Alton Town Council will ask the public for its views on the way forward for the Alton Neighbourhood Plan.

The process stalled last September over whether to include housing site allocations in a third-generation plan to replace one agreed in November 2021.

Civil engineers AECOM have since compiled a report assessing all available sites which the town council agreed to publish on its website when it met on September 3.

It also agreed to hold a public consultation on three options - continue using the current Neighbourhood Plan and pause its review until after adoption of East Hampshire District Council’s new Local Plan, set for August 2027, restart the third-generation plan process without site allocations, or restart it with site allocations.

Cllr Graham Hill told residents: “This is the first stage of a long process. Please tell us what option you want, and then we can deliver on what the public want.”

Site allocations offer protection against speculative development but Alton and Holybourne may need to accommodate 3,500 homes over 18 years.

Town council officers said high demand made it challenging to include site allocations but the draft plan included proposals that might help with other matters.

Cllr Barbara Tansey said: “There is a lot of advantage to having a Neighbourhood Plan, whether we have site allocations or not, but it is difficult to get that understanding across that we can’t say we don’t want any building here because of pressure on East Hampshire District Council.”

Cllr Matthew Kellermann added: “The public are aware of the crazed socialist agenda to build on greenfield sites. Very few people want a housing estate plonked in their back garden or overlooking their dwelling.

“This is why we did what we did last year, because residents’ associations came in and were thoroughly hacked off. Putting all sites in is what the public wanted.”