Press Release

6 November 2020

Local Plan consultation and virtual exhibition

A virtual exhibition as part of the latest consultation into the Fareham Local Plan - the blueprint for development in the Borough for the next 16 years - starts this week.

The consultation on the Publication Version of the Local Plan starts on Friday 6 November and runs until Friday 18 December.

Government restrictions to contain the spread of the coronavirus means that this consultation will be different to previous consultations. Public exhibitions at various locations around the Borough, where people can find out more details about the plan, have been replaced with a virtual exhibition.

The virtual exhibition can be found online and provides all the information that would have been available at the public meetings and face-to-face exhibitions with officers. 

The exhibition and the feedback form where residents can have their say on the publication document, can be found at www.fareham.gov.uk/localplanconsultation

Those people who are not able to access the exhibition or the details of the Plan online can call 01329 824601 where they will be able to:

• Request paper copies of the survey
• Once the current Covid-19 lockdown ends, make an appointment to come into the Civic Offices to access the Plan during office hours - Monday to Thursday, 8.45am to 5.15pm; Friday, 8.45am to 4.45pm

The current version of the Local Plan has significantly fewer new homes allocated across the Borough than previous versions of the Plan. A proposed change in Government guidance meant the Council is able to significantly reduce by the number of new homes being planned for Fareham over the next 16 years through this Local Plan. 

The minimum number of new homes that Fareham is now required to deliver is reduced from 520 to 403 per year. That means that the following sites originally put forward for development are now no longer in the Plan:

• Strategic Growth Area: South of Fareham
• Land west of Downend Road in the Strategic Growth Area: North of Downend
• Rookery Farm, Swanwick
• Newgate Lane South, Peel Common
• Romsey Avenue, Portchester
• Pinks Hill, Wallington
• Military Road, Wallington
• North Wallington
• Standard Way, Wallington

Executive Member for Planning and Development, Cllr Keith Evans, said: “This consultation is a further opportunity for residents across Fareham to have their say on how we frame development across the borough for the next 16 years.
 
“Our growing population means there is an increasing pressure on us and all local authorities to provide new homes for people, but we must do that in a strategic and managed way to ensure we retain everything that has made Fareham such an attractive place for people to live and work.
 
“This Plan sets out how we aim to do that and what we think the borough will look like in 16 years, and I urge everyone to have their say, visit the virtual exhibition and provide us with the feedback we need to make sure this plan works for everyone.”
 
 

ENDS

For further information contact:

Customer Enquiries

Tel: 01329 236100
Email: customerservicecentre@fareham.gov.uk

Media Enquiries

The Communications Team
Tel: 01329 824310
Email: publicity@fareham.gov.uk
Fax: 01329 550576

Keep in touch on the go