A SPECIAL study into housing sites in East Hampshire has led to big changes in the district council's allocations for housing sites in the area.
Last week a meeting of the development policy panel examined the results of an urban capacity study which recommends housing sites for 2,125 homes throughout the district over the next ten years - 1,500 of which will be on reserve lists.
This could change the whole look of the local plan which is currently heading towards its second review.
The panel spend two evenings last Wednesday and Thursday debating a massive document before it is put out for public consultation.
The controversial 4.7 hectare greenfield site at the Walldown Triangle was designated for 50 homes.
In Headley a site measuring 2.06 hectares at Headley Fields was allocated for 50 homes.
All three of these were allocated as baseline sites which means that they would have been developed first to meet the district council's target of finding room for a baseline 5,500 dwellings under government orders.
However, the urban capacity study has meant that East Hampshire District Council planners have found room for more than 1,000 dwellings in the district's towns and villages through in-filling, subdivisions and examining the potential for smaller sites.
As a result the district council now only needs to find room for an extra 625 dwellings to meet the baseline figure.
This means that planners have reviewed the major baseline sites and has reduced the list in the report to the panel down from 26 site comprising of 1,600 dwellings to ten sites comprising of the needed 625 dwellings.
Of these the land at Hogmoor Road remains on the baseline list with the size of suggested land increased to 2.9 hectares and 50 houses.
But both of the allocations at the Walldown Triangle and at Headley Fields have been moved onto the reserve list meaning that they will only be developed if needed.
But, in line with the government's planning guidelines, the density of potential housing on has been increased to 60 at the Triangle. At the Headley site, however, it is a different story with the site numbers being reduced to 30 after the size of the site at The Paddock was reduced to only one hectare.
Although the urban capacity study has potential positive effects on some areas around Bordon it also has unwelcome consequences for other areas.
Lindford is notably the most severely effected area in the north east of the district having its housing allocation for the controversial site at the bottom of Chase Road increased from 100 in the first review of the local plan to a possible 165 in the second review.
It is identified in the report to the committee as one of three large sites in the district which "are underdeveloped and are without planning permission"
The increase at Chase Road, along with two sites in Petersfield, has increased the potential for dwellings at the three locations by 146 dwellings.
As well as examining the allocation of housing figures the report to the panel also looked at the potential for other uses of land in the district.
In the Bordon area the report identifies the difficulty in so much of the town's land being owned by the Ministry of Defence.
Indeed many representations by members of the public suggest many MoD-owned sites as possible locations for housing and other facilities but the district council says that unless the MoD tell it that the sites are available then they cannot take them into consideration.
However, one MoD site which is given an allocation in the report to the panel is St Lucia Lodge.
The report says: "The Ministry of Defence have indicated that St Lucia Lodge is redundant to MoD requirements and is available for alternative use.
"The building is attractive and is situated overlooking a large grassed open space area, part of which is believed to be common land.
"It is considered that the existing building could be converted to hotel use or could be used for educational purposes as an alternative to, or in addition to, the educational use on the R E Lines barracks site.
"The grassed open space should remain undeveloped."
The development policy panel agreed to accept the report, with a few minor amendments, and the second draft of the local plan is expected by councillors to be put out for consultation by the end of the year.