PROPOSED sites for thousands of new homes in Basingstoke and Deane up to 2029 will be discussed by borough councillors tonight.

Members of the planning and infrastructure committee will discuss a report outlining suggested sites for the Local Plan – the planning ‘blueprint’ that will guide how the borough develops to 2029. The council’s decision-making Cabinet has accepted a provisional requirement of between 730 and 770 homes per year for the draft plan, and must now decide where the majority of these new homes should be built.

Tonight’s meeting is only one step in the long process of deciding which fields and spaces should be built on. Members of the public have been given brief opportunities to speak at the start of the meeting. Provision has also been made for the meeting to reconvene on Monday night.

The plan is to focus development around Basingstoke and the larger settlements of Bramley, Kingsclere, Oakley, Overton and Whitchurch. Further large housing developments around Tadley are not deemed possible because of emergency planning zone restrictions related to the AWE atomic weapons plant at Aldermaston.

Overall, the council needs to find locations for between 7,083 and 7,803 homes on larger sites within the 15 years of the plan’s life. Some sites included will already have been granted planning permission. Sites earmarked for new housing estates include three parcels of land at Manydown, which are outlined for 3,080 houses.

For the full list of sites see basingstokegazette.co.uk/news/10162277.Thousands_of_new_homes_for_the_borough.