1,000 signatures reached
To: Hart District Council
We ♥ Hart
1. To reduce the overall housing allocation for Hart District
2. Demand that the Council develops a vision and strategy for Hart that retains its role as a rural, green hinterland for NE Hampshire that respects the separate character and identity of Hart’s settlements and landscapes and preserves the green spaces as amenity space for the urban settlements.
3. To require that the housing need is met by building on brownfield sites and increasing density in our existing urban areas
4. To request that future housing stock reflects the needs of the changing demographics of the district.
5. To demand the council and government do not plan for any new settlement in Hart that will act as a sink for the unmet housing need in neighbouring areas.
Why is this important?
Hart is a beautiful district made up of a mixture of large urban settlements such as Fleet and smaller village type settlements such as Odiham. The space around these settlements is largely made up of green fields and woodland which give Hart its essential rural feel.
In December 2014, for the fourth year running, Hart was named the best place to live in the country in a survey by the Halifax. Each settlement has a distinctive community feel; the quality of the schools is excellent and the 84 square miles of green fields and wooded landscape are a perfect example of England’s green and pleasant land that is excellent for wildlife, cycling and walking.
This essential nature of Hart is now being put under pressure by the National Planning Policy Framework and Hart Council's response to it. In the years up to 2031, Hart has to build another 7,500 homes. Hart Council is proposing to meet the bulk of this need by building a new settlement in the heart of Hart at Winchfield destroying over 700 acres of green fields and woodland in the process and putting at risk the Thames Valley Special Protection Area, two SSSI's and many Sites of Interest to Nature Conservation.
More at: www.wehearthart.co.uk
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/IHeartHart
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How it will be delivered
Delivered to Hart District Council via an email with pdf attachment of 2,130 signatories on Saturday 15 August 2015.
Keeping open for now until council confirms that the petition will trigger a full debate of Council.
Reasons for signing