Brownfield site: Hartland Park (Pyestock) near Fleet, Hart District, Hampshire
The minutes of April’s Hart District Council meeting have been published and they show that the Government will provide some support to help remediate the Pyestock (aka Hartland Park) brownfield site, where it is proposed that 1,500 new homes will be built. Moreover, the Defence Secretary was receptive to the idea of the Ministry of Defence providing some land that could be used for Suitable Alternative Natural Greenspace (SANG).
This is very good news in that it shows the Government is starting to deliver on its support for brownfield development. The key quotes from the minutes are:
To this end I asked the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, the Right Honourable Greg Clark MP, to spare me some time for a brief meeting to discuss this matter [North of Hampshire devolution], in particular to enquire whether ministers would be receptive to a Heart of Hampshire bid; they would.
Whilst I had him in my office, I raised the proposed Pyestock development with the Secretary of State, in particular the issue of the funding of site remediation, as developer funds spent on remediation are not available for necessary infrastructure. I am happy to report that there will be some help available, and I will contact him again at the appropriate time.
I also raised Pyestock with the Secretary of State for Defence, the Right Honourable Michael Fallon MP on his visit to Hart today. I wanted to talk to him as the Pyestock site is surrounded by MOD land, and I want to ensure it remains as an undeveloped buffer between Fleet and Farnborough. I was able to brief him on the Pyestock site on the status of the site surroundings with emphasis on the constraints. He was receptive to the principle, and has taken away maps of the site one of which was overlaid with designations such as SSSIs and SINCs.