Hampshire's highway engineers want reasons for refusal if Hart decides the 415-home Owens Farm scheme now. The register holds 1,040 objections.

Hampshire County Council’s highway engineers have lodged a holding objection to the 415-home scheme at Owens Farm in Hook, and told Hart District Council that if it wants to decide the application now, it should come back for reasons for refusal.

The letter, signed by highways development planning team leader Gemma McCart and dated 2 September 2026, was published on Hart’s planning register the following day. It is the third time the county has responded to the application, and it is the bluntest.

“Further information is needed on the issues raised in the above response and therefore the County Council recommend a holding objection at this stage,” it says. “Should the Local Planning Authority be looking to determine the application then reasons for refusal should be sought from the County Council.”

Hook Parish Council’s Planning and Infrastructure Committee meets at 7.30pm on Wednesday 23 September in the Bartley Room at Hook Community Centre, and the Owens Farm application is item 26.181.3 on the agenda. The committee is being asked to consider an additional response in light of the revised plans and the statutory consultees’ replies. The meeting has a public speaking session of up to ten minutes, and an audio stream runs on Teams.

What is being asked for

Wilbur Developments Ltd applied in December 2025 and the application was validated on 15 January 2026. It is an outline application, so only the principle of development and the access are being decided now.

  • Up to 415 dwellings on 40.1 hectares at Owens Farm, Newnham Road, Hook, RG27 9NG
  • 166 of them affordable, which is 40 per cent of the total
  • One existing dwelling on the site, so a net gain of 414
  • The current use of the land is recorded on the application form as equestrian
  • Landscaping, open space, a SANG, sustainable drainage and associated works
  • Access from Newnham Road, and only from Newnham Road

The case officer is Miguel Martinez. The register lists the expected decision level as delegated, which means an officer rather than the planning committee, though Hart refers contentious cases upwards.

The county’s objection is about Newnham Road

The county is not arguing about the principle of 415 houses. That is Hart’s judgement. It is arguing about whether the road can take them.

Its 2 September letter runs through the applicant’s latest technical note and finds problems with almost every part of the access design:

  • On the Newnham Road footway scheme, the proposed 5.0 metre carriageway “would only be suitable for a tertiary street”, although the county accepts it is an improvement on the existing width.
  • The widening reduces visibility from existing driveways, which the county says would be a departure from its own Technical Guidance Note 3. It wants a formal departure application before it will say whether that is acceptable.
  • Vehicle tracking shows a refuse vehicle conflicting with either a waiting car or the kerb line, and one of the buildouts is tracked with a vehicle travelling the wrong way for the priority shown.
  • On the rail bridge at Old School Road, the applicant now proposes a “virtual footway”. The county does not want one, warning it “can lead to pedestrians into a false sense of security whereas it is not clear to vehicles or pedestrians who has priority in the event of conflict”. It would rather leave the bridge as it is and lay hardstanding by the parapet.

On the road safety audit submitted in August, the county lists six numbered problems where it considers the designer’s response “not acceptable”, including four where “no commentary has been made or detail on how this would be incorporated into the design”.

The junctions the county says will feel it

The letter accepts the applicant’s revised traffic model, subject to agreement on growth factors, and then sets out what the model shows.

Junction What the county says
London Road / Elms Road Already over capacity on the London Road arms in the morning peak and on all arms in the evening peak. Development traffic causes “a significant impact on queuing and delay”
Griffin Way South / A30 An extra 49 trips in the morning peak and 52 in the evening peak, through a junction already having capacity problems
A30 London Road / Old School Lane Under capacity in 2032 without the development, approaching capacity in the evening peak with it

The applicant’s technical note describes the Griffin Way South impact as a rise of 1.8 per cent and 1.7 per cent. The county’s answer is that percentages are not the point at a junction that is already struggling.

The community bus has become a Stagecoach deal

One change since the county’s June response is worth spelling out, because it alters what Hook would actually get.

The applicant is no longer offering a community bus service. Instead, it has been in discussions with Stagecoach about a £1.3 million investment in the number 13 route between Basingstoke and Bordon, which the county says would double the frequency to half-hourly Monday to Saturday and hourly on Sunday. Stagecoach has agreed that the money covers ten years of the improved service.

The county adds a caveat in the same paragraph: the site is more than the recommended 400 metres from the nearest stops on the 13. There would also be funding for extra cycle parking at Hook station, agreed with Network Rail.

The county’s verdict on the wider package is that the active travel improvements offered are “limited and typically relate to the accessibility of the development as opposed to wider walking and cycling improvements within Hook”, and that the contribution towards the local cycling and walking plan should be revised upwards.

Comments and documents on the Owens Farm planning application Hart District Council's planning register records 1,043 public comments on application 25/02564/OUT: 1,040 objections, one letter of support and two neutral. Drawn to a single scale, the support and neutral comments together are about two pixels wide. The register also holds 1,331 documents and 40 consultee responses, for a scheme of up to 415 homes, 166 of them affordable, on 40.1 hectares. Hampshire County Council's highways team recommended a holding objection on 2 September 2026. 1,040 objections. One letter of support. Public comments on Hart District Council's register for 25/02564/OUT, Owens Farm, Hook, read on 22 September 2026. Objections 1,040 1 support, 2 neutral All three bars are drawn to the same scale, so support and neutral together are about three pixels wide. What the register holds Documents on the application1,331 Public comments received1,043 Statutory and internal consultee responses40 Homes proposedup to 415 Of which affordable166, or 40 per cent Site area40.1 hectares 2 September 2026: Hampshire County Council's highways team recommends a holding objection, and says reasons for refusal should be sought from it if Hart moves to determine the application. Source: Hart District Council planning register, application 25/02564/OUT, and the submitted application form. Graphic by Fleet & Hook News
The register's own comment counter, read on 22 September 2026.

Nine months, 1,331 documents and 1,040 objections

The scale of the file is part of the story. Hart’s register lists 1,331 documents on this application and 1,043 public comments, of which 1,040 are objections, one is in support and two are neutral. Objections were still being added to the register as recently as 21 September.

Forty statutory and internal consultees have responded, among them National Highways, Network Rail, Natural England, Historic England, Thames Water, the NHS, Hampshire police, the county archaeologist, Active Travel England, the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust and Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council next door. Hook, Newnham and Rotherwick parish councils have all responded, Newnham twice.

The Environment Agency’s most recent comment, dated 5 August, is a good example of how wide the file has spread. It had no more to say about river flooding, but used the letter to flag that the site sits in South East Water’s Water Resource Zone 4 West, which it describes as “currently experiencing a supply-demand deficit”. It suggested that if the original screening opinion did not look at cumulative water resource impacts, “it may be prudent to re-screen the development” for an environmental impact assessment.

Newnham Parish Council commissioned its own hydrology, flood risk and water resources report from consultants Archon Environmental, which went on the register on 1 July. The county’s flood team replied to it at the end of the month.

The decision is already overdue

Two dates on the register are worth knowing.

The statutory determination deadline was 16 April 2026. Big outline applications routinely run past that with the applicant’s agreement, and Hart and Wilbur agreed an extension. That agreed expiry date was Friday 18 September 2026, and it has now passed with no decision published.

That matters because when an application runs beyond its agreed date, an applicant gains the right to appeal against non-determination, which takes the decision out of Hart’s hands and puts it in front of a planning inspector.

What it means for you

  • The application has not been decided and comments are still being logged. They go through Hart’s planning portal, under reference 25/02564/OUT, and the case officer is Miguel Martinez. Hart’s formal consultation period expired on 5 August 2026, but the register was still publishing objections on 21 September.
  • If you want to say something in person, Wednesday is the night. Hook Parish Council’s Planning and Infrastructure Committee meets at 7.30pm on 23 September at Hook Community Centre, Ravenscroft, with a ten-minute public speaking session at the start. The parish council is a consultee, not the decision maker.
  • The parish council’s view is advice. Hart District Council decides, and Hampshire County Council advises it on highways.
  • The bus offer is not a new Hook service. It is money towards doubling the frequency of the existing number 13 between Basingstoke and Bordon, and the county has recorded that the site is beyond the recommended walking distance to its stops.
  • If you use Newnham Road, the Old School Road rail bridge or the Griffin Way South junction with the A30, those are the three places the county’s letter says the scheme would be felt.

Our running coverage of planning in the district is on the Fleet planning news page, and the roads affected are tracked on Fleet roadworks and travel.

Sources

  • Hart District Council planning register, application 25/02564/OUT for the proposal wording, the 15 January 2026 validation, the applicant and agent, the case officer, the delegated decision level, the 16 April 2026 determination deadline, the 18 September 2026 agreed expiry date, the 5 August 2026 consultation expiry and the document and comment counts.
  • Hampshire County Council highways consultee response dated 2 September 2026, published on the register on 3 September, for the holding objection, the reasons-for-refusal wording, the carriageway width, visibility splay and vehicle tracking points, the road safety audit responses, the virtual footway, the junction modelling figures and the Stagecoach bus package.
  • The application form on the register for the 40.10 hectare site area, the 415 units, the 166 affordable units, the single existing dwelling and the equestrian existing use.
  • Environment Agency consultee response dated 5 August 2026 for the water resource zone position and the environmental impact assessment re-screening suggestion.
  • Hook Parish Council Planning and Infrastructure Committee agenda, 23 September 2026 for the meeting time, venue, item 26.181.3 and the public speaking session.

Outline permission would fix the principle and the access only. Layout, appearance, scale and landscaping would come back later as reserved matters.