PC 511/26 – Fawley Neighbourhood Plan

1 Introduction

1.1 The Fawley Neighbourhood Area was designated by New Forest District Council in January 2024 and by the New Forest National Park Authority in February 2024. The Authority’s designation relates to the area of the parish within the New Forest National Park for planning purposes.

1.2 The map below illustrates the boundary of the parish of Fawley - with the areas within the National Park (e.g. Holbury, Blackfield, Calshot) along the west and south. The areas outside the National Park (within New Forest District Council) are highlighted in green and include the larger area of the parish in the north, in addition to the small parcel of land where the former power station lies.

1.3 Initial preparatory work on the Neighbourhood Plan for Fawley began in 2022, before formal designation of the Neighbourhood Area, with a series of consultation events which sought to collect the views of local residents on what they liked, disliked or wished they had within the local community. These views were then considered in relation to neighbourhood planning and the potential for a Neighbourhood Plan to address the issues raised.

1.4 A Steering Group made up of local residents and representatives of Fawley Parish Council has overseen the work on preparing the Neighbourhood Plan, including liaison with officers from the National Park Authority and New Forest District Council. The Parish has also appointed a planning consultant (O’Neill Homer) to support the production of the Neighbourhood Plan, which is a common approach.

1.5 In March 2025 members of the Fawley Neighbourhood Plan Steering Group identified policy areas to inform the emerging Neighbourhood Plan. These areas covered issues raised from community engagement and included green and blue spaces, community assets, local gaps, and active travel.

1.6 The draft Neighbourhood Plan was subject to Regulation 14 consultation (pre-submission) between 18 September 2025 to 30 October 2025. This consultation was co-ordinated by the Parish Council in accordance with the relevant national neighbourhood planning regulations. Statutory consultees were notified and responses were received from 10 organisations. These are detailed within the submitted Consultation Statement. The responses received suggested various modifications to policies and/or supporting text within the draft Plan. These have been consolidated within the submitted draft Fawley Neighbourhood Plan.

1.7 The New Forest National Park Authority provided responses to an earlier pre-submission draft, shortly before the commencement of the Regulation 14. As such, those comments were addressed prior to publication; the only outstanding item being the introduction of a map to illustrate the National Park boundary to aid the understanding of the reader as to the extent of coverage. This has now been included within the Neighbourhood Plan submitted in December 2025.

2. Submission draft Neighbourhood Plan (Regulation 16)

2.1 In December 2025 Fawley Parish Council submitted their ‘Submission draft’ Neighbourhood Plan (Regulation 15) to the Authority and New Forest District Council. Alongside the draft Plan the following information was submitted and will be made available as part of the forthcoming consultation under Regulation 16:

• Fawley Parish Neighbourhood Submission Plan, December 2025
• Fawley Parish All Policies Map
• Fawley Parish Plan Consultation Statement (setting out the consultation undertaken over several years during the preparation of the Plan)
• Policy Map, September 2025
• Inset Map North East
• Inset Map North West
• Inset Map South East
• Inset Map South West
• Green Infrastructure Map
• NFDC and NPA Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) and Habitats Regulations Assessment (HRA) Screening Opinions
• Appendix A Fawley Parish Design Codes Final Draft, July 2025
• Appendix B Local Community Assets Final
• Appendix C Fawley Parish Local Green Spaces Final
• Updated Appendix D Settlement Separation and Local Character
• Fawley Parish NP Basic Condition Statement, December 2025 (setting out how the draft Plan meets the ‘basic conditions’ that it will be examined against).

2.2 Under Regulation 16 of the Neighbourhood Planning (General) Regulations 2012 (as amended), the National Park Authority and New Forest District Council are required to consult a range of stakeholders on the Submission draft Neighbourhood Plan for a period of at least 6 weeks. The intention is that the National Park Authority and New Forest District Council will hold a joint consultation, commencing around late March 2026 for 6 weeks.

2.3 The draft Fawley Neighbourhood Plan set out in Annex 1 is the first Neighbourhood Plan for the Parish following its designation in 2024. The plan introduces 8 policies to apply to the neighbourhood area, as follows:

• Policy FAW1: Spatial Strategy
• Policy FAW2: Settlement Separation and Local Landscape Character
• Policy FAW3: Design Guidance and Codes
• Policy FAW4: Existing and New Local Community Assets
• Policy FAW5: Green Infrastructure
• Policy FAW6: Local Green Spaces
• Policy FAW7: Air Quality
• Policy FAW8: Active Travel

2.4 At this stage in the plan-making process, the local planning authorities are required to check that the necessary procedures have been followed and the required information submitted, before arranging the final consultation on the draft Neighbourhood Plan. It is through this consultation that representations will be made, before the Plan and its supporting evidence base is subject to independent examination and ultimately a local referendum.

2.5 National Park Authority (and District Council) planning officers have reviewed the information submitted with the draft Fawley Neighbourhood Plan – as summarised in paragraph 2.3 of this report – and have concluded that the statutory requirements have been met. It is therefore recommended that the Submission draft Fawley Neighbourhood Plan (Annex 1) proceeds to the final stage of public consultation under Regulation 16 of the Neighbourhood Plan (General) Regulations 2012 (as amended). This consultation will be jointly co-ordinated by the National Park Authority and New Forest District Council.

Recommendation:

Members of the Planning Committee endorse the Submission draft Fawley Neighbourhood Plan in Annex 1 to this report for the purposes of the final public consultation under Regulation 16 of the Neighbourhood Planning (General) Regulations 2012 (as amended).

Papers:

• PC 511/26 – Cover report
• Annex 1 – Submission draft Fawley Neighbourhood Plan – this document can be found on our website here - https://www.newforestnpa.gov.uk/documents/planning-committee/planning-committee-17-03-26/

Equality and Diversity Implications:

There are no specific equality or diversity implications arising out of this report. A wide range of statutory and other consultees will be consulted on the Submission draft Neighbourhood Plan.

Contact:

Jade Bowes

Policy Officer

Tel: 01590 646658

Email: jade.bowes@newforestnpa.gov.uk