Cabinet members are to decide whether East Hampshire District Council makes a major change in direction on its Local Plan.

A Local Plan is a development blueprint that sets out future housing figures, development sites, local infrastructure and planning policies in a council’s area.

In early 2024 the council had a draft Local Plan almost ready for submission to the Planning Inspectorate.

Since then Labour has doubled the number of houses it expects to be built in East Hampshire, introduced two new National Planning Policy Frameworks, and ordered local government reorganisation which will take Horndean, Clanfield and Rowlands Castle away from the district in 2028.

The government wants a new East Hampshire Local Plan by the end of 2026, but council leader Cllr Richard Millard believes its changes have made this aim “pointless and unjustifiable”.

Instead councillors will discuss whether to switch from a Local Plan based on outgoing rules and boundaries to one using new guidance which will be useful for unitary councils taking over in 2028.

Cllr Millard believes East Hampshire is the first planning authority to take this stance - and said it won’t be the last.

He added: “The government’s confused and contradictory changes to planning policies, when combined with a local government restructure, have forced East Hampshire District Council into a corner.

“We still believe in the value of creating strong and forward-thinking Local Plans. But even if we meet the government’s impossibly-tight December submission deadline we will have a plan that is not worth the paper it is written on.

“The government wants councils to have their Local Plans in place in 2027 and it wants to dissolve and reform Hampshire councils in 2028, giving their strategic planning responsibilities to a new county mayor. It’s obvious to even the most casual observer that the right hand doesn’t know what the left hand is doing.

“Our planning policy team is still working hard gathering useful evidence for the new unitaries and to support current decisions on applications - but we no longer consider it responsible to spend public money on a plan that will be obsolete within a year of its adoption.”

Cllr Angela Glass - portfolio holder for regulation and enforcement, which covers planning - said: “There has been a tsunami of change, as illustrated by the number of letters sent by Cllr Millard chastising the government.

“Doubling the housing numbers, then losing three parishes through local government reorganisation, is ridiculous. If we carry on we’re just wasting taxpayers’ money on something that isn’t going to pass the inspection.”

The overview and scrutiny committee will consider the recommendation on May 21, and cabinet on May 28.

Cabinet is recommended to approve a “realignment of Local Plan activity”, moving from attempting to complete a Local Plan under the present rules to working within the government’s incoming system and preparing for unitary-wide plan-making.

Find out about planning applications that affect you by visiting the Public Notice Portal.

Work done on the Local Plan so far would be kept and adapted to help with future unitary Local Plans, neighbourhood planning support, development management decision-making, and monitoring housing supply and delivery during the transition.