The best way to protect the Winchester district: City council to ask Government and neighbouring councils to support a collaborative way forward for Local Plan development
Winchester City Council has announced its intention to commence its Local Plan preparation for the whole of the Winchester district area, but alongside this decision the council’s Cabinet has called for greater clarity from Government to be able to plan effectively for the new Mid Hampshire Council area, given the significant changes to councils brought forward by Local Government Reorganisation.
Winchester City Council adopted its Local Plan 2040 in March 2026, against the backdrop of new planning legislation requiring its next Local Plan preparation to begin immediately, and to a 30-month timetable.
The city council is committed to ensuring that the district continues to benefit from an effective and up-to-date Local Plan. However, since the Government announced planning policy reforms and a new Local Plan timetable for Winchester, it has also confirmed the reorganisation of councils across Hampshire which would replace the city council with a new Mid-Hampshire council covering the current council areas of Winchester, plus parts of Test Valley, the New Forest and East Hampshire in April 2028, which is before the 30-month Local Plan period.
The timetables for Local Government Reorganisation and the new Local Plan process are currently not consistent, and the city council has previously written to government seeking clarity. In a recent Parliamentary Answer, the Government itself recognised “the challenges posed to plan making by local authority re-organisation and are developing transitional arrangements to address these”. However, the arrangements are not yet available.
As a result, and in the absence of Government guidance for transitional arrangements, the city council will publish the notice of intention to start its plan today (30 June 2026) for the current district boundary. Additionally, the council will engage with other Mid Hampshire councils to explore opportunities for collaborative or joint plan-making and shared evidence gathering for the proposed Mid Hampshire geography. This includes engagement with the councils in the proposed South-East Authority as, under the new plans, the parish of Newlands, currently in the Winchester district, would become part of this council.
Cllr Jackie Porter, Cabinet Member for Place and the Local Plan, said: “We are proud of our strong track record of delivering Local Plans which protect and enhance the Winchester district, and we remain absolutely committed to planning positively for the benefit of our place and our communities. However, to do this effectively we must have clarity from government around the necessary transition arrangements, to ensure the work we’re undertaking makes the best use of our time and public resources and will ultimately result in a plan that will be supported and adopted by the new Mid Hampshire Council.
“A positively prepared Local Plan is of paramount importance to ensure development in our district continues to happen on a planned basis that positively meets the needs of our communities. But alongside this, we’ve also committed to working with other district councils in the Mid Hampshire council area to explore opportunities moving forward.”
Cllr Martin Tod, Leader of Winchester City Council, added: "We want to maintain Winchester's positive approach to planning and stop the speculative development that blights so much of Hampshire. Unlike most, we're protected from unplanned development at the moment because we put a robust Local Plan in place this March.
“As soon as the new Mid Hampshire Council is in place, the best way to keep protecting our area from unplanned speculative development is to protect the whole of Mid Hampshire from unplanned speculative development. That's why I've now written twice to Government asking how we can move ahead quickly to get a Local Plan that does this - and why I want Winchester to work constructively and quickly with our neighbours to make it happen.”
The city council has written to government outlining these concerns and the need for clarity to be able to plan positively for the future.