New Forest District Council and New Forest National Park Authority respond to government plans to double housebuilding targets

Local plans formulated in consultation with communities will help to mitigate government proposals to double housebuilding targets, say Forest authorities.

All councils in England are to be given new, mandatory housing targets to pave the way to deliver 1.5 million more homes – tackling the “most acute housing crisis in living memory”.

The government is currently consulting on the proposals, which if approved would see a target of 1,465 homes imposed on the district, up from 729.

In response, New Forest District Council and the National Park Authority say the best way to assess housing need locally is through upcoming reviews of Local Plans - which guide decisions on future planning applications.

NFDC’s cabinet member for planning and economy, Cllr Derek Tipp, told the A&T: “We are aware of the recent government announcement of a consultation on a new National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF), which suggests a significant increase in our housing target number from the current Local Plan figure of 521 homes per year.

“The new target of 1,465 homes per year is at this stage provisional, while the government consultation takes place. We note that in our view, it does not take account of the unique landscape and designations of the district, 90% of which is a national park; something that previous plans have had accepted.”

He added: “We need to balance the need for housing along with our role protecting the special characteristics of the New Forest, as well as ensuring that existing sites, identified as acceptable and suitable for development in our local plan, come forward promptly and as expected to help us meet our existing requirements.

“Our current review of our Local Plan will ensure that future housing land identification is done in a robust and considered way when the target is formalised.”

A spokesperson for the NPA explained that while the government’s proposals did not generate a housing requirement specifically for the national park area, land within the district was included.

“National policy is clear that the scale and extent of development within national parks should be limited,” they said. “And the government’s proposals do not seek to amend this position.

“The consultation confirms that the proposed new standard method provides the basis for plan-making, not the final housing requirement – which will be ultimately agreed through the Local Plan-making process.

“The most appropriate way to address identified local housing needs within the context of a nationally protected landscape is firmly within the scope of the review of the New Forest National Park Local Plan.”

As reported in the A&T the planned target increase was blasted by mayor of Lymington and Pennington, Cllr Jack Davies, who said the move would give developers “even more power” and fail to bring about more affordable homes.

He has called on the government to rethink its plan, writing to deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner to express his concerns.

Cllr Davies, who is also a Lib Dem district councillor representing Pennington, claims few homes have been built by the Conservative-run council due to its inability to identify enough land, most of which is within the national park and subject to stringent NPA planning rules.

The government says the overhaul of the planning system sets out “tough decisions” which are necessary to “fix the foundations and grow the economy”.

New rules will reverse the decision made last year to water down housing targets by making them explicitly advisory, at a time when planning permissions were at a record low.

The new approach “reflects the level of ambition necessary to tackle the housing crisis and meet a commitment to build 1.5 million homes”, says the government.