MORE houses will be built in Whitehill and Bordon, while Petersfield and Alton are protected from further development, if an inspector's recommendations in a report released on Monday are carried out. Whitehill and Bordon's potential for housing development to "relieve pressure" on Petersfield has been highlighted in a report by a planning inspector who was appointed by the Secretary of State to oversee the final draft of East Hampshire District Council's Local Plan (second review). The same report has also rejected the idea of linking the Forest Centre, the High Street and Chalet Hill and elevating the area as a whole to "town centre" status. Inspector Richard Hollox considered almost 7,000 objections to the local plan at a public local inquiry which lasted from April 2003 until May 2004. His recommendations to the council are set out in a 800-page-long report that is now available for public inspection. In the report he frequently stresses the potential of Whitehill and Bordon to relieve pressure for development on the outskirts of Petersfield and on other greenfield land. He considers that Whitehill and Bordon have a comparatively good range of services and that previously developed land owned by the Ministry of Defence is available, although he also recognises significant constraints to development including the nature conservation interests. He urges the completion of a masterplan to provide a mixed and inclusive community and to secure a balance of uses. The report stated: "Sufficient and suitably located alternative land, hopefully previously developed, may be found in Portsmouth, Southampton and/or Bordon/Whitehill, and may be available for development early enough during the relevant development plan period. "Hence the urgent need for all parties to proceed speedily with the masterplan for Bordon/Whitehill and its environs." The allocation of suitable development here in future plans should take pressure off mainly greenfield reserve sites and steer development away from AONB and other attractive countryside and rural settings. The inspector has also recommended that no modification is made to the current status of the town. Whitehill Town Council had strongly supported the idea of linking the Forest Centre, the High Street and Chalet Hill and giving it "town centre" status to promote the centre and extend the facilities. Currently the Forest Centre is a district centre and the High Street and Chalet Hill are local centres. The inspector is not against the idea in principle, but because it is not recognised as a town centre in Hampshire County Council's structure policy plan he feels representations should first be made to Hampshire County Council. He believes it is premature to do it through the local plan. He said: "Although the Forest Centre is identified as a district centre, it and the local centre on the High Street are small relative to the population of the settlement. The council considers that it deserves a substantially extended range of facilities within a centre that should be elevated to 'town centre' status under structure plan policy S1. It will make representations to the county council to effect that change. The higher status would reflect the district council's intentions for the centre and encourage the provision of much needed additional facilities." In the report the inspector has also recommended that two local sites should be deleted from the reserve list. Reserve sites are those that are identified in the plan, but would only be released for development if there is a compelling need. This need would be triggered if monitoring shows that rate of development on brownfield sites across the whole of Hampshire is below the annual target. The first of these sites is the Walldown Triangle, Whitehill, because of its nature conservation interests, countryside setting and the visual damage to the setting of Whitehill. Adam Carew, town and district councillor, said: "I know that many local residents will be delighted that the inspector has deleted the Walldown Triangle from the list of reserve sites. "It is very clear from the report that the inspector thought that the countryside setting and the internationally designated conservation interests of the adjoining Woolmer Forest SSSI/SPA were too important to permit even limited housing development." The other site recommended for deletion from the reserve list is The Paddock, Headley. Mr Hollox does not consider it to be a sufficiently sustainable settlement because it is lacking in facilities. In addition he has recommended reducing the number of houses to be built on the brownfield site on Hogmoor Road in Whitehill to 40. It has also been ranked as the last site on the reserve list to be developed. Also in the report are details of alterations to settlement policy boundaries in Headley, recommendations to make additions to Headley, Arford and Headley Down local gaps and Headley Fields is recommended for inclusion in a policy which prevents infilling. Copies of the inspector's report can be seen at the council's offices at Penns Place, Petersfield, and at the information offices at Whitehill, Alton and Horndean. EHDC will now consider the report and decide what action to take on each of the inspector's recommendations. The government advises councils to accept the recommendations in most cases, although they are not obliged to do so. But a strong justification is required if the council chooses to object to any recommendation. Officers will be preparing a report for the development policy panel and then for full council in July. Proposed modifications to the plan will be published for public consultation over the summer.
