Residents can now have their say on the draft plan that will guide where new homes, employment land and infrastructure should be planned for in Basingstoke and Deane until 2042.

Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council is consulting on the draft spatial strategy for the Basingstoke and Deane Local Plan until 5pm on Friday 23 January 2026, giving people the chance to get involved in deciding the future of the borough. This includes where homes and other types of development will be built.

Views can be given online at www.basingstoke.gov.uk/DLP-have-your-say and there will also be an opportunity to talk to planning officers at drop-in events being held in January.

The council previously consulted on a full draft Local Plan in 2024. But changes to national planning guidance mean the council now needs to plan for significantly more homes to be delivered in the borough. These changes will mean a rise from 830 homes to approximately 1,150 new homes per year – an extra 6,300 homes over the plan period. More land is also needed for employment uses and supporting infrastructure.

Cabinet Member for Strategic Planning and Infrastructure Cllr Andy Konieczko said: “Planning for where new homes will go is never easy and getting the draft Local Plan back to this stage has involved making a lot of tough decisions.

“The government’s change to planning guidance means we now have to plan for around 20,000 new homes up to 2042 – that’s more than 6,000 additional new homes. We have had to allocate sites that weren’t in the previous draft of the Local Plan and that means taking some difficult choices. However, if we don’t add in the extra sites, we risk losing control over where development happens, which could lead to speculative building in unsuitable places.

“This consultation is a chance for everyone to have their say on the proposed sites included in the draft strategy and I encourage people to give us their views. There are also opportunities, through drop-in events, to talk to our planning officers.”

Feedback from the consultation – technically known as the Regulation 18 stage of the Local Plan – and evolving evidence work will help to draw up a further draft Local Plan. This will be consulted on again next year, before it is submitted for examination by an independent planning inspector. The council is aiming to adopt the draft Local Plan by late 2027.

More information is available at www.basingstoke.gov.uk/DLP-have-your-say