The Conservative scare stories about 50,000+ homes are untrue.

Jackie says, ” I was pleased to receive this from The Dever Society today and would like to share it with you’

This is the Dever Society response to Winchester Conservatives newsletter
In Touch, January/February 2022
Many of you will have had the January/February edition of the Winchester Conservatives newsletter In Touch through your letterboxes. The newsletter’s front page headline “53,000 more houses for Winchester?” and the associated article have caused some confusion, particularly the implication that the new town at Micheldever might still be built.

The 53,000 house figure refers to a wishlist of sites submitted to the Council by developers and landowners. Councils across the country are required by national policy to publish these lists as part of their work on their Local Plans, but Winchester will not need anything like this number of new homes.

We would like to stress that Winchester City Council decided last September to take forward a development strategy for the new Local Plan that rejects new settlements, and we shall be working to ensure that they stand by this decision, so that a new town at Micheldever does not become part of the final Local Plan.

We have produced the FAQs below which we hope will address the confusion and explain exactly what the 53,000 house figure is and the implications more broadly for Winchester.

What are the “massive housing proposals” referred to on the front page of the In Touch newsletter?

The “massive housing proposals” refer to a document recently published by Winchester City Council (WCC) known as the 2021 Strategic Housing and Economic Land Availability Assessment – the ‘SHELAA’.

What is the SHELAA?

Every year, councils across the country are required by the government to undertake a ‘Call for Sites’, to help to identify land that could potentially deliver a variety of housing, employment and community needs.

Developers and landowners respond to this by submitting sites available for development.

The resulting sites are published in the document known as the SHELAA.

What does Winchester’s 2021 SHELAA say?

The document lists all the sites submitted by landowners and developers. The number of new homes which could be delivered on all of the SHELAA sites adds up to over 53,000.

Will all the sites listed in the SHELAA be built on?

No. The SHELAA is a register of the sites that the council has been advised by developers and landowners could be potentially available for development. It is often described as ‘a developer’s wishlist.’ The vast majority of these sites will never be required as they are far in excess of what will be required in Winchester District.

Does WCC have a choice about publishing a SHELAA?

No. The preparation and publication of an annual SHELAA by councils is required by national policy, as outlined in paragraph 68 of the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) and informed by guidance set out in National Planning Practice Guidance (PPG).

Does the political make up of councils have any bearing on the requirement to publish a SHELAA?

No. Councils are required to publish a SHELAA every year, regardless of which political party controls them. The Liberal Democrat-controlled WCC therefore had no choice but to publish a SHELAA.

Did the Conservatives publish a SHELAA when they controlled WCC?

Yes. In 2018, when the Conservatives controlled WCC, they published the 2018 SHELAA. This included 240 sites which could potentially deliver over 41,000 new houses.

To give another example, Basingstoke Council published its 2021 SHELAA in December – they are Conservative controlled.

Is WCC planning to build 53,000 new houses?

No. The impression given by the article on the front page of the newsletter is that the Liberal Democrat-controlled Council has plans to build 53,000 houses across the District, when in fact this is simply the total number of new homes submitted by developers and landowners in Winchester’s 2021 SHELAA.

How many new homes does Winchester have to build?

The number of new homes that councils across the country have to build is calculated using a methodology laid down by the government. For Winchester, this number is 14,000 new homes by 2039. However, 11,300 new homes are already in the pipeline, so in fact Winchester only has to find sites for 2,700 new homes.

The bar chart on the inside page of the In Touch newsletter shows a blue (Conservative-coloured) bar representing the 12,500 houses that were in the Local Plan in 2016, when the Conservatives controlled the Council. This is contrasted with a much larger orange (Liberal Democrat-coloured bar) representing 53,000+ new houses. This is of course the number of new homes in the SHELAA, not the number of new homes the Liberal Democrat-controlled Council plans to build – and remember, whichever party is in power, they have to build the number of new homes required by the government. In 2016 the Conservative-controlled Council was required to build 12,500; today the Liberal Democrat-controlled Council is required to build 14,000. So if we’re comparing like with like, that orange bar should be 14,000, not 53,000.

How and where will the 2,700 new homes be built?

WCC is currently working on a new Local Plan, which will be the blueprint for development in the district up to 2039. This work was started in 2018 when the Conservative Party controlled the Council. The new Local Plan will determine how and where the 2,700 required homes will be located.

Could a large new town in the countryside be an option for building the 2,700 new homes?

Councils are required by national policy to consider all viable options for how their housing target can be accommodated. Last year WCC published a consultation paper which put forward four options, one of which, option 3, was to build all 2,700 in a new town on a greenfield site. This option put the new town at Micheldever once again squarely in the frame.

The Dever Society worked hard to publicise its view that a new town in the countryside was the wrong option, and the response from our members and the public generally was fantastic. We were elated and relieved when the Council’s analysis of the over 2,000 responses to the consultation showed unequivocally that this was the least popular option.

As a result of this clear rejection by Winchester’s residents, the Council is now taking forward a development strategy for the new Local Plan that rules out new settlements. The next step is for it to publish a draft of the Local Plan for public consultation this autumn.

So is Micheldever safe from inappropriate large-scale development?

Unfortunately the proposers and developers of Micheldever new town have made it clear that they will continue to promote their 8,300 home new town throughout the Local Plan process. In addition, the 2021 SHELAA includes other large sites in Micheldever Parish submitted by landowners and developers (196 new homes at Micheldever Station sidings and 406 opposite Dairy Place at the Northbrook end of Micheldever). On top of this, Basingstoke Council is taking forward into the next stage of its new Local Plan a proposal for 3,000 new homes at Popham Airfield, only a short distance from Micheldever.

The Dever Society will continue to work hard to ensure that the Council stands by its decision to reject new settlements in the countryside and to safeguard our area from inappropriate development.

Jackie Porter, Lib Dem County Councillor says, “Thank you to The Dever Society for this article which clarifies the picture exactly. The latest newsletter from the Conservatives is completely untrue. Winchester needs to provide just 692 homes per year for the next 20 years- and most of these have planning permission and/or are in the pipeline already.
Please don’t be frightened by this scaremongering and these ridiculous Conservative claims. Another large development is not the best way to provide homes in Winchester “

The Conservative scare stories about 50,000+ homes are untrue.

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