Councillors barred from revealing South Ham demolition plans

The plans, part of a major regeneration project in the Buckskin and South Ham areas, were discussed at a recent Overview and Scrutiny Committee meeting for the scheme on Monday, July 6, where councillors revealed they had been aware of potential proposals weeks earlier but were unable to alert residents due to restrictions placed on information received from the Sovereign Network Group (SNG).

Councillor Steve Trumm told the meeting that he had submitted a list of questions to SNG about proposed changes to Pinkerton Road and had received a response within two weeks.

However, he said he was later told the information was confidential because it related to pre-application planning discussions.

Cllr Trumm said: "My understanding of that was that it was under a confidential clause based upon pre-application enquiries.

Cllr Steve Trumm, representing South Ham Ward, is sceptical of the plans, saying there is a lack of information available surrounding the proposals. (Image: Eve Thompson)

"I further learned by looking into it that there is no immediate and consistent requirement for that process to be confidential — that a public value judgement has to be made by somebody."

He questioned who had made the decision to withhold information from the public and whether the test of public need had ever been applied.

Cllr Trumm said: "Was that actually submitted on your side from SNG, or did that come in from the council?

"I’d like to know who it was, because I’ve got some questions for them."

Committee chair Councillor Gary Watts confirmed he also was told not to share details with the public.

Cllr Watts said: "I did ask at the time, and I was told — because I wanted to let residents know what was happening — but it was commercially sensitive and it was confidential and I wasn’t allowed to tell the residents."

Councillor Sean Dillow also confirmed he had been given the same instruction.

Polly Gardner, director of regeneration and major projects at SNG. (Image: Eve Thompson)

Polly Gardner, director of regeneration and major projects at SNG was at the meeting and said she would need to check who decided that the information should remain confidential.

She said: "I’d have to look into who made that call and come back to you."

She said SNG aimed to ensure information was shared with residents and councillors at the same time wherever possible.

The information provided to councillors, she said, was the same as the material shown at the recent Pinkerton Road exhibition, though it had been further refined and formatted for public viewing.

Ms Gardner said that if there were concerns about transparency, SNG could review whether information could be released earlier in future.

A final master plan for the area is not expected before 2027, meaning the wait and uncertainty for residents will continue for several more years.

Proposals for how flats could look (Image: SNG)

A spokesperson for Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council said: "The council encourages developers to engage with councillors and local communities as early as possible in an open and transparent way to help shape their proposals before submitting a planning application.

"Developers choose how and when to share information about proposals prior to submitting a planning application."

Polly Gardner, regeneration and major projects director at SNG, said: "The information provided to councillors formed part of the pre-application planning process, where it is common for emerging proposals to be treated as confidential while they are being developed and considered.

“Exhibition materials were shared with councillors on the afternoon of 2 July, ahead of being made available to residents at noon on 3 July. We took this approach to give local councillors time to review the information before questions from the community.

“Our priority has been to share information directly with residents through public engagement, and we remain committed to listening to feedback, answering questions and keeping people informed as plans progress.”