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Every Council is required to have a Local Plan, which it uses to allocate space for housing, employment opportunities, transport infrastructure and leisure and community facilities.
Below you will find the timeline for Fareham's new Local Plan.
The Council has now received the report from the Planning Inspector on the examination of the Fareham Local Plan 2037. She has concluded that the plan is legally compliant and sound with modifications. To read the report and learn about the next steps, please visit the latest news webpage.
The Planning Inspectorate would like your feedback about the examination. If you were involved in the examination because you made comments in writing and/or you took part in a hearing session, then we would be very pleased if you could fill in this short survey 
.
Any comments you make will be confidential.
Update September 2021
The Council submitted the plan to the Planning Inspectorate on 30th September 2021. For all information relating to the examination please see our examination webpages.
The consultation closed on Friday 30th July and we are currently reviewing the responses.
At its meeting on 10th June 2021, Council approved the Revised Publication Local Plan for consultation under Regulation 19 of the Town and Country Planning (Local Planning) (England) Regulations 2012. The consultation ran for a six week period between 18th June - 30th July 2021. The Council has published much of its evidence base to support the Revised Publication Local Plan 
(30 MB) in advance of the consultation starting. The Council also produced a Special Edition of its Fareham Today (14 MB) to accompany the consultation.
At the Executive Meeting on February 1st, the Executive Leader announced that, following the publication of the revised Planning Practice Guidance on housing need, a further consultation will take place on changes to the Publication Local Plan in early summer after the necessary technical work has been undertaken. The Local Development Scheme will be revised accordingly. This will be presented to Members for pre-scrutiny, Executive approval and then Council sign-off during late spring. The full Executive announcement can be viewed here.
The consultation closed on Friday 18th December and we are currently reviewing the responses.
The Council launched the next stage of its consultation on the new Local Plan 2037. The Council invited comments on its Publication Local Plan which it intends to submit to the Secretary of State for independent examination. The regulation 19 consultation ran for a six week period from 6th November ending on 18th December 2020. More information can be found on our Publication Plan page.
At its meeting on 22nd October, Council approved the Publication Local Plan for consultation under Regulation 19 of the Town and Country Planning (Local Planning) (England) Regulations 2012. The consultation is due to run for a six week period starting on 6th November - 18th December 2020. The Council has published much of its evidence base to support the Publication Plan in advance of the consultation starting. The Council has also produced a Special Edition of its Fareham Today (13 MB) to accompany the consultation.
The revised Local Development Scheme (216 KB) was adopted at the Executive meeting on 7th September and confirmed the Local Plan timetable. The Local Plan will now be tabled at the Executive meeting on 12th October, followed by the full Council meeting on 22nd October. The six-week consultation on the Publication Plan will then take place during the Autumn.
As announced by the Leader at the Council meeting on 23rd July 2020, the Local Plan timetable has been slightly delayed from the Local Development Scheme which states a consultation in Spring/Summer 2020 to a consultation in the Autumn of 2020. The Council will publish a revised Local Development Scheme to confirm the timings of the next stages of Local Plan preparation in the coming months.
The consultation closed on Sunday 1st March 2020 and we are now reviewing the responses.
In view of the current disruption to services as a result of the Coronavirus, the Council will keep under review whether it is possible to achieve the current timetable for the preparation of the Local Plan. The next stage, the Council's approval of the Publication Plan ahead of full public consultation, is currently set for the Spring/Summer 2020. If a review of this date proves necessary the Council will publicise any changes to the timetable well in advance.
The Council launched the next stage of its consultation on the new Local Plan. The outcomes of the Issues and Options consultation in July 2019 and further technical work have informed a new Supplement to the Draft Local Plan consulted on in 2017. It contains a revised Development Strategy, proposals for additional housing sites and new policies on development and the natural environment. The Consultation closed on Sunday 1st March 2020. Further information including the consultation document and supporting documentation can be found here.
The outcome of the Issues and Options consultation in July 2019 has informed the new Supplement to the Draft Local Plan. At the start of the new year we hope to consult on the new proposals for additional housing sites and new policies on housing, development and the natural environment.
The council consulted on the Issues and Options for its new Local Plan for 6 weeks in the Summer of 2019. The consultation was supported with a special copy of Fareham Today. (18 MB). In it residents were asked to comment on which natural landscapes should be protected from development; which areas might support new development and a range of other issues around retail space, employment and building in the urban environment. Public CAT meetings and Exhibitions were also held across the borough and notes from these can be viewed here.
The outcome of this has informed the Local Plan Supplement, which was presented to the Executive in December 2019 for consultation in January 2020.
At a meeting of the Executive on 4th March 2019 it was resolved to adopt the Fareham Borough Local Development Scheme 2019. The Local Development Scheme sets out a timetable for the preparation of the draft Local Plan. The Local Development Scheme can be viewed here.
The Executive Leader of Fareham Borough Council, Councillor Sean Woodward, made the following announcement at the Executive Meeting of the Council on Monday 4th February regarding Fareham's Draft Local Plan 2036:
"Further to my announcement at the Executive Meeting on 5 November 2018, I would like to provide an update on the progression of the Local Plan. Parties will recall that at that meeting the Executive agreed to the Council's response to their 'Technical consultation on updates to national planning policy and guidance' which included proposed changes to local housing need assessment and housing land supply. Unfortunately the Government has not yet made any announcement in relation to the introduction of these changes, which means that there remains continued uncertainty as to the housing requirement that the Council should be planning for through the Local Plan. Regardless of these uncertainties, it is considered important the Council has a clear and transparent timetable for the preparation of the Local Plan, and I have therefore asked officers to present a report providing an updated Local Development Scheme to the March meeting of the Executive."
The Executive Leader of Fareham Borough Council, Councillor Seán Woodward, made the following announcement at the Executive Meeting of the Council on Monday 5th November regarding Fareham's Draft Local Plan 2036:
"The Government has made it clear that it wishes to achieve its goal of delivering 300,000 houses per annum nationally. The changes already made to National Planning Policies and Guidance along with those further changes now proposed, will undoubtedly further increase the number of houses the Borough of Fareham will be required to accommodate. This means additional greenfield sites for housing will need to be identified over and above those proposed previously in the Draft Local Plan. To avoid confusion this means the new Draft Plan will build on documents already published in support of the previous Draft Local Plan which remain relevant. There remains ongoing uncertainty over the precise higher number of houses required by the Government, which this Council currently anticipates is unlikely to be resolved until the first quarter of next year.
"It is evident from the new National Planning Policies and Guidance that the Government expects local authorities to work together to deliver these higher housing requirements, especially where some authorities are unable to meet these, through developing a joint approach. There will be important strategic issues associated with future growth that affect a number of authorities, such as provision of infrastructure, for which local authorities need to seek a joint approach, carefully balancing all the economic, social and environmental issues. The Partnership for Urban South Hampshire (PUSH) has therefore agreed to work together to produce a Statement of Common Ground on these strategic issues as soon as possible and to start exploring how the authorities could produce an Infrastructure Investment Plan to support future growth.
"We are aiming to take a report to the February Executive to update the Council's Local Plan Timetable to reflect the implications of these Government changes. In the meantime, the Council will consult on the issues and options relevant to the progression of our new development strategy in the spring because the number of additional houses now required is potentially character-changing for the Borough. This will be prior to producing a new Draft Local Plan for consultation by the end of next year. Special editions of Fareham Today will promote both stages and be delivered to every home in the Borough.
"With the challenge of new and further changes to National Planning Policies and Guidance, the Council intends to take the Local Plan Review through the new Planning and Development Scrutiny Panel and then on to the Executive."
Full details of the meeting including the minutes can be found here.
The Council is set to make major changes to its draft Local Plan following the Government's changes to the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) which significantly increased the number of homes required in Fareham by 30%.
Please visit the latest Press Release for further information
In April the Office of National Statistics (ONS) published 2017 data showing affordability ratios (cost of housing in an area compared to local salaries). This forms part of the Government's proposed new method of calculating housing need and, when applied, increased the figure for Fareham to 544 each year.
In July the Government confirmed the key changes proposed in the 'Planning for the right homes in the right places' consultation were going ahead and the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) was updated.
In September the ONS published its new 2016-based household projections which showed a decline to 479 homes each year. In the Government's recent consultation it declared these figures did not adequately address national housing need and therefore propose using 2014 data.
In October the Government launched a further consultation once more the NPPF. If the Government proceed with these proposed changes housing numbers will revert back to 544 homes per annum.
On 14 September the DCLG launched its consultation 'Planning for the right homes in the right places' to change the method used to calculate Local Housing Need aimed at helping the Government achieve its goal of building 300,000 each year. By using the calculation, Fareham's Local Housing Need was calculated to be 531 each year – increasing from 420.
The following month the Council launched its Draft Local Plan Consultation. With the Government's consultation still only a draft proposal, Fareham's Draft Local Plan used the NPPF that was current at that time.
The Partnership for Urban South Hampshire (PUSH) published a spatial strategy that sets out future plans across South Hampshire.
Development Sites & Policies Plan (Part of the Local Plan) & Welborne Plan (Part 3 of the Local Plan) Adopted.
Work commenced immediately on a new Draft Local Plan as there had been changes to the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) which meant our Plan was already out of date.
If you have any questions regarding the Local Plan, contact the Planning Strategy team:
Email: planningpolicy@fareham.gov.uk
Telephone: 01329 824601
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