Over the last few years, local authorities and statutory organisations across the south east have been helping the South East of England Regional Assembly to prepare its regional strategy. Known as the South East Plan, this strategy will guide the region's development from 2006 to 2026.

After two years of research and public consultation, the final draft was published in March 2006. The Plan aims to concentrate housing development in growth areas, where employment opportunities and infrastructure such as roads, schools and hospitals already exist. Two growth areas have been identified for Hampshire – the Western Corridor and Blackwater Valley (WCBV) which includes Basingstoke; and South Hampshire, which includes Portsmouth, Southampton and some surrounding areas.

There will also be limited housing growth in rural parts of Hampshire, including the Micheldever area, to meet the needs of the local people and businesses. A new town at Micheldever conflicts with this strategy, and it was excluded from the draft Plan.

The draft South East Plan was reviewed at an Examination in Public presided over by a Panel of Inspectors appointed by the Government and held from October 2006 to March 2007. During the hearing, Eagle Star’s planning consultants argued that the South East Plan should include a new town at Micheldever Station, but they were strongly opposed by Winchester City Council, Hampshire County Council, Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council and Test Valley Borough Council.

The Panel’s report and recommendations to Government were published in August 2007. The Panel comprehensively rejected Eagle Star’s proposals for a new town at Micheldever Station, concluding that there is 'insufficient justification for the inclusion of Micheldever Station Market Town in the regional strategy'.  The Panel said that 'notwithstanding its location and its rail station, it is a relatively remote rural area', and listed seven key reasons why a new settlement at Micheldever was not appropriate:

• much greater potential for delivering the required housing has been identified in the region’s urban areas, lessening the need to consider new settlements;
• the sharper focus strategy of the draft Plan would not support a new settlement in a remote rural area of Central Hampshire;
• we are satisfied that the sharper focus strategy has emerged from a sound evaluation of the alternative options;
• Micheldever would have a significant impact on the WCBV and South Hampshire sub-regional strategies by diverting resources away from the sub-regions and undermining the regeneration aims for South Hampshire;
• the proposal would be unable to make any significant contribution to meeting the pressing need for new housing for many years;
• compared with the other options for SDAs in South Hampshire and urban extensions to Basingstoke and other towns in WCBV, together with maximizing urban potential, it would offer insufficient locational choice; and
• the most likely scenario is that it would become a focus for long-distance commuting, not a sustainable community.

The Government is currently reviewing the Panel’s report and recommendations. It is not bound to accept any of them, and indeed may make its own proposals for inclusion in the South East Plan. In particular, the 2007 Housing Green Paper outlined plans for an additional three million homes in England by 2020. As a result, the Government may decide to increase the 28,900 new homes per year provided for in the draft South East Plan – or even the higher figure of 32,000 per year recommended by the Panel.

The Government is due to publish any proposed changes to the South East Plan in spring 2008, after which there will be a further round of public consultation.

• Our other Planning and countryside briefings look at the Housing Green Paper, the Hampshire Structure Plan, and the Winchester Local Plan.
  We have now completed a detailed rebuttal of Zurich/Eagle Star’s proposals.