Call for Sites guidance note (February 2025)

What is a Call for Sites?

This further Call for Sites is an opportunity for individuals, developers, organisations and communities to suggest additional sites they would like to be considered for future development through the Local Plan review preparation process. The Call for Sites is open to both previously developed land and potential 'greenfield' sites. We are interested to hear about potential opportunities for a variety of land uses including housing, commercial and community uses, open space, and land suitable for nature recovery or offsetting the environmental impacts of development.

This 'Call for Sites' relates to land which is within the Plan Area (New Forest District outside the National Park). The extent of the Plan Area is shown in purple in Figure 1.
Figure 1: New Forest District (outside the National Park) Plan Area

What sites can I submit?

Please do not resubmit any site(s) you previously submitted during the 2024 Call for Sites

We are interested to hear about potential additional opportunities for a range of land uses, including:

• Housing (e.g., market, affordable and for specialised accommodation needs)
• Commercial (including employment (e.g., offices, warehousing), retail and leisure)
• Renewable energy generation (e.g., sites for solar, wind, hydro power etc., community-led renewable energy initiatives)
• Public open space (including sports pitches)
• Habitat mitigation land (e.g. natural recreational greenspace)
• Other nature recovery and biodiversity net gain projects

We are especially interested to hear about potential opportunities for development, re-use or redevelopment in our towns and villages, or on previously developed land.

Why are we undertaking a further Call for Sites?

The Call for Sites is a part of our evidence gathering process as we continue work on the New Forest District's (outside the National Park) full Local Plan review. Both the previous 2024, and this Call for Sites will help inform our evidence base of potentially suitable and available land, both previously developed land and greenfield sites, for a range of possible uses. The National Planning Policy Framework requires local planning authorities to maintain an up-to-date evidence base of potentially available land.

How should I submit a site suggestion to the Call for Sites?

You can suggest a site by completing the site submission form on Go Vocal: 

Submit a Site

The form asks for details about the site including land ownership, an accurate site location plan, current uses, proposed uses, and when the site could be available for development.

The opening date for submissions to this Call for Sites is Monday 17 February 2025, and the closing date is Friday 4 April 2025.

If you have any queries related to this Call for Sites, please email policyandplans@nfdc.gov.uk.

What will happen when I submit my site suggestion?

The submission of a site through the Call for Sites does not mean that the site will be allocated or that the site is suitable for development. Sites will be subject to a detailed assessment to evaluate whether they are suitable and available to be considered for selection as potential allocations in the New Forest District (outside the National Park) Local Plan Review. As part of this process, sites will be put through a comprehensive sustainability appraisal assessment. Brownfield sites submitted will also be considered for inclusion on the Brownfield Land Register.