Test Valley abandoned its Local Plan route on 22 July. The target is 934 homes a year, land supply is down to 2.5 years and adoption has slipped to 2029.

On 22 July 2026, Test Valley Borough Council gave up on the Local Plan it had been writing for four years. Full Council resolved to move the draft plan “from progression under the ‘legacy’ plan making system to commencing under the new ‘gateway’ plan making system”, which in plain terms means starting again under different rules and a different timetable.

That decision is the single most important thing happening in planning around Andover, and it will shape what gets built here for the rest of the decade. Here is what led to it, what it changes, and what it means if a field near you is in the draft plan.

The number that broke the plan

In December 2024 the Government rewrote the National Planning Policy Framework and set mandatory housing targets. Test Valley’s housing requirement went from 524 homes a year to 934 homes a year, a 78% increase, imposed part way through the plan’s preparation with no transitional arrangements for a council in Test Valley’s position.

The immediate effect was mechanical and severe. The borough’s five-year housing land supply fell to 2.5 years, half what the Government requires. A council without a five-year supply loses much of its ability to refuse applications, and Test Valley says the consequence arrived quickly: developers began submitting speculative applications across the borough, on sites the council had not chosen, which are far more likely to be approved while the supply figure stays where it is.

Councillor Phil North, the leader of the council, put it this way: “this government’s 78% increase in our housing figure imposed mid-way through the process has led to at least a two-year delay and a situation where developers are putting in speculative applications, which are much more likely to be approved because we don’t have a five-year housing land supply.”

How the council tried to meet it, and why that failed too

The council did not stop. In June 2025 it took what its own report calls “the difficult decision” to address the increase rather than restart, which meant identifying 35 draft site allocations, up from 10 in the 2024 draft, and repeating a statutory consultation stage as the Revised Regulation 18 Local Plan in 2025.

That consultation drew 1,860 representations, with a heavy concentration of objections about whether local infrastructure could absorb the development proposed.

Then something unusual happened. During the consultation, landowners pulled sites out of the plan:

  • Weyhill (Policy NA16): landowners withdrew a significant part of the proposed expansion, roughly 720 homes of an approximately 1,034-home site.
  • Appleshaw, Land South of Eastville (Policy NA19): approximately 35 homes, withdrawn entirely.
  • Stockbridge, Land at Danebury School (Policy NA15): an estimated reduction of about 50 homes against a site of roughly 100.

That is about 800 homes removed from a plan already struggling to reach 934 a year. The council’s report describes the withdrawal of promoted sites as “a rare occurrence” with “critical implications”, and it is the point at which the December 2026 deadline became unreachable: replacing those sites meant another focused Regulation 18 consultation, then Regulation 19, then time to consider the responses, all before the end of the year.

What was actually decided on 22 July

Four members of the public spoke on the item before the vote. The recommendation was proposed by Councillor Phil Bundy, the planning portfolio holder, seconded by Councillor Phil North, and carried.

The council’s reasoning, as minuted, was that “the changes arising from local government reorganisation and the direction in which neighbouring authorities are moving to in producing their local plans means that the sensible option for the Council was to commence work on a new local plan under the new system with the intention to pivot towards creating a local plan for the future unitary geography.”

Councillor Bundy had set out the case publicly the week before: “we are therefore considering not submitting our Local Plan in December, as to do so would be utterly pointless considering the number of speculative applications that are likely to gain permission before a government-appointed inspector would even have the time to assess our plan.”

Test Valley is not alone in this. Councillor North noted that other authorities including Winchester and East Hampshire are switching to the new process for the same reasons.

The new timetable

The gateway system requires a local plan to be produced inside a statutory 30 month window, with fixed checkpoints. The council’s indicative timetable, set out in the report to Council, runs like this:

Test Valley's new gateway Local Plan timetable Timeline of Test Valley Borough Council's indicative gateway Local Plan stages. Between October and December 2026 the council publishes its timetable and notice to commence plan making. By April 2027 it must complete and publish a Gateway 1 self-assessment summary. By April 2029 come Gateway 2, consultation on plan content and evidence, and Gateway 3, consultation on the proposed Local Plan. Submission, examination and adoption follow by October 2029. Throughout, the Local Plan adopted in January 2016 remains the basis for planning decisions. From restart to adoption: three more years Test Valley Borough Council's indicative gateway timetable, as reported to Council on 22 July 2026. Oct to Dec 2026 Publish the timetable and notice to commence plan making By April 2027 Gateway 1: complete and publish the self-assessment summary By April 2029 Gateways 2 and 3: consultation on content and evidence, then on the proposed Local Plan By October 2029 Submission, examination and adoption Meanwhile The Local Plan adopted in January 2016, covering the period to 2029, stays the starting point for every planning decision. The council calls this timetable indicative: the Government has not yet published transitional arrangements for councils going through reorganisation, nor the revised NPPF and Local Plan Regulations 2026, all of which could move these dates.
Gateway 2 and Gateway 3 both sit behind a single April 2029 milestone in the council's own timetable.

Two caveats the council attaches to its own dates are worth taking seriously. The Government has not yet published transitional arrangements for authorities affected by local government reorganisation while producing a new-style plan. And it has not yet published the revised NPPF or the updates to the Local Plan Regulations 2026, both of which the council says will have “a significant bearing on the scope, structure and detailed content” of the new plan. The council states plainly that its approach “will need to be revisited”.

The council you are planning for does not exist yet

Underneath all of this is a boundary change. Local government reorganisation will abolish Test Valley Borough Council, and most of the borough is expected to form part of a new Mid Hampshire unitary authority alongside Winchester, the New Forest and East Hampshire. Powers over long-term housing planning transfer to a new mayor for Hampshire and the Isle of Wight.

At the same 22 July meeting, the council agreed to establish a Mid Hampshire Joint Committee on a voluntary basis until the Hampshire Structural Changes Order takes effect, with Councillor Phil North as Test Valley’s representative, moving to the formal joint committee thereafter.

This is why the council chose to restart rather than push on. A plan submitted in December 2026 would have been examined for a council that will not exist by the time it is adopted, over a geography that is about to change.

What it means for you

If a site near you was in the draft plan, it is not dead. The 35 draft allocations were assessed and consulted on, and the evidence behind them does not disappear because the process changed lanes. Expect the work to be reused, reassessed against the new rules, and consulted on again at Gateway 2 or 3.

The bigger short-term risk is the opposite one. With land supply at 2.5 years, the council’s own position is that speculative applications on sites nobody planned for are more likely to be approved. Between now and the new plan, the pressure point is individual applications, not the plan itself.

The adopted 2016 plan still governs decisions. The council’s second five-year review, approved by Cabinet on 8 April 2026, concluded that a full update is needed because of the housing requirement change, but also that the existing policies “remain sound”, are “up to date”, and “continue to provide a robust basis for decision making”. Recent appeal decisions have confirmed the adopted plan is consistent with the current NPPF. So the policies your neighbour’s extension is judged against are the 2016 ones, and will be for some time.

The next formal moment for residents is Gateway 2 or 3, not this year. The October to December 2026 step is the council publishing a timetable, not asking for views. Individual applications carry on being decided throughout, and those you can comment on at any time through the borough’s planning portal.

Frequently asked questions

How many new homes does Test Valley have to build?

934 homes a year, set by the Government’s standard method, up from 524 a year before the December 2024 planning reforms. That is a 78% increase, applied without transitional arrangements for Test Valley.

Why has the Test Valley Local Plan been delayed?

Three things compounded. The housing requirement rose 78% mid-process, which the council leader says caused “at least a two-year delay”. Landowners then withdrew about 800 homes’ worth of sites at Weyhill, Appleshaw and Stockbridge during consultation. And local government reorganisation means the borough itself is being abolished. On 22 July 2026 the council resolved to restart under the new gateway system rather than submit by the Government’s 31 December 2026 deadline.

When will Test Valley have a new Local Plan?

On the council’s own indicative timetable, adoption by October 2029, with a self-assessment published by April 2027 and public consultation by April 2029. The council stresses these dates are indicative because the Government has not yet issued the transitional arrangements, the revised NPPF or the Local Plan Regulations 2026.

What is a five-year housing land supply, and why does 2.5 years matter?

Councils must show they have enough deliverable sites for five years of their housing target. Test Valley’s supply fell to 2.5 years when the target rose. Below five years, national policy tilts decisions in favour of granting permission, which is why speculative applications on unplanned sites become much harder to refuse.

Which sites were withdrawn from the draft plan?

Approximately 720 homes of the roughly 1,034-home Weyhill expansion (Policy NA16), approximately 35 homes at Appleshaw, Land South of Eastville (Policy NA19), and around 50 homes of the roughly 100 at Land at Danebury School, Stockbridge (Policy NA15). About 800 homes in total.

Will Test Valley Borough Council still exist?

Not indefinitely. Local government reorganisation is expected to place most of the borough in a new Mid Hampshire unitary authority with Winchester, the New Forest and East Hampshire, with a mayor for Hampshire and the Isle of Wight taking on long-term housing planning powers. A voluntary Mid Hampshire Joint Committee was established on 22 July 2026 ahead of the formal change.

Related

Sources

Planning timetables move, and this one is explicitly indicative. We will update this page as the council publishes its notice to commence plan making.