New Forest District Council (NFDC) is inviting residents and stakeholders to have their say on the draft Sandleheath Neighbourhood Plan as part of a second statutory consultation.
The initial Regulation 16 consultation ran from Wednesday 5 November to Wednesday 17 December 2025, and the examination commenced on Thursday 9 April 2026.
However, as neighbourhood plans are now required to meet new Basic Conditions introduced by the Government through sections 98 and 99 of the Levelling‑up and Regeneration Act 2023, the examiner, Mr Andrew Ashcroft, requested an Addendum to the Basic Conditions Statement.
Sandleheath Parish Council submitted this addendum on Tuesday 28 April 2026. In accordance with Regulation 16 of the Neighbourhood Planning (General) Regulations 2012, the addendum must be subject to public consultation.
To ensure full compliance with these requirements, New Forest District Council is therefore re‑running the Regulation 16 consultation for a period of six weeks, after which the examination of the Sandleheath Neighbourhood Plan will continue.
The second consultation opens today, Friday 1 May 2026, and closes on Sunday 14 June 2026.
The addendum along with any notes from the examiner can be viewed at https://www.newforest.gov.uk/sandleheathplan.
Comments can be submitted at https://newforest.govocal.com/en-GB/projects/sandleheath-neighbourhood-plan-consultation. Alternatively, comments may be submitted by email to policyandplans@nfdc.gov.uk.
All comments submitted during the initial consultation period will be considered as part of this Regulation 16 consultation and have already been forwarded to the examiner, Mr Andrew Ashcroft.
If residents and stakeholders have already submitted comments, there is no need to respond again unless they wish to make additional representations specifically relating to the Addendum to the Basic Conditions Statement, which is the only new document.
