HCS report of the Southleigh Development Consultation Forum, 27 Jan 2026

Press to send DCF feedback to Bloor Homes

Introduction

This post contains a summary report of the Bloor Homes Southleigh Development Consultation Forum held on 27 January 2026 at Havant Borough Council’s public plaza. The report, and the meeting transcript from which it was generated, were written by a machine. The HCS Editorial comment at the end of the piece, was written by the usual human suspects.

*^{The four available routes from the Southleigh development site to the A27 – See the HCS DCF community presentation}*

Summary report of the meeting

Overview

The Development Consultation Forum (DCF) was a pre-application engagement event hosted by Havant Borough Council on behalf of Bloor Homes at the Public Service Plaza, Havant (relocated from Emsworth Baptist Church). Held from 5:00 pm (display) to 8:00 pm (formal session), it was requested by Bloor to present evolving outline proposals for up to 1,800 homes on the majority of the Southleigh site (part of the emerging Local Plan allocation for ~2,100 homes total). The meeting was livestreamed (due to sold-out 245 seats), with feedback forms (in-room and online via SmartSurvey) to inform Bloor’s refinements before submitting an outline planning application (expected in coming months, 2026).

Purpose and Format

(per Cllr Netty Shepard, Deputy Leader/Chair, and Paul Barton, Head of Planning)

Early-stage sharing of draft proposals (not a formal application or decision event).

Opportunity for residents, community groups, and councillors to hear details, raise concerns, and provide feedback.
Agenda: Council planning history/policy context → Bloor presentation → 3 community group views → councillor questions to Bloor.
Explicitly not public negotiation, commitment to views, or debate on Local Plan allocation (Building a Better Future Plan). Officers may correct facts but won’t comment on presentations/questions.
Outcomes: Developer receives main points to consider; stakeholders gain awareness; officers better informed for future negotiations. Statutory consultation follows application submission.

Bloor Homes Presentation

(led by Rebecca Fentrip, Planning Director; team including Max Law from Stantec on transport/highways)

Vision: Attractive, green/sustainable/connected community addition — new homes, 3-form entry school + nurseries, local centre (shops, potential GP/dentist, co-working), community parkland (~40% open space), retained farmyard for workshops/business, walk/cycle priority, PV/EV/heat pumps.
Constraints/approach: No build on flood zones, listed Southleigh Park House setting, or drainage areas; extensive surveys/workshops with council officers.
Transport strategy (Max Law): Reduce site-generated trips (policy requirement); low-speed internal streets; speed reductions on Southleigh/Horndean/Eastleigh Roads; safe separated ped/cycle routes linking to surroundings; new bus service (Emsworth–Havant–Bartons Rd); Service 27 frequency upgrade; junction improvements (signalisation, ped/cycle priority at key points). Comprehensive surveys/assessments ongoing with Hampshire County Council (HCC) Highways.
Ecology/landscape (Chris Jack/Barry Williams): BNG exceeding minimum; enhanced corridors (wetland, woodland, parkland); community park with play/cycles/wildlife.
Timeline: Outline app soon; phased build-out 10–15 years; start ~2028 (indicative, subject to approvals).
Engagement: Recent summer 2025 events (~550 attendees, 227 feedbacks) + thematic council workshops → Statement of Community Involvement at submission.

Community Group Contributions (5 minutes each)

Elizabeth Emms (Denvilles Residents): Accepts housing need but demands infrastructure first (35% Local Plan responses concerned). Cumulative ~800 peripheral homes already increased traffic; no on-site employment → peak commuting; Warblington level crossing barriers major issue; A27 link road + spine road non-negotiable to avoid overwhelming roads/pollution.
Mike Bateman (Emsworth Residents Forum): References 2017 masterplan (supported for spinal link road to A27); without it, Emsworth rat-running via congested North Street. Criticises complacency on modal shift (commuter patterns persist); questions modelling for omitting link road; calls for active travel prioritisation (direct ped/cycle routes, tortuous for cars).
Bob Comlay (Havant Civic Society): Contrasts aspirational narrative with real congestion; highlights imbalance (developer/officers continuous dialogue vs. public limited input); cumulative impacts (regional developments + Amazon DPO1 unenforced traffic) make baseline unreliable; requests written answers on evidence/modelling/consultation before formal stage.

Councillor Questions

Dominant themes: transport/infrastructure (A27 link road necessity, cumulative modelling realism, level crossing/gridlock, regional growth e.g., A259 corridor ~11,500 homes), GP delivery (NHS funding limits), housing mix/affordability (~30% emerging target), flooding/SUDS maintenance, biodiversity protection (BNG positive, construction safeguards), density/pedestrian focus. Strong push for A27 link (2017 baseline, viability without it questioned; joint letter to SoS/MP from Cllrs Munday/Bowerman).

Bloor responses

Modal shift priority (national policy shift since 2017 — no SRN connections unless necessary; carbon impact of junctions); cumulative TA agreed with HCC; pump-priming buses (wider benefits); compliant affordable mix; strong ecology. Max Law supplemented bus sustainability (revenue from existing areas).

Key Observations

Public/Councillor Sentiment: High concern/scepticism — traffic/infrastructure dominates (~70% questions); repeated demands for A27 link road (seen as essential for viability); doubts on modal shift realism (commuting patterns, level crossing, cumulative baseline including Amazon/regional growth). Aspirational presentation contrasted with “lived reality” of congestion.
Bloor Position: Emphasises policy evolution (active travel first, no direct A27 link proposed unless mandated); collaborative pre-application (workshops, HCC input); benefits to existing communities (bus upgrades, open space).
Overall Tone: Constructive but tense — strong local pushback on highways; Bloor defends evidence-based approach.

Full record of the meeting – Video and text transcript

The table below contains direct links into the video recording of the meeting at each of the main contributions and interjections. If you missed the meeting and want to catch up with the complete session, just click on the first link and watch it all. Alternatively, there’s a download link to the full transcript, with these links embedded, just below this table.

Video Entry POint links	Section content
Chair’s Introduction
Chair – Councillor Netty Shepherd (Hayling), Introductions	Introduction and ‘housekeeping’ notes.
HBC Planning Services
Paul Barton – Interim Head of Planning	Introduction to the HBC Development Consultation Forum process.
David Eaves, Principal Planner	Overview of the development site.
David Haywood, Strategic Planning Manager	Overview of the Site allocation in the planning process.
David Hayward – History of the Southleigh Site	A history of the three-way engagement between HBC, HCC and developers over the site.
Bloor Homes (Southleigh)
Rebecca Fenn-Tripp, introducing the team from Bloor Homes	Introduction to the Bloor Homes / Stantec / Marengo Communications team.
Steve Jolly, Marengo Communications
Barry Williams, Masterplanner, Stantec	Bloor Masterplan – Part 1
Max Law – Senior Transport Planner, Stantec
Bloor Landscape Strategy
Barry Williams	Bloor ‘Masterplan’ – “A day in the life”
Rebecca Fenn-Tripp	Timeline and wrap-up
Community Representatives
Councillor Netty Shepherd, introducing the Community representatives
Elizabeth Emms	Denvilles – Southleigh Residents
Mike Bateman	Emsworth Residents Forum
Bob Comlay	Havant Civic Society members
Councillors Questions to Bloor Homes
Councillor Netty Shepherd	Introducing the Councillor-Bloor Q&A session
Question – Councillor Phil Munday (St. Faiths)	Raises the A27 link road issue
Question – Councillor Collings (Leigh Park Central and West Leigh)	How will Bloor mitigate negative road congestion impact on existing communities and ensure that there is not an unacceptable impact on the existing highway network.
Question – Councillor Grainne Rason (Emsworth)	Question about the ‘community assets’ and in particular, the GP surgery.
Question – Councillor Dan Berwick (St Faiths)	Are Bloor taking an holistic approach to the evaluation of traffic congestion?
Question – Councillor Jason Horton (Leigh Park Central and West Leigh)	Mix of housing, particularly 1,2 bed affordable and social housing.
Question – Councillor Richard Brown (Leigh Park Hermitage)	How can Bloor future-proof the infrastructure that would help the residents of Warblington and Denvilles? And who is going to pay for the bus service?
Question – Councillor Charles Robert (Emsworth)	A question regarding safeguarding of the wildlife population.
Question – Councillor Peter Oliver (Hayling)	Question about housing density and the overall car-centric approach to design.
Question – Councillor Philippa Gray (Bedhampton)	Another question about the wider impact of traffic congestion around the site.
Question – Councillor Simon Hagan (Stakes)	A question about sustainable urban drainage systems.
Question – Councillor Antonia Harrison (Purbrook)	If a motorway bridge can be built over the M27 during the Christmas holiday period, then why not a link road for Southleigh to the A27?
Question – Councillor Munazza Faiz (Leigh Park Central and West Leigh)	What proportion of these 1,800 houses will be genuinely affordable and social housing?
Question – Councillor Jonathan Hulls (Hayling West)	Would Bloor be happy to cut down the amount of parking per unit as an incentive for active travel?
Question – Councillor Grainne Rason (Emsworth)	Can Budds Farm cope with the additional sewage?
Question – Councillor Phil Munday (St Faiths)	Question on lack of response by the developer to constructive offers of help from the Council Leader?
Question – Councillor Sharon Collings (Leigh Park Central and West Leigh)	Question about electricity power consumption and the capacity of the grid to supply.

For an alternative record of the meeting, download the full 32 page transcript of the meeting, including the above video link entry points, by clicking the image below:

HCS Editorial comment

Editors note: The full meeting transcript was generated using MS CoPilot (OpenAI ), and the full 18,000 word transcript was then input to Grok (X-AI) to generate the Summary Report.

What follows was written by a human.

The Southleigh Development Consultation Forum held on 27 January at the Public Plaza represented the last opportunity for the community, represented by their local ward councillors, to provide input to Bloor Homes’ ‘masterplan’ for the development of the last remaining exploitable green space in the Denvilles / Emsworth gap. As the HBC Planning Officers were at pains to point out, our input at this stage has no value in terms of the planning process, the formal part of which does not kick in until Bloor’s proposal is ‘validated’ by the Head of Planning and registered on the new planning system.

At that point, local residents will have just 21 days to enter their comments into the new and still-flawed HBC Planning System. In that time, we will need to scrutinise transport documentation, likely running to many hundreds of pages, probably focussing on Stantec’s use of the Hampshire County Council owned TRICS estimating tool to support Bloor Homes’ submission. Experience suggests that HCC Highways planners will already have approved this documentation long before the HBC Head of Planning signs it off for publication and public consultation. HBC planning officers take their lead from the County planning officers and since the public have no viable or effective consultation interface to the County Highways, any effort we put into questioning the transport assessment will fall on deaf ears.

Once the planning submission is validated, our comments at this DCF are effectively worthless. We can try rearranging the deckchairs till we’re blue in the face but the Southleigh ‘Titanic’ will already have struck its iceberg.

This is an opportune moment for our elected representatives to engage directly with the Head of Planning and make clear that HBC’s already stretched planning resources would be far better spent on genuine priorities, rather than triggering an avoidable and energetic community campaign in response to a poorly conceived Southleigh proposal.

In a gentle reminder to the Council, the public and their representatives have very limited chances to engage with these issues, and cutting across them in those rare moments undermines the process. The last recorded occasion on which it happened is curiously relevant and hasn’t ended happily.

If you’ve listened to nothing else, please just take the twenty minute opportunity below to watch and listen to an outline of Bloor’s vision for Southleigh, followed by the presentations by the three community representatives at the DCF.