Hart's new Local Plan consultation opens 19 October with the housing requirement and the sites put forward. Drop-in at Hook's Elizabeth Hall on 12 November.
Hart District Council will publish its first proposals for the district’s new Local Plan on 19 October. The documents will set out how many homes the plan has to provide, where growth should go, and which sites landowners have put forward.
It is the first formal public consultation on the plan. It runs for six weeks, to 30 November.
The dates are in the council’s updated Local Plan timetable, published on 23 September. That day the council also published its Gateway 1 self-assessment, which formally starts a 30-month process to get the plan adopted.
What will be published on 19 October
The council’s summary of the plan’s scope says the October consultation will share:
- a draft vision for the district
- measurable outcomes the plan should deliver
- the housing requirement
- a proposed spatial strategy, which means where new development should go
- the policy areas the plan will cover
- the scope of the evidence being gathered
The call for sites page adds one more. Sites submitted by 5 June 2026 will appear in a Land Availability Assessment published as part of the same consultation.
That assessment is the first public list of land offered for building across Hart. The council says a site being available “does not mean the site will necessarily be allocated” in the plan. Sites could be offered for housing, employment, Gypsy and Traveller pitches, green space, solar or battery storage, among other uses.
The council also says it will publish details of its evidence, including some completed studies, at the same time. Statements of common ground with key bodies, such as neighbouring councils and Hampshire County Council, will come out alongside.
The drop-in at Hook
Hart District Council will run a drop-in session at Elizabeth Hall in Hook on Thursday 12 November, from 12.30pm to 7.30pm, in Hall 3.
Hook Parish Council announced the session on 29 September. It says the date and time have changed from those first advertised.
The council has not yet published other drop-in dates. Its engagement plans say a final engagement strategy will be published in early October, with in-person events alongside the online consultation. We will add other venues when they are announced.
The full timetable
The council’s timetable sets out these stages:
| Stage | Dates | Can residents comment? |
|---|---|---|
| Gateway 1 self-assessment | 23 Sep 2026 | No |
| Consultation on proposed content and evidence | 19 Oct to 30 Nov 2026 | Yes, six weeks |
| Gateway 2, Planning Inspectorate check | 30 Jun to 30 Jul 2027 | No |
| Consultation on the full draft plan | 3 Sep to 29 Oct 2027 | Yes, eight weeks |
| Gateway 3, ready for examination | 3 Jan to 29 Feb 2028 | No |
| Submission for examination | 31 Mar 2028 | No |
| Examination by an inspector | 31 Mar to 31 Aug 2028 | Through the inspector |
| Adoption | 31 Oct 2028 | No |
Why it matters
The new plan will replace the Hart Local Plan Strategy and Sites 2032, adopted in April 2020. It will also replace policies still saved from the district’s 1996 to 2006 plan. The map on the timetable page is headed “Hart Local Plan 2044”.
A Local Plan decides how much building a district has to take and where it goes. It is also the document planning applications are judged against. The council is preparing this one under the new plan-making system brought in by the Levelling-up and Regeneration Act 2023 and regulations made in 2026.
An earlier scoping consultation ran from 27 May to 19 June 2026. It drew responses from 226 organisations and individuals, according to the council. A summary of the main issues raised is due before the October consultation opens.
Big applications are already in the system ahead of the plan. They include the 415-home outline scheme at Owens Farm in Hook, which carries a holding objection from Hampshire’s highway engineers, and the 80 homes proposed at Marsh Lane, Eversley.
What it means for you
- Look up your area from 19 October. The site assessment will show what land near you has been put forward for development.
- Comment by 30 November. This is the earliest point at which residents can shape the housing number and where it goes. Later stages deal with a finished draft.
- Go to a drop-in. The Hook session is on Thursday 12 November, 12.30pm to 7.30pm, at Elizabeth Hall.
- Get told when it opens. You can join the council’s planning consultation database for updates, or email planningpolicy@hart.gov.uk with questions.
- Follow local planning. Our Fleet planning news page tracks applications across the district.
Have your say