Alton Town Partnership

The Alton Town Partnership oversees the delivery of the Alton Town Plan recommendations and also helps to develop Alton.
Please contact us by telephone at +44 (0) 1420 549684, by email:
or write to:- The Alton Town Partnership, 66 High Street, Alton, Hampshire. GU34 1ET. UK.

Thank you to everone who came to our meeting in Alton Community Centre on Saturday 28th February and made it a tremendous success.
We will be publishing the results as soon as possible so please keep an eye on this page.

Please can you return any completed questionnaires by Saturday 14th March - Thank you.
To download a copy of the questionnaire form to print and/or save click here.
To download a copy of the Powerpoint presentation given on the day click here. Large file - be patient.

Local Development Framework & Core Strategy for the Future of Alton

Questionnaire: Issues on New Housing for Alton – Notes for Completing the Form

The key issue for us in Alton is the shape of the next Local Plan, or Local Development Framework (LDF) as it will now be called. This will define the areas and scale of development in Alton until 2026. East Hampshire District Council (EHDC) is trying to establish the Core Strategy for this plan. They have held some public discussion on key parameters for the District as a whole. Now, with this questionnaire, we need to ascertain the views of our town for the amount of and location of its own additional housing. This is so that the Alton Town Partnership (ATP) can present the views of Altonians (mostly gathered at the presentation on 28th February), to EHDC for incorporation into their draft Core Strategy. We can have far more chance of getting our views considered if we submit them before the draft strategy is written; it will be much more difficult to change the document after that. I urge you all to complete the questionnaire and get it to the ATP address, 66, High Street, as soon as possible.

The first section of the questionnaire deals with the 4,000 dwellings allocated to East Hampshire to be built in the years up to 2026. They have 3 alternative scenarios as to where to put them: CH1 puts them all in Alton and Petersfield; CH3 spreads them throughout all the settlements in the area; CH2 confines them to the larger settlements only – Alton, Petersfield, Liss, Liphook and Four Marks. The estimated numbers for Alton from these alternatives are between 670 and 2145. These numbers could increase if The South Downs National Park is established and limits the number Petersfield can take. Which of these scenarios do you prefer (and why)?

The second section of the form deals with where Alton’s ration of say, 1,800 houses might be built. There are already sites allocated within the settlement boundary for 700 and there are few spaces left when they are built. So we need to look beyond the settlement boundary (the present built-up area) and the map on the front or back of the form shows 7 possible general areas. Which of these to you prefer or least object to and in what order of preference?.

Infrastructure will be a major problem for many if not most of the sites, so we ask your opinion on the importance of different aspects of infrastructure.
Lastly there are questions on a small number of related issues.

We look forward to receiving your forms at 66, High Street, Alton as soon as possible and not later than Saturday 14th March. Thank you.

How Much More Housing Should We Build in Alton?

Should Alton grow by 500, 1000 or 2,000 new dwellings over the next 20 years? East Hampshire District Council has identified sites for about 700, which are either under construction, or have planning permission or are committed in the Local Plan. So we need to find new sites for up to another 1,300 dwellings over the next twenty years. Contributing to these numbers, we understand that there is a list of over 570 affordable homes needed in Alton. We need to have a say in where they should go.

Come to the Alton Town Partnership meeting at the Community Centre on Saturday morning 28 February to hear more about this important issue and have your say. The meeting will start at 10.00am and end at 2.00pm but anyone is welcome to drop in for a shorter time and see the rolling presentations which will explain the choices. We need your input so we can voice to the planners the views of the people of Alton. This is to ensure that, if the town is to develop, then it does so how we would like it to, rather than as imposed by folk elsewhere who do not know or understand the town so well. This is a crucial issue for the future of our town and we urge you to come and let us have your views.

For the last thee years, the Alton Town Partnership has been examining the Government’s plans for 660,000 additional new dwellings in the South East, 130,000 of them in Hampshire. Of these, it has become clear that some 4,000 will be built in East Hants in addition to 1,200 more in the southern parishes close to Portsmouth and Southampton. After public consultation last year, EHDC has proposed three alternatives strategies: the first puts all the new housing in Alton and Petersfield; the second spreads it further to include the next largest centres of population in Liss, Liphook, and Four Marks; the third spreads it in large and small settlements throughout the District. An unanswered question is whether the proposed new South Downs National Park will come to fruition and what effect it will have on Petersfield’s ability to take new housing. This could mean that Alton might have to take more than its first allocation. We estimate that we must find new sites for between 300 and 1,300 more than the 700 already identified. Is this enough for those on the waiting list and for Alton’s future needs?

Some of these homes may be included in a development scheme to regenerate the Station Approach Area which is being managed by the Alton Town Partnership in partnership with key landowners and the District Council. Preliminary concepts outlining the whole scheme will also be available on 28 February and your views are essential to the future of this important gateway to our town.

Please come and give us your opinion on the housing and on the station area project.
Thank you,
Edward Hepper      19th January 2009


The Alton Town Partnership Environment Group (ATPE) is focussed on delivering two significant elements of the ALTON 2020 plan.

These are:

FUTURE DEVELOPMENTS – Identify, then monitor sites likely to come under development pressure both in and around Alton. Identify areas within the Town boundaries (including infill and brown field sites) which would be suitable for development.

MEETING GROWING HOUSING NEED – Develop and implement policies for ensuring managed expansion of Alton within reasonable geographic boundaries and with adequate supporting infrastructure.

In addition to this there is also much work being done by East Hants District Council to deliver the Core Strategy as part of the Local Development Framework to replace the Local plan in 2011. This work is very similar in nature and outcome to the work which ATPE has to do to deliver the ALTON 2020 plan requirements above.

ATPE has a very enthusiastic Working Group of more than 12 volunteers whose current aim is to work with EHDC to influence the Core Strategy from an Alton perspective and also deliver the ALTON 2020 plan requirements. At a top level the South East Plan which includes East Hants District has been developed and has now completed public consultation from South East England Regional Authority. As it stands now there is a requirement to provide an additional 28,000 houses in Hampshire out to 2026. For East Hampshire this means an additional 4,400 hours over the next 20 years or so. Potentially this could mean 80 – 100 houses per year for Alton dependant upon other factors as set out below. Obviously this will have a considerable impact on our town.

The government has promulgated a document titled Communities and Local Government Planning Policy Statement (PPS) No 12 which sets out the requirements for Local Spatial Planning by means of a Local Development Framework (LDF). This LDF will consist of a collection of local development documents which will be produced and held by the local planning authority which for us is East Hants District Council (EHDC). The Core Strategy is the key plan within Local Development Framework and will from 2011 replace the Local Plan. Our own Alton Town Design Statement will form part of the compendium of documents that comprise the LDF feeding the Core Strategy.

The emphasis throughout PPS 12 is for public involvement in the process which EHDC must deliver. To that end work has commenced by EHDC to develop a Core Strategy and in addition to a number of open Community Forums they have also conducted a detailed web based public consultation exercise. This closed earlier this year, but the results are available to all and are published on the EHDC Planning website (Click here for details) There were around 300 responses and a significant number of others from voluntary and non voluntary organisations. EHDC are now consolidating and processing these results to determine what the input should be to the first draft copy of the EHDC Core Strategy.

From a development perspective there were 3 options of where the development of 4,400 houses may go and these are as follows:
  • Focus new development at the larger towns of Alton and Petersfield,
  • Focus new development at Alton and Petersfield and modest amounts at other places, (Liphook, Liss and Four Marks) to take advantage of existing services and facilities or to meet identified local needs,
  • Spread new developments throughout the Central Hampshire area of the district to meet identifiable local needs.

    For the present it appears that the second bullet above is the most favoured although there is a long way yet to go.
    EHDC is now assessing and moving to a position whereby they can take heed of the many comments received from the consultation process. They are doing this taking into consideration Central Government requirements for additional development across the region. The outcome from this will be published as a draft for further consultation in the Spring of 2009. This plan will be in the form of a spatial strategy where the approximate delineation of potential development sites is hatched in on a map. For Alton and the share we are deemed to have to take, this will also be shown on a map. Unless there are any alternatives to what EHDC set out in the paper this will eventually, when the Core Strategy reaches maturity in 2010 be sent to Ministers who will comment on and endorse as appropriate. Once this has happened there will be no backing out of what has been formalised and we will have to take the new development where it has been proposed.

    By now you will realise how essential it is for all Altonian’s to play a role to ensure that the best possible outcome for Alton is achieved. If it is not then we only have ourselves to blame. It is for this reason that the ATPE are doing the work that they are. Indeed we will be having a Public Consultation in Alton on 28 Feb 2009 where all will be able to come along and see what could be proposed or make their own input. The outcomes from this will be robustly fed back in to EHDC with the intent of influencing the Core Strategy in the best interest of Alton.

    If any of you were thinking that the 5,500 houses proposed for Whitehill Bordon will cover the development requirement this will not do as it is totally separate to the requirements I have explained above. For more information on this very important work email Mike Heelis

    The Alton Town Partnership is making major contributions to the Core Strategy for Alton, and also the future of our district in East Hampshire.



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