Who owns the car park next to Festival Hall and the Lido?
East Hampshire District Council is the landowner for the car park next to Festival Hall and the Lido.
It has set out its vision for Petersfield, in consultation with local stakeholders, in its Enhance East Hants programme.
- East Hampshire place making strategy - see pages 30-33 and 49-52
- Petersfield place making
EHDC has its own car parking policy, which it must be mindful of.
Who owns Festival Hall and the Lido?
Petersfield Town Council is the landowner for Festival Hall and the Lido. The Town Council has rights of access across the car park to get to their properties.
Petersfield Town Council has plans for the future of Festival Hall, which include the use of the car park next to it.
Who decides what happens to the car park?
East Hampshire District Council (EHDC) can only change the use of the car park to something else if the planning authority agrees. The planning authority for Petersfield is South Downs National Park (SDNP).
To do anything with the car park, EHDC must be mindful of the Petersfield Conservation Area, the Settlement Boundary and the presumption in favour of sustainable development, and the SDNP policies around for example Tranquillity and the Dark Night Sky.
How long do changes take?
To change the use of the car park is a long process. It starts with EHDC letting the South Downs National Park know that the land is available for different uses (a short document called the ‘Land Availability Assessment’ or LAA). SDNP then visit all the sites that have been presented to it to decide if the land is contributes positively to the SDNP Local Plan. If it is, then SDNP will ask the local residents for their opinion, through a formal consultation process.
Petersfield Town Council is one of the main consultees SDNP will ask and has already set out its plans for the car park in the Petersfield Neighbourhood Plan.
If the results of the consultation suggest that the land is available it will be included in the SDNP Revised Local Plan, and at that point EHDC is able to apply for planning permission to change the use of that land.
This whole process will take many months
What happens next?
East Hampshire District Council has submitted a Land Availability Assessment to the South Downs National Park Authority and is awaiting SDNP’s consideration of that submission.
A consultation of local stakeholders, if the land is deemed appropriate, will then take place but this may not be for several months.
If you have any questions, please contact placemaking@easthants.gov.uk.