What is proposed
Test Valley Borough Councillors have voted for a draft Local Plan which includes two proposed housing development sites adjacent to Danebury School, Longstock, known as SHELAA Sites 237 and 479. In the draft Local Plan, these sites are earmarked for the building of 100 houses, although it is feared that if this development is allowed, the extent of the area being developed would later be increased and that many more houses would be built. The would-be developer is already talking of more than 100 houses and when the 'call for sites' went out, the landowner offered even more land to the south of this site for the development of 300 houses.
As well as a large housing development on what is an extremely sensitive site for environmental, heritage and numerous other reasons, the development as set out in the draft Local Plan would have required moving Danebury School’s sports fields and the creation of new sports fields. After the closing of the consultation period, Hampshire County Council, who own the sports fields, has refused permission for them to be sold or developed. This does NOT mean, though, that the wider site will not necessarily be developed. Indeed, this could mean that more land adjacent to the proposed site may not be at risk of development and it could also mean that even more traffic would come on to the Houghton road, which is essentially a narrow country lane with no pedestrian walkways.
The Pan Parish Planning Forum believes that this site is totally unsuitable development and that, as part of the Local Plan 2042 for Regulation 18 Public Consultation, it called on as many people as possible to respond to the consultation asking Test Valley Borough Councillors and Planners to remove this site from the draft Local Plan altogether. The deadline for responses was Friday 5 September 2025 and we are now waiting to see what decisions Test Valley Borough Council about this site and the next stage of the Local Plan in light of the largescale opposition to its initial proposal.
The site is unsuitable for development because of the significant damage development will do to the area’s environment, ecology and biodiversity, several Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs), to its exceptional landscape and character, the important historical environment and setting of numerous listed buildings, and to tourism and the local economy, and because it is likely to significantly increase the risk of flooding and traffic congestion and to create issues of water supply and water quality and put added strain on an already stretched local infrastructure. For more information about the problems such a development would cause and to see reasons to object to it and to see where you can send your consultation response, look at the Reasons & How To Object page of the website.
To see the Draft Local Plan 2042 and related documents, click here: Test Valley Draft Local Plan 2042.
