Welcome to our 4th Blog post as we enter a very busy and important phase of writing our Neighbourhood Plan and, once again, we really need your views!
Following the recent Call for Sites to accommodate potential new housing, the Neighbourhood Plan Steering Group now need village residents to consider, comment and rank the nine shortlisted sites submitted for such potential development.
How can you do this? We have arranged two ways for you to take part in this survey which is live from the 1st to the 23rd of February (inclusive)
1. Please look on this website and go to the ‘Draft Site Appraisal Report’ where you will find more details of each site’s location, size, opportunities and constraints. You will be invited to rank each site and add any comments, all of which can be entered anonymously and on-line.
2. Alternatively, you can come along to a drop-in session about these nine sites, meet the Steering Group, informally ask questions and submit your views that way. Everyone is invited to the drop-in session; it’s being held on Wednesday 5th February at the Village Hall from 3.00pm to 6.30pm.
Getting the residents of Sandleheath to have a say regarding the number, location and type of new housing in their village is a key part of our Neighbourhood Plan. Our own Planning Consultants have advised us that, given current policies, there is likely to be an indicative requirement for around 60 new dwellings over the 15-year plan period (equating to 4.23 dwellings per annum) although this figure may be subject to local adjustment to take account of how New Forest District Council (NFDC) see the position of the parish in the ‘local settlement hierarchy’.
However, such current policies are likely to change and, as you may be aware, the Government has committed to delivering 1.5m homes over the next 5 years and Sandleheath will be required to find additional suitable locations for new housing to help meet the local target set for NFDC.
So, given that new housing is coming to the village, the importance of getting your views to help shape such growth is vital. What happens next? Your ‘community opinion and feedback’ will be reviewed together with the results of a parallel site assessment process called a Strategic Environmental Assessment to consider which sites to take forward into the plan. We will then work with NFDC to agree how many sites will be needed and work with landowners/developers of such sites to ensure that they can bring forward agreed community benefits alongside the housing.
Once again, many thanks for reading this Blog and look out for more to follow! If you have any questions or comments on matters raised above, please email them to
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