Neighbourhood planning

New Milton Neighbourhood Plan – Referendum 6 May 2021

The draft New Milton Neighbourhood Plan was subject to a final period of public consultation between September and October 2019. The Neighbourhood Plan was then subject to independent examination. The Examiner’s final report was received in December 2019, which concluded that subject to a number of policy modifications, the draft Plan met the basic conditions. The Examiner recommended that the plan, once modified, proceed to referendum on the basis that it met all the relevant legal requirements.

The Authority’s ‘Decision Statement’ in response to the Examiner’s recommendations was agreed on 23 January 2020. However, due to the Covid restrictions the local referendum had to be postponed from 2020.

The New Milton Neighbourhood Plan will be subject to a local referendum on Thursday 6 May 2021, at which the local community in the parish of New Milton will be asked whether it supports the Neighbourhood Plan. The referendum is being administered by New Forest District Council and further details can be found on the District Council’s website at New Milton Neighbourhood Plan – New Forest District Council. The formal ‘Notice of Referendum’ published by New Forest District Council is available to view in the ‘New Milton Neighbourhood Plan’ tab at the bottom of this page.

Hythe & Dibden Neighbourhood Plan – ‘made’ December 2019

In July 2019 the independent Examiner issued their final Report on the draft Hythe and Dibden Neighbourhood Plan. The Report concluded that subject to a number of modifications, the draft Plan met the basic conditions. The Examiner’s Report can be viewed at the bottom of this page and the Authority’s ‘Decision Statement’ is also available to download below.

The final version of the Neighbourhood Plan, incorporating the Examiner’s required modifications, was the subject of a local referendum on 29 October 2019. The referendum was administered by New Forest District Council, and further details can be found on the District Council’s Hythe & Dibden Neighbourhood Plan webpage. At the local referendum 84.8% of the people who voted supported the Neighbourhood Plan, with a turn-out of 15%. Following this positive endorsement at referendum, we formally adopted (or ‘made’) the Hythe & Dibden Neighbourhood Plan at the full Authority meeting on 18 December 2019 for the part of the parish within the National Park. The ‘Decision Statement’ and adopted Neighbourhood Plan are available via the ‘Hythe and Dibden Neighbourhood Plan’ tab below.       

About Neighbourhood Plans

Neighbourhood Plans were introduced by the Localism Act (2011) to allow local communities to prepare a plan for development and land use in their area. More detail about how Neighbourhood Plans work and their preparation can be found on the Planning Portal and Communities and Local Government websites.

As the New Forest is a parished area, neighbourhood plans can be undertaken by parish or town councils. We have a role in supporting communities in preparing a neighbourhood plan by giving advice and assistance to the town/parish council. More detail can be found in our Neighbourhood Planning Protocol (April 2016), which sets out the support we can offer those preparing neighbourhood plans.

Hampshire County Council has also prepared a useful guide on its role in the neighbourhood planning process, explaining the main County Council services that may have to be considered when carrying out neighbourhood planning; links to relevant County Council information; and an explanation of the different roles of the County Council and the Authority in the neighbourhood planning process.

Neighbourhood Plan Areas

In order to start preparing a Neighbourhood Plan, a town/parish council first makes an application to the local planning authority for the designation of the area that their Neighbourhood Plan will cover. In accordance with Part 2 of the Neighbourhood Planning (General) Regulations 2012, we formally designated Neighbourhood Plan Areas for the part of the parishes of Milford-on-Sea; Totton and Eling; New Milton; Hythe and Dibden; Lymington & Pennington; Wellow; Fordingbridge; and Ringwood that lie within the National Park.

List of Neighbourhood Areas designated in the New Forest National Park

Our decision to designate the above Neighbourhood Plan Areas relates only to the part of the areas within the National Park. The reports confirming these designations and a map showing the areas designated within the National Park are available to download below.