Approving yet another application in Medstead, under the excuse of the “tilted balance,” ignores all reason and responsibility.
Environment and Infrastructure First — You Fools.
We, the Beechlands Road Community Group, formally call for the resignation of those responsible for the ongoing planning failures following the approval of the outline application for development in Medstead — a decision made against established policy and the clear objections of the local community.
This outcome represents not only a betrayal of public trust but a failure of governance. When local authorities disregard their own planning frameworks and the voices of residents, accountability must follow.
The tilted balance does not mean no balance. If decision-makers are unwilling or unable to uphold the principles of good planning, environmental protection, and fair community representation, then they must step aside.
Our community deserves leaders who will protect the values, character, and sustainability of our local area — not those who preside over its irreversible harm.
We, the Beechlands Road Community Group, respectfully call for both planning applications submitted by the developer Bargate/Vivid — which resulted in the Ashwood Estate and the more recent development just approved on 20 March 2025 — to be subject to a formal and transparent audit.
This request is not limited to verifying compliance with planning procedure as defined by East Hampshire District Council (EHDC), but seeks a deeper, independent review of the validity, reliability, and integrity of:
- All data sources used to justify the developments
- The methodologies employed by third-party consultants (e.g. traffic, drainage, biodiversity, infrastructure, and public service capacity assessments)
- The consideration of cumulative impacts across both applications
- The level and manner in which public consultation and objections were taken into account
We are increasingly concerned that the local planning process, when applied to developments of this scale, functions without sufficient external verification. Without robust independent review, the process becomes vulnerable to developer-led narratives, unchallenged assumptions, and data that is either incomplete, outdated, or methodologically flawed.
As a community that will bear the long-term consequences of these planning decisions, we ask that EHDC — or, if necessary, a higher authority — initiate or enable a transparent audit or third-party evaluation of both applications.
We believe this is the only way to restore public confidence in the planning process and to ensure that community voices, environmental integrity, and infrastructure capacity are given due weight in the face of speculative development pressure.
🎯 The Core Issue:
When a Local Planning Authority (LPA) fails to demonstrate a five-year housing land supply (5YHLS), it triggers Paragraph 11(d) of the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF), activating what’s known as the tilted balance — a planning presumption in favour of sustainable development. This mechanism, designed as a safety net, has in practice become a back door for developer-led growth, overriding democratically established Local Plans and community opposition.
🔎 Accountability Questioned:
In any normal professional setting, when an organisation fails to meet its core statutory obligations, there are consequences — restructuring, replacement, or resignation. Why is the situation different for LPAs? Their consistent inability to meet the 5YHLS threshold results in real-world consequences: rural overdevelopment, strained infrastructure, and the irreversible loss of natural landscapes.
📉 A System Built for Failure (and Exploitation):
My subsequent research into the planning process has led me to conclude that the system is fundamentally flawed — and dangerously prone to misuse. It acts less like a regulatory safeguard and more like an incubator for misconduct.
- Extensive development is being approved without robust Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs), especially in developer-prioritised villages.
- UK building standards, dictated largely by developers, fail to meet the quality and technological benchmarks seen across mainland Europe — even in projects marketed as “premium.”
- Natural resources are being exploited inefficiently, not strategically.
- Regulatory processes routinely lack accurate, validated data — including on essentials like GP surgery capacity, school places, and transport pressure.
📌 A Broken Loop:
What should be a system of checks and balances often amounts to a rubber stamp, built on outdated datasets and under-resourced oversight. Communities are left scrambling to fight decisions that should have been blocked at the policy level.
💡 Our Position:
Until these systemic failures are addressed, the only responsible course of action is to slow the approval pipeline and introduce a form of “profit cap” — a mechanism that limits the exploitation of loopholes by developers and prioritises long-term environmental, infrastructural, and social integrity.
🗣️ We, the Beechlands Road Community Group, call for accountability.
If LPAs cannot fulfil their basic responsibilities, the public deserves better leadership. And if the tilted balance is used to approve applications like the one in Medstead — against all local logic — then resignations must follow.
🧱 Why This Matters:
- It undermines local democracy, because local plans that took years to consult on and adopt are effectively overridden.
- It encourages speculative applications in rural and protected areas.
- It erodes public trust when residents feel that LPAs are not delivering on their responsibilities but continue without consequence.
The recording of the Planning Committee meeting held on Thursday, 20th March 2025 at 6:00 PM can be viewed online by following the ‘Watch Online‘ link provided in the meeting agenda.
Ward: Bramshott & Liphook
Correspondence address:
East Hampshire District Council
PO Box 310
Petersfield
GU32 9HN
Email: angela.glass@easthants.gov.uk
Mobile: 077 9023 4448
Phone: 014 2872 2375
src: EHDC website 2024-04-05
Ward: Headley
Correspondence address:
Little Benifold
Headley Hill Road
Headley, Bordon
GU35 8DU
Email: anthony.williams@easthants.gov.uk
Phone: 014 2871 2809
Mobile: 077 6492 6315
src: EHDC website 2024-04-05
Ward: Ropley, Hawkley & Hangers
Correspondence address:
East Hampshire District Council
PO Box 310
Petersfield
GU32 9HN
Email: charles.louisson@easthants.gov.uk
Mobile: 075 6364 9416
src: EHDC website 2024-04-05
Ward: Binsted, Bentley & Selborne
Correspondence address:
East Hampshire District Council
PO Box 310
Petersfield
GU32 9HN
Email: david.ashcroft@easthants.gov.uk
Mobile: 079 6651 1868
Phone: 014 2051 1011
src: EHDC website 2024-04-05
Ward: Horndean Murray
Correspondence address:
East Hampshire District Council
PO Box 310
Petersfield
GU32 9HN
Email: elaine.woodard@easthants.gov.uk
Mobile: 074 3715 2518
src: EHDC website 2024-04-05
Ward: Horndean Downs
Correspondence address:
East Hampshire District Council
PO Box 310
Petersfield
GU32 9HN
Email:
Mobile:
src: EHDC website 2024-04-05
Ward: Clanfield
Correspondence address:
East Hampshire District Council
PO Box 310
Petersfield
GU32 9HN
Email: john.smart@easthants.gov.uk
Mobile: 074 1532 7127
src: EHDC website 2024-04-05
Ward: Whitehill Hogmoor & Greatham
Correspondence address:
East Hampshire District Council
PO Box 310
Petersfield
GU32 9HN
Email: kirsty.mitchell@easthants.gov.uk
Mobile: 077 9306 2646
src: EHDC website 2024-04-05
Ward: Whitehill Hogmoor & Greatham
Correspondence address:
East Hampshire District Council
PO Box 310
Petersfield
GU32 9HN
Email: mike.steevens@easthants.gov.uk
Mobile:
src: EHDC website 2024-04-05
Ward: Froxfield, Sheet & Steep
Correspondence address:
East Hampshire District Council
PO Box 310
Petersfield
GU32 9HN
Email: nick.drew@easthants.gov.uk
Mobile: 079 2008 6475
src: EHDC website 2024-04-05
Ward: Petersfield St Peter’s
Correspondence address:
East Hampshire District Council
PO Box 310
Petersfield
GU32 9HN
Email: phil.shaw@easthants.gov.uk
Mobile: 075 4674 8075
src: EHDC website 2024-04-05
Ward: Four Marks & Medstead
Correspondence address:
East Hampshire District Council
PO Box 310
Petersfield
GU32 9HN
Email: roland.richardson@easthants.gov.uk
Mobile: 077 3991 7438
Ward: Horndean Catherington
Correspondence address:
134 Catherington Lane
Horndean
Waterlooville
PO8 9PB
Email: sara.schillemore@easthants.gov.uk
Mobile: 077 7168 4585
src: EHDC website 2024-04-05