Will the Government have to write the Hart Local Plan?

Hart District Local Plan Project Behind Schedule

Government minister Brandon Lewis has said that Local Authorities may have their Local Plans written for them if they are not in place by early 2017.

This must be a concern for Hart Councillors because at questions last week, the Council could only give a vague indication of when the draft of the Local Plan would be published, but also acknowledged that the project plan to create the Local Plan was a “work in progress” and could not give a date by when the project plan would be completed.  It is clear we don’t even have a plan for creating the Local Plan, despite Hart Council insisting the project was “on track”.

However, Brandon Lewis has also gone on record calling for councils to build on brownfield land first to protect the countryside and more recent guidance suggesting councils should plan to build higher density housing around commuter hubs.  If the Government were to take over the process then they may well force Hart to drop the ridiculous plan for a new town in Winchfield which has a massive infrastructure requirement for which there appears to be no funding, as well as concreting over hundreds of acres of green fields.