Category Archives: We Love Hart Campaign

We Love Hart Campaign to protect the countryside in Hart District, Hampshire, England

Questions for Hart District Council July Meeting

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Protect our green fields

Protect our green fields

There’s another Hart District Council meeting next week on 30 July.  We Heart Hart has tabled some questions about school places and brownfield sites.  This includes asking Hart to consider our 5 point plan for change.

Please feel free to use our questions as inspiration for your own.

Update: I have added two further questions:

  • It appears Hart is now proposing to publish a draft Local Plan prior to the pre-submission version.  Will publication of this draft be accompanied by a Reg 18 consultation and when will the LDS be updated to reflect this change?

HBF calls for Hart to meet Rushmoor’s unmet housing need

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Is this what we want Hart to turn into?

Is this what we want Hart to turn into?

The Home Builders Federation (HBF) has responded to Rushmoor’s Local Plan consultation and called for Hart to concrete over its green fields to build all of Rushmoor’s unmet housing need.

Hart is the solution

To ensure that the Council is doing what it can to maximise the effectiveness of the duty to cooperate the Council must approach Hart Council to make sure that it provides land to meet the shortfall arising in Rushmoor. We note in paragraph 4.6 of Topic Paper 2: Housing Delivery that the Council asserts that the duty is not a duty to agree. This suggests a lack of zeal on the part of the Council to ensure that the unmet housing need of Rushmoor is addressed. Even if Hart and Surrey Heath are unable to provide land the three HMA authorities should engage with authorities elsewhere to persuade them to provide land to accommodate the shortfall.

It then goes on to make the silly suggestion that Hart to review its Green Belt, when in fact Hart doesn’t have any Green Belt land.

Reviewing the Green Belt in Hart

The Council must work with Hart to remove land from the Green Belt if this is what is necessary to accommodate the housing shortfall.

The HBF then call on Rushmoor to increase their housing allocation by an arbitrary 10% because the HBF believe more affordable housing should be built.

We consider that a 10% adjustment upwards should be made to the baseline demographic need.

They do not seem to consider the option of house-builders reducing their prices, nor do they mention that part of the reason house prices are so high is because interest rates have remained at 0.5% for around 6 years.

Amazingly, the HBF make no mention at all of brownfield land in their submission, despite Rushmoor seeking to protect 96 Ha of land even though there will be a surplus of around 195 Ha of employment land across the Housing Market Area at the end of the plan period.

It is simply unacceptable for an unelected industry body to seek to override the wishes of local people by asking Hart to concrete over green fields, whilst at the same time ignoring the vast opportunity presented by brownfield sites.

If you would like to make your own submission to then please download the pre-prepared feedback forms below, fill in your details and send them off to [email protected].  The consultation closes on 20 July 2015.

Rushmoor Local Plan Response Form
Rushmoor Local Plan Response Form
Download Now!354 Downloads
Additional Response to Rushmoor Local Plan
Additional Response to Rushmoor Local Plan
Download Now!353 Downloads

 

Hart solidifies plans for a new town at Winchfield in defiance of Government preference for brownfield development

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Cows in Winchfield, Hart District, Hampshire

Cows in Winchfield under threat

In a new report to Parish Councils, Hart District Council has apparently taken the next step towards solidifying its policy of building a new town at Winchfield.  In the report Hart suggests wording of a draft policy to reflect its current thinking if its strategy survives the testing process:

The Council will work with its housing market area partners to deliver 24,413 new homes across the Hart/Rushmoor/Surrey Heath Housing Market Area over the period 2011-2032. Hart’s proportion of that number is 7,534 [these figures may be subject to change if/when the SHMA is revised].

The Council has identified and allocated sufficient land to meet its needs up until 2024/2025. Thereafter, the bulk of Hart’s housing needs will be met through the development of a new settlement centered on the area that comprises Winchfield. The vision for the new settlement will be developed through a master planning exercise and will be the subject of a separate Development Plan Document.

The Council, though it’s allocations policy, will give priority to directing development to those areas where potential adverse effects can be avoided without the need for mitigation measures (i.e. those areas that lie beyond the Thames Basins Heaths Special Protection Area zone of influence [this is a Policy required of Policy NRM6 of the South East Plan.].

To deliver its housing needs the Council will seek to maximise the potential for brownfield land development where that development is appropriate to the existing character of the area, demonstrates that there is sufficient infrastructure in place to meet the needs arising from that development, and where it does not compromises other objectives, such as protecting amenity, achieving good design, the protection of important heritage assets etc.

Elsewhere, development will be strictly controlled and new development will only allowed on green field sites where the land has been allocated for development and where it enhances the sustainability of the location, demonstrates that sufficient infrastructure is, or can be put in place, to meet the needs arising from the development, and where the form and pattern of development is integrated into, and is compatible with, its surroundings.

If through Local Plan examination, and subsequent housing delivery monitoring it is demonstrated that Hart’s housing market area partners cannot reasonably meet their respective housing needs, the Council will seek to cooperate with its partners to help meet any unmet needs. This will be done through a review of the Local Plan which will assess the potential for accelerated growth of the new settlement centered on Winchfield, or the release of strategic urban extensions at **** or *****. [Options yet to be determined]

This is clearly bad news for those of us who oppose a new town and is strange given the new report highlighting the massive costs and significant barriers to delivery of a new town and new Government guidance indicating a preference for brownfield development. But in better news, Hart says it is revising the timetable for the Local Plan, saying it is planning to publish a “fully worked up draft Plan later this summer”. Hopefully, this will give an opportunity to respond to a new consultation.

If you would like to ask the council to think again, please sign and share our petition:

 

Go to Petition

 

Infrastructure costs of over £300m put Winchfield new town plans in doubt

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Construction Workers

Construction Workers

A new study by Hart District Council has highlighted significant barriers to future housing delivery in the district. We estimate that the high level costs of meeting these infrastructure gaps might be over £300m.

The study covered 4 areas:

  • Education
  • Transport
  • Utilities
  • Flood Risk

Education was highlighted as having significant barriers to delivery, with a high level cost estimate of £80-100m (higher than the £62m estimate we put together back in February).

Transport was also highlighted as a significant barrier to delivery, but no cost estimate was given.  However, the possibility of needing a new junction on the M3 was discussed.  It is difficult to see how a brand new junction will give much change from £100m, given a new junction at Birmingham airport will cost £250m.  Of course other roads and bridges in the area will also need to be upgraded that we estimate at £35-40m.

The report also discussed railway provision and suggested that the existing railway bridges over the roads in Winchfield would need to be upgraded and that Winchfield station itself may need to be replaced with a new station at Murrell Green.  The report made no mention of the fact that these bridges and Winchfield station itself are now listed on  Hampshire’s Archaeology and Historic Buildings Record.  Amazingly, railways were not considered to be a significant barrier to housing delivery even though no site for a new station has been identified and the costs of such a construction and the new roads that would be needed have not been evaluated. The recent improvements to Fleet station cost >£8m, it is difficult to see how a totally new station, including platforms, buildings, signalling, car parks and new road access would cost less than £25m. The recent Network Rail funding debacle puts such an investment in grave doubt.

Provision of foul water capacity was identified as a significant barrier to housing delivery although no costs were identified.

The potential need to put the existing high voltage electricity lines that cross Winchfield underground was raised. This costs around £20/km, so would probably cost round £50m.  This was not considered to be a significant barrier.

The report did not cover the costs of additional healthcare facilities that would be required to cope with the increased population all these extra houses would create.

Adding all this up, and the total costs will be in excess of £300m.  We have reported before that Hart estimates that there is currently a £78m funding gap for infrastructure and Hampshire estimates a funding gap of £1.9bn across the county. All of the costs above will add to that gap.  It is simply not credible to believe that such large costs will be funded by developer contributions.

The study recommended that further studies be carried out to examine these issues in greater detail:

  • Identify potential implications for infrastructure provision of the Preferred Housing Distribution Strategy (June 2015) which broadly set out a higher level of growth than hitherto within existing settlements
  • Commencement of a full Transport Assessment (TA) potentially utilising the existing HCC North Hampshire Transport Model (NHTM)
  • Commencement of an Integrated Water Management Strategy (IWMS)
  • Continued engagement with HCC (particularly with regard to school place provision) and with South West Trains (SWT) and Network Rail (NR)
  • Consolidation of information into an updated Infrastructure Delivery Schedule (IDS) to support both the emerging local plan and community infrastructure levy (CIL) at public examination
  • Continued engagement with the Enterprise M3 Local Enterprise Partnership (E3LEP)

None of these tasks appear to be identified in the work plan for the Local Plan, so there is little doubt that the Local Plan project is now massively behind schedule.

Government and CPRE call for more building on brownfield sites

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Empty Offices at Farnborough Aerospace Business Park, Rushmoor Borough, Hampshire.

Empty Offices at Farnborough Aerospace Business Park, Rushmoor Borough, Hampshire.

In response to the Government’s Productivity Plan, announced today, the Campaign for the Protection of Rural England (CPRE) has called for the Government to implement a ‘brownfield first’ rule.

The Government will introduce a new zonal system which will effectively give automatic permission on suitable brownfield sites.  This was welcomed by the CPRE in their statement, but they asked the Government to go further saying:

“To achieve the development we want and need on brownfield land, the Government should implement a ‘brownfield first’ rule at the heart of planning to prioritise urban redevelopment and leave behind the unsustainable status quo – where developers cherry pick green fields for development. Communities must also be involved from the start to ensure good design, and it is desperately important that new developments include a significant amount of affordable housing.”

We Heart Hart wholeheartedly agrees with this approach, and would like to see the combined boroughs of Hart, Surrey Heath and Rushmoor implement these ideas by prioritising building on the 196 hectares of vacant employment land that will remain in the Housing Market Area at the end of the plan period.  In particular, Rushmoor is protecting 96 hectares of employment land, whilst at the same time asking Hart to build 1,600 houses on beautiful green fields.  We think this is madness and it forms one of our arguments opposing the Rushmoor Local Plan.  If you would like to put in your objection, please see our post here and please use the pre-prepared form on the link below.

 

Rushmoor Local Plan Response Form
Rushmoor Local Plan Response Form
Download Now!354 Downloads

 

There are certainly plenty of brownfield sites to be considered:

  • We Heart Hart's Mascot - Bravehart
    We Heart Hart's Mascot - Bravehart

 

Why is it important for Hart residents to oppose the Rushmoor Local Plan?

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Example of Urban Sprawl

Example of Urban Sprawl

We have received some feedback questioning why Hart District residents should contribute to Rushmoor Borough Council’s consultation on its Draft Local Plan.

The main reasons are:

  1. Help fend off the extra 1,600 houses Rushmoor wants Hart to build for them and avoid urban sprawl like that shown above.
  2. Challenge the Strategic Housing Market Assessment (SHMA) that has led to the combined Hart, Surrey Heath and Rushmoor housing requirement being set so high.  If we are successful in this, then Surrey Heath and Rushmoor don’t need to foist houses on Hart and the whole need for a new town at Winchfield or anywhere else goes away
  3. Push for more of the housing requirement to be built on the 196 hectares of surplus brownfield employment land.
  4. Point out the fundamental flaw of the combined £158m infrastructure funding deficit across Rushmoor and Hart (and £1.9bn funding deficit across Hampshire) that will mean we will get all of the houses but none of the infrastructure spending we need to build the healthcare facilities, expand rail capacity, fix broken roads and build the schools we need.

Please download the pre-prepared feedback forms, fill in your details and send off to [email protected].  The consultation closes on 20 July 2015.

 

Rushmoor Local Plan Response Form
Rushmoor Local Plan Response Form
Download Now!354 Downloads

 

Additional Response to Rushmoor Local Plan
Additional Response to Rushmoor Local Plan
Download Now!353 Downloads

link link

Owens Farm saved as Hop Garden Road Appeal dismissed

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Owens Farm Hop Garden Road Hook

Owens Farm Hop Garden Road Hook

We found out today that the Hop Garden Road appeal we attended was dismissed, so the land at Owens Farm, Hook has been protected from development.

This is great news, although it has to be said that it isn’t at all clear whether the evidence we submitted swayed matters one way or the other.

However, it was upheld that the council does have a current five year land supply.  Our evidence, on this occasion was in support of the council, indicating that there was in fact a land supply far in excess of five years because the Strategic Housing Market Assessment (SHMA) was too high and the housing supply didn’t include the brownfield redevelopment of employment sites recently started.

Charles Church Homes argued that the Housing Market Assessment was under-cooked and Hart should be building far more houses, in particular, the 1,600 houses from Rushmoor.

So, we should celebrate a small victory.

Rushmoor seeking to protect 96 hectares of brownfield sites but asking Hart to concrete over green fields

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Empty Offices at Farnborough Aerospace Business Park, Rushmoor Borough, Hampshire.

Empty Offices at Farnborough Aerospace Business Park, Rushmoor Borough, Hampshire.

Rushmoor have released more details about their Land Assessment (SHLAA) that reveal they are seeking to protect over 96 hectares of brownfield sites for employment use even though there is a massive glut of employment space across Hart, Rushmoor, Surrey Heath and surrounding districts.

Rushmoor Protected Employment Sites

Rushmoor Protected Employment Sites

If even half of this was used for housing at 100 dwelling per hectare, it would yield 4,800 houses for people in Rushmoor and would mean that Rushmoor could meet its own housing need and even take some of Hart and Surrey Heath’s allocation.

If you would like to ask Rushmoor to revise their Local Plan and make better use of the brownfield sites they have, then please follow the simple process below:

  1. Download the Local Plan response form from the link below.
  2. On page 3, fill in your name and contact details and type your name and date in the boxes at the bottom of the page.
  3. Review the comments made and feel free to add, amend or delete as you see fit.
  4. Save the document, attach it to an email and send to [email protected]
  5. Share a link to this page to all your friends and family as well as any sports clubs or community groups you belong to via word of mouth, email, Facebook and Twitter and ask them to put in a response and share this page again.
  6. If you have not already done so, please sign and share our petition too

 

Rushmoor Local Plan Response Form
Rushmoor Local Plan Response Form
Download Now!354 Downloads

 

Download Now!

Massive surplus of brownfield employment land but Rushmoor wants Hart to concrete over green fields

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Empty Offices at Farnborough, Rushmoor Borough, Hampshire.

Empty Offices at Farnborough, Rushmoor Borough, Hampshire.

The Employment Land Review (ELR) shows there is a massive surplus of around 600K sq m employment space occupying around 195 Ha of land across the combined area of Hart District, Surrey Heath and Rushmoor Boroughs. Yet, Rushmoor is seeking to protect 96 hectares of this land whilst at the same time trying to force Hart to build 1,600 houses for them on our beautiful green fields.

Employment Space (sq m)
Overall Requirement to 2032 (a)266,368
Current vacant space (b)527,840
Sites with planning permission (c)338,187
Surplus in 2032 (b+c-a)599,659

If you would like to ask Rushmoor to revise its draft local plan, please download our pre-prepared response form and send it to [email protected].

 

Rushmoor Local Plan Response Form
Rushmoor Local Plan Response Form
Download Now!354 Downloads

 

The analysis to support the conclusion is shown below.  We posted earlier that the ELR is based on the same flawed jobs forecasts as the housing market assessment that predict a near doubling of the job creation rate we achieved in the period 1998-2012.  However, even if you accept these flawed forecasts and the unnecessary increase in housing it will lead to, the requirement for employment land in the combined economic area is 266K sq m using Rushmoor’s preferred Scenario 3.

Employment Land Requirements for Hart, Surrey Heath and Rushmoor

Employment Land Requirements for Hart, Surrey Heath and Rushmoor

However, as of December 2014, over 527K sq m of employment floorspace was lying vacant.

Vacant Employment Space in Hart Surrey Heath and Rushmoor

Vacant Employment Space in Hart Surrey Heath and Rushmoor

Moreover, there is a glut of employment space all across neighbouring districts with very high levels of vacant office space (note that there are also high vacancy rates on industrial land):

Office vacancy rates in neighbouring districts

Office vacancy rates in neighbouring districts

In addition to the vacant units shown above, there is currently 388K sq m of floorspace on 110 Ha of land that currently has planning permission but is not yet being built:

Unimplemented planning permission in Hart Surrey Heath and Rushmoor

Unimplemented planning permission in Hart Surrey Heath and Rushmoor

Drawing this together, there is a need for 266,000 sq m of space to meet the inflated employment forecasts, there’s currently 527,000 sq m lying vacant, with a further 338,000 sq m with planning permission, but not yet built.  This would leave a surplus of nearly 600,000 sq m of employment space that might occupy around 195 Ha of land, using the same ratio of employment space to land use as the existing planning permissions.

It is clearly ridiculous for all of this land to be protected when even if say 100 Ha is made available, at 100 dwellings per hectare there could be room for 10,000 dwellings, a very large proportion of the overall 24,413 houses that have been allocated to Hart, Surrey Heath and Rushmoor.

Rushmoor protecting acres of vacant offices and asking Hart to build 1,600 houses for them

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Empty Offices at Farnborough, Rushmoor Borough, Hampshire.

Empty Offices at Farnborough, Rushmoor Borough, Hampshire.

Rushmoor Borough Council is seeking to protect acres of empty, brownfield office sites, but at the same time it is asking Hart to build 1,600 houses for them because Rushmoor says it can’t meet its own need.  If Hart is forced to take all these houses it makes it more likely we will have to build a new town and concrete over our beautiful green fields and countryside.

Bravehart has been out and about again and taken photos of 15 vacant employment sites across Rushmoor.  This is far from a comprehensive assessment of all of the vacant sites in Rushmoor, but it does illustrate the scale of the opportunity available. It has subsequently emerged that Rushmoor want to protect 96 Ha of brownfield land even though their own Employment Land Review predicted a massive surplus at the end of the plan period.

  • We Heart Hart's Mascot - Bravehart
    We Heart Hart's Mascot - Bravehart

Rushmoor has recently published its draft Local Plan and has asked for comments from the public.  If you are a Hart District resident and you would like them to re-visit their plan and build all of their own need on their own patch, then you can use the pre-prepared from on the link below.  All you need to do is:

  1. Download the Local Plan response form from the link below.
  2. On page 3, fill in your name and contact details and type your name and date in the boxes at the bottom of the page.
  3. Review the comments made and feel free to add, amend or delete as you see fit.
  4. Save the document, attach it to an email and send to [email protected]
  5. Share a link to this page to all your friends and family as well as any sports clubs or community groups you belong to via word of mouth, email, Facebook and Twitter and ask them to put in a response and share this page again.
  6. If you have not already done so, please sign and share our petition too.
Rushmoor Local Plan Response Form
Rushmoor Local Plan Response Form
Download Now!354 Downloads

 

More detail here.

 

Empty Offices at Southwood Business Park, Rushmoor Borough, Hampshire.

Empty Offices at Southwood Business Park, Rushmoor Borough, Hampshire.

Empty Offices at Southwood Business Park, Rushmoor Borough, Hampshire.

Vacant Offices at Southwood Business Park, Rushmoor Borough, Hampshire.

Empty Offices at Southwood Business Park, Rushmoor Borough, Hampshire.

Empty Offices at Southwood Business Park, Rushmoor Borough, Hampshire.

Empty Offices at Southwood Business Park, Rushmoor Borough, Hampshire.

Empty Offices at Southwood Business Park, Rushmoor Borough, Hampshire.

Empty Offices at Cody Technology Business Park, Rushmoor Borough, Hampshire.

Empty Offices at Cody Technology Business Park, Rushmoor Borough, Hampshire.

Empty Offices at Farnborough Business Park, Rushmoor Borough, Hampshire.

Vacant Offices at Farnborough Business Park, Rushmoor Borough, Hampshire.

Empty Offices at Farnborough, Rushmoor Borough, Hampshire.

Empty Offices at Farnborough, Rushmoor Borough, Hampshire.

Empty Offices at Farnborough, Rushmoor Borough, Hampshire.

Empty Offices at Farnborough, Rushmoor Borough, Hampshire.

Empty Offices at Farnborough Business Park, Rushmoor Borough, Hampshire.

Empty Offices at Farnborough Business Park, Rushmoor Borough, Hampshire.

Empty Offices at Farnborough Aerospace Business Park, Rushmoor Borough, Hampshire.

Empty Offices at Farnborough Aerospace Business Park, Rushmoor Borough, Hampshire.

Empty Offices at Farnborough Aerospace Business Park, Rushmoor Borough, Hampshire.

Empty Offices at Farnborough Aerospace Business Park, Rushmoor Borough, Hampshire.

Empty Offices at Farnborough Aerospace Business Park, Rushmoor Borough, Hampshire.

Empty Offices at Farnborough Aerospace Business Park, Rushmoor Borough, Hampshire.

Empty Offices at Farnborough Aerospace Business Park, Rushmoor Borough, Hampshire.

Empty Offices at Farnborough Aerospace Business Park, Rushmoor Borough, Hampshire.

Empty Offices at near Aldershot, Rushmoor Borough, Hampshire.

Empty Offices at near Aldershot, Rushmoor Borough, Hampshire.

Empty Offices at Southwood Business Park, Rushmoor Borough, Hampshire.

Empty Offices at Southwood Business Park, Rushmoor Borough, Hampshire.