Local Development Scheme

New Forest National Park Authority

Local Development Scheme, July 2024

New Forest National Park Authority Local Development Scheme

1. Introduction

1.1 The New Forest National Park was designated in March 2005 and the National Park Authority assumed its full planning responsibilities in April 2006. The Authority’s role is to ensure that the two statutory purposes of National Park designation are achieved, namely:

• to conserve and enhance the natural beauty, wildlife and cultural heritage of the Park; and
• to promote opportunities for the understanding and enjoyment of the Park’s special qualities by the public.

In pursuing these purposes, the Authority is required to seek to foster the economic and social well-being of local communities within the Park.

1.2 The New Forest National Park covers 220 square miles - including parts of New Forest District, Test Valley Borough and Wiltshire Council - within the counties of Hampshire and Wiltshire (see indicative map below).

1.3 The National Park Authority is responsible for spatial planning, minerals and waste planning, development management, enforcement and other related regulatory functions within the National Park.

1.4 The Authority is also responsible for meeting the requirements placed on local planning authorities under the Planning & Compulsory Purchase Act 2004 (as amended). This includes the preparation of a Local Development Scheme (LDS) setting out the timetable to produce a new or revised Local Plan for the area.

1.5 The National Park Authority prepared its first LDS in 2007 and issued updates in 2009, 2011, 2016 and 2017. A number of documents outlined in these earlier Schemes have now been adopted, including the current New Forest National Park Local Plan (2019), as well as a number of Supplementary Planning Documents and Village Design Statements.

1.6 The statutory ‘development plan’ for the New Forest National Park currently comprises:

• the New Forest National Park Local Plan DPD (2019); and
• the Hampshire Minerals and Waste Plan DPD (2013); and
• the ‘made’ Hythe & Dibden Neighbourhood Plan (2019) for the part of the New Forest National Park in Hythe & Dibden parish; and
• the ‘made’ New Milton Neighbourhood Plan (2021) for the part of the New Forest National Park in New Milton parish; and
• the ‘made’ Wellow Neighbourhood Plan (2024) for the part of the New Forest National Park in Wellow parish; and
• the ‘made’ Ringwood Neighbourhood Plan (2024) for the part of the New Forest National Park in Ringwood parish.

Supplementary Planning Documents

1.7 There is no requirement for Supplementary Planning Documents (SPD) to be included in the LDS. However, the National Park Authority will continue to produce SPDs where appropriate. In addition, the Authority will continue to work with local communities preparing Village Design Statements and present these for adoption as SPDs as appropriate. Details of adopted and emerging SPDs can be viewed on the planning policy pages of the National Park Authority’s website.

Neighbourhood Plans

1.8 Neighbourhood Plans – once ‘made’ – also form part of the statutory development plan for the National Park. The NPPG guidance on ‘Plan-making’ encourages planning authorities to include details of other documents which form (or will form) part of the development plan for the area, such as Neighbourhood Plans. However, the preparation of a Neighbourhood Plan is entirely a decision for the relevant town or parish council, and they lead on the preparation of the Plan. Given that the decision to prepare a Neighbourhood Plan - and the timetable for production - is outside the Authority’s direct remit, these documents will not be included in this Local Development Scheme. Details of any made or emerging Neighbourhood Plans in the National Park can be found on the Authority’s website.

Minerals and Waste Planning

1.9 The New Forest National Park Authority works in partnership with Hampshire County Council, Portsmouth City Council, Southampton City Council and the South Downs National Park Authority on the delivery of the minerals and waste planning function. There is a separate adopted LDS (2023) for minerals and waste planning documents which can be found on the Hampshire County Council website.

Monitoring and review

1.10 The timetable in this LDS sets out the key milestones in the Local Plan review process. However, there remains uncertainty at a national level in the plan-making process due to the recent implementation of the Levelling Up and Regeneration Act 2023, and the change of Government which has identified forthcoming changes to the planning system and the NPPF. It is therefore likely that further iterations of the Authority’s Local Development Scheme will be required in due course.

1.11 The Authority’s annual monitoring report (AMR) will set out an update on the progress of the documents in the Local Development Scheme, as well as assessing the relevancy and effectiveness of the planning policies in the adopted Local Plan.