transport, medical, education etc) simply cannot cope with the additional burden of more intensive development.
There is however, considerable pressure from central government to meet an acute shortage of new dwellings in the South East.
Hart District Local Development Framework
Hart District Council is the local planning authority and therefore responsible for regulating and enforcing new development throughout Hart. To meet its responsibilities, Hart is required to have a Local Development Framework (LDF) which sets out the long-term spatial planning framework for the district, comprising a wide ranging suite of documents that detail the planning policies that underlie how the Council should meet its regulatory responsibilities
The current Local Plan has been written (and occasionally revised), particularly to meet the anticipated local housing needs, for the period between 1996 and 2006. This plan has been extended beyond 2006 until at least 2012, pending its replacement by a new LDF. The current Local Plan is freely available from the Internet by downloading from http://localplan.hart.gov.uk/.
A key feature of the new LDF is the Core Strategy, which will set out details of new housing numbers that will have been agreed to be necessary to meet future housing needs and to define sites within the district that would be considered acceptable, in principle, for future development, over the period up to 2026.
In April 2012, the Government set a 12-month deadline for Core Strategies to be in place if they are to ensure orderly future development. To meet this deadline, Hart will have to complete a further public consultation on its proposals and have its new Core Strategy examined by Government-appointed inspectors for soundness. If this deadline is missed and the new Core Strategy is not in place, many fear that uncontrolled and unwelcome development of sites outside those defined in the Core Strategy could be pursued.
Often the effects of a policy of intensification are only realised when an application is submitted that adversely affects someone’s property directly. Whilst the developer will be expert in planning law and the planning system, many residents will be new to various procedures.
A set of Planning Guidance Notes have been produced by the Society to provide a basic insight into the planning process. The developer is often advantaged by the fact that residents have a very limited amount of time to respond to an unsuitable application, and much of this time can be wasted in getting to know the planning process. We hope these notes will prove useful if you are unfortunate enough to be affected by an unsuitable application. Further assistance may also be available from the Society, which is likely to be already aware of the application.
Planning Guidance Notes (2.1Mb PDF file)
For non-members facing an unsuitable planning application near them, we suggest contacting their local parish (or town) councillors and/or one of their local district ward councillors and attending the relevant parish (or town) council planning meeting where the application will be discussed. Please note that no decisions are made at parish or town council meetings, merely comments and recommendations for the benefit of the planning officers of Hart District Council. They, in turn, will either determine the application, where appropriate, under ‘delegated powers’ or provide their recommendations to the members of Hart’s Planning Committee who will then determine the application
All Hart Planning Applications can also be viewed online by visiting www.ukplanning.com where full details and plans of the application can be downloaded. This facility also offers the opportunity to comment on applications online. (Please note that the UK planning web site is a facility organised by an independent company and applications can take several days to appear on the web site).
Current Planning Applications
Downloadable lists of current planning related items – all downloads are PDF files)
Recent Church Crookham Planning Applications
Click here to download – (Agenda for Church Crookham Parish Planning committee)
Recent Fleet Planning Applications
Click here to download – (Agenda for Fleet Parish Planning committee)
Recent Hart District Council Enforcement notices
Click here to download – (New enforcement actions being taken by Hart District Council
Hart Weekly list of planning applications determined under delegated powers
Click here to download – (Applications determined by the planning department rather than Planning Committee under delegated powers)