ACT now to stop more speculative development in the Test Valley.

That’s the view of borough councillors who have called on the Government to change the way national housing targets are calculated in a bid to prevent over-development.

Councillors are worried about the number of developers who delay building after gaining planning permission as this can distort housing targets.

The National Planning Policy Framework requires local authorities to have a “five-year housing land supply”.

This is actually the number of homes that can be delivered over that five-year period and the council base this number in part on planning permissions granted.

However, in a number of cases, most notably Romsey’s former brewery site, which is 198 homes short, developers are dragging their feet.

So in a number of cases developers have argued that their new projects should be approved because the TVBC is falling short of its targets.

This was the case at Redbridge Lane at Nursling where 350 homes on a geenfield site were given the go ahead by a government planning inspector despite TVBC’s objections.

A motion by Nursling and Rownhams councillor Phil Bundy urging TVBC to write to the Government expressing “great concern” about the current way housing land supplies are calculated received unanimous backing at a meeting of the full council.

“ I am sure members are all frustrated that this figure is often used as the trump card in determining planning decisions which override local planning policies and this frustration is shared across the county,” said Mr Bundy.

He is concerned that the present system is putting pressure on the council to approve more housing schemes in the countryside and elsewhere which would not normally be approved.

He added: “The council finds itself increasingly frustrated by the ability of certain developers and landowners who fail to meet their promised delivery rates once they obtained planning permission which has the effect of manipulating the land supply forecast and calculations to their advantage.”

“This has resulted in greenfields sites being put under continuous pressure from speculative planning applications for the past four years. All have justified their respective submissions on the basis of the lack of a five year housing land supply and their ability to make up the shortfall, despite being proposed on unallocated greenfield sites.

Mr Bundy’s motion was seconded by Test Valley’s deputy leader Martin Hatley who argued that council should be allowed to “factor in forecasted delivery rates” in housing land supply is calculated.

Mr Hatley who is the council’s cabinet spokesman for planning said: “We accept councils should be required to always have a five year housing land supply available.

“However it simply cannot be right that for example, in June this year, that although TVBC had given permission for 7.10 years’ worth of housing in southern Test Valley, using central Government’s methodology of calculating housing land supply, the borough was deemed to only have 4.13 years supply in the south.

Simply put, this means that permissions are having to be given, sometimes on appeal, for sites that the borough had not planned for or wish to be developed and are often less sustainable.

“The rules also have to be changed to encourage developers to build the permissions that they have been granted at an earlier stage.”