Plans to build more than 400 new homes in the New Forest have been delayed
It's to allow for more talks to take place on the development for land north of Moortown Lane in Ringwood
A decision on contentious plans for more than 400 new homes on agricultural land has been put off – only after the proposal was widely criticised by councillors.
Members of New Forest District Council’s (NFDC) planning committee appeared to be edging towards refusing the application for land north of Moortown Lane, Ringwood.
Councillors ultimately decided to defer the decision so officers could hold talks with applicant Crest Nicholson South and Ringwood Town Council, which strongly opposed the scheme in its current form.
The hybrid application sought full planning permission for the first phase of 150 homes and outline permission for a further 293 homes, with all matters reserved except for access.
The proposal, which was recommended for approval by planning officers, related to a large part, but not all, of a strategic site, which is earmarked for at least 480 homes overall in the district council’s local plan.
Parts of the site not owned by the applicant were held by Hampshire County Council, which was likely to bring forward separate plans in the future.
The application included one access road via Moortown Lane. Further roads from Wellworthy Way and Crow Lane could not be delivered as part of the scheme due to land ownership constraints.
Objectors said the scheme went against multiple parts of the recently adopted Ringwood Neighbourhood Plan and some of NFDC’s own policies.
Committee member Cllr Allan Glass, who proposed the motion to refuse the application, said: “Although we need a lot of houses, this fails to meet the objectives of Ringwood Neighbourhood Plan.
“It doesn’t give a mix of housing that would give the maximum benefit to the area and also the roads, we have got one but the others might never go on.”
He later said: “I think we have failed the area by even thinking about this.”
Fellow committee member Cllr David Hawkins said he was “very, very, very, very disappointed” that the neighbourhood plan had been ignored.
Mark Wyatt, council development management service manager, said the allocated site would deliver a “significant number of homes”.
The senior officer said: “Just to put it to you, I wonder if a better motion might be to seek deferral of the application for us to engage with the applicant, engage with the town to try and get a better outcome because it is an allocated site.
“It is not a hostile application. It is not a green field application. It is site allocation and that might be a more constructive rather than obstructive way of progressing matters.”
Overall, the development would deliver 40 one-bed, 161 two-bed, 141 three-bed and 191 four-bed plus homes.
In terms of tenure, there would be 310 open market, 47 social rented, 46 affordable rented and 40 shared ownership properties.
Earlier in the meeting, the applicant’s planning agent Sarah Beuden said: “The scheme has been designed to a high standard and will make a significant contribution to the district’s open market and affordable housing supply, and will also provide improved access to the town centre, local schools and the network of surrounding public open spaces.”
If approved, the scheme would require the developer to provide £4.4million towards local infrastructure and mitigation, as well as alternative natural recreational green space.
Ringwood Town Council member Mary DeBoos said they recognised housing was needed and they did not object to the principle of developing the land but it was “our duty to ensure it meets the needs of Ringwood”.
She said the officer’s report failed to have proper consideration of the Ringwood Neighbourhood Plan.
Cllr DeBoos questioned whether rooms listed as studies in plans for some of the houses would in fact be used as bedrooms.
Ringwood South ward district councillor Jeremy Heron said: “Unfortunately, government policy is in favour of planning.
“Our planning officers are concerned about risks involved in going to appeal and those independent thinkers of the Planning Inspectorate.
“The consequence is what we have, which is what the government want, housing for today. I look at this and I see the slum of tomorrow.”
Cllr John Haywood, who chaired Ringwood Neighbourhood Plan steering group, said it was “particularly disappointing” the property mix seemed to be structured to provide a “preponderance of bigger houses with a larger number of bedrooms”.
He added: “For a sustainable future we must have a genuine property ladder that residents can climb through their lives, not simply make the top rungs bigger while having no lower rungs for people to step on and move up.”