UPDATE:

The Winchfield Neighbourhood Plan

is being reviewed and updated.

Information on the public Pre-Submission consultation on the draft Plan can be found here

 Neighbourhood Plan 2022 

Neighbourhood Plans give local communities more control over the type, location, size and design of development in their area. Once ratified by the community through a referendum, these Plans become part of the development plan for the District and must be taken into account when planning applications are determined. 

In August 2014, Winchfield Parish Council decided to proceed with the creation of a Neighbourhood Plan. Over the ensuing months, which involved consultation sessions with the whole community, a team of volunteers worked diligently to draw up the Plan documents. The Pre-Submission Consultation on the Plan ended in April 2016. The Parish Council as the ‘qualifying body’ amended the Plan and submitted it to Hart District Council which carried out a further consultation which closed in September 2016. Following the six-week public consultation, the proposed Plan was submitted for Independent Examination.

The Examiner's Report was received in October. Andrew Ashcroft MRTPI concluded: "The Plan proposes a series of policies and seeks to bring forward positive and sustainable development in the plan area. There is a very clear focus on safeguarding local character and promoting distinctive housing development. It also includes a series of Watch Points. The Plan has been significantly underpinned by community support and engagement. It is clear that all sections of the community have been actively engaged in its preparation. Subject to a series of recommended modifications set out in this report I have concluded that the Winchfield Neighbourhood Plan meets all the necessary legal requirements and should proceed to referendum."

He also said of his visit to Winchfield: "I drove initially to the car parking area adjacent to the iconic St Mary’s church. I could see why it features so heavily in both the Plan itself and other documents and publications about the village. It is a stunning piece of Norman architecture." Another extract states: "I am satisfied that the content and the form of the Plan is fit for purpose. It is thorough and distinctive to the Plan area. The wider community and the Parish Council have spent considerable time and energy in identifying the issues and objectives that they wish to be included in their Plan. This gets to the heart of the localism agenda."

All the Examiner's proposed modifications were implemented into the Plan which was then ratified at a meeting of Winchfield Parish Council in October 2016. The modifications were approved by Hart District Council Cabinet in December and it was agreed to proceed to a local referendum in Feb 2017.

The question asked at the Referendum was: “Do you want Hart District Council to use the Neighbourhood Plan for Winchfield Parish to help it decide planning applications in the neighbourhood area?” The outcome was:

YES 294   NO 11  Turnout 61.2%

The Winchfield Neighbourhood Plan was ‘made’ (brought into legal force) by Hart District Council inn March 2017 and now forms part of the Hart Local Plan to be used in the determination of planning applications relating to land in Winchfield Parish.

The 2017 Winchfield Neighbourhood Plan and supporting documents can be viewed here: