East Hampshire District Council agreed on May 28 that it will no longer seek to submit a Local Plan by the end of this year.

This decision comes in response to numerous new planning rules plus the local government reorganisation ruling that will remove Horndean, Clanfield and Rowlands Castle from its area in April 2028.

Councillors said the government’s intervention had made continuing work on the Local Plan “pointless and unjustifiable”.

Instead the council will focus plan-making work on the new government rules in a way that will be relevant to the future council structure in Hampshire.

Council leader Cllr Richard Millard said: “We believe in the principle of plan-making, but repeated government changes to planning rules have torn the heart out of our Local Plan.

“Even if we produced a plan by the deadline of December 31, there will be so many new rules between now and then that it would be rendered pointless.

“Putting together a Local Plan is hugely costly and requires hundreds of thousands of pounds to engage expert consultants to advise on transport, utilities and more. Spending that amount of taxpayers’ money on a document that would be of little use once completed is totally unjustifiable.

“In 2028 East Hampshire will cease to exist as an administrative entity. We should be looking ahead to the future of planning in the context of the new unitary authorities.”

A Local Plan sets out housing figures, development sites, local infrastructure and planning policies in East Hampshire.

The government set a deadline to submit a Local Plan by the end of December but also set new rules for making Local Plans, and intends to change national planning policy - through an updated National Planning Policy Framework - in the summer, just months before the deadline.

Find out about planning applications that affect you by visiting the Public Notice Portal.

The council will now follow the new rules as part of the new planning system.